Posted on May 13, 2022
Wheelchair & Handcycles Pumped and Ready for 45th Amway River Bank Run
After two years, the 45th Amway River Bank Run is back in May, and the wheelchair and handcycle athletes couldn’t be more excited and ready to compete. Over 35 wheelchair and handcycle athletes from across the United States, Canada and Spain will travel to Grand Rapids to race on Saturday.
The largest road race in the country, the River Bank Run is also the only race in the world to offer a 25K wheelchair racing division. The wheelchair and handcycle divisions thrill bystanders as push-rim racers reach speeds near 20 mph and hand cyclists exceed 30 mph. These races begin at 8:15 a.m., and with this year’s new race course, athletes are expecting faster times than ever.
Matt Tingley, 33-year-old hand cyclist from Rochester Hills, will return to the River Bank Run to defend his 2021 title. Tingley sustained a spinal cord injury while dirt bike riding in 2017. The handcycling sport and community have inspired Matt to give back and get involved. Now he leads the Mary Free Bed Handcycle team.
Kate Brim, 23-year-old hand cyclist from Lowell, will look to repeat her 2021 success, and win the female handcycle division. Last year was Brim’s first River Bank Run after years of competing with Mary Free Bed’s wheelchair rugby team.
Kate’s life changed when she was 19, when she had complications from a minor surgery. She slowly lost strength and function and developed a spinal cord injury at the C4 level. Kate received rehabilitation for a month at Mary Free Bed followed by outpatient therapy for a year and a half.
It wasn’t until her injury that Kate really got into sports and competition. This “set a fire in me,” she said. Brim got involved with the Grand Rapids Thunder wheelchair rugby team and later handcycling. “I’m not going to let this define where I go in life.”
This is the 32nd consecutive year that the Mary Free Bed Guild has sponsored the Wheelchair division and the 16th for the Handcycle division. Athletes will race for $29,200 in prize money between the two divisions.
Kate Brim and Christy VanHaver, Sports Coordinator for Mary Free Bed’s Wheelchair and Adaptive Sports program, were interviewed by WOOD TV8 talking about the race. Check out the video below:
