Posted on May 12, 2023
Wheelchair and Handcycles Geared up for Amway River Bank Run
It’s time for the 46th annual Amway River Bank Run and the wheelchair and handcycle athletes are ready to compete. Nearly 30 athletes from West Michigan and across the national will travel to downtown Grand Rapids to race on Saturday.
River Bank Run is the largest road race in the country, and the only race in the world to offer a 25K wheelchair racing division. The wheelchair and handcycle divisions are exciting for spectators, 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 the second year of the new course, athletes are loving their faster times.
One of the handcyclists lining up to race is Ted Droski, from Grand Rapids. Droski ran several 25Ks at the River Bank Run before being hit by a car in 2015. He lost his right leg, and his left leg was crushed in the accident. After doing rehabilitation at Mary Free Bed, Droski was introduced to Mary Free Bed’s Wheelchair and Adaptive Sports Program where he says, “I credit it with a large part of mental and physical recovery.”
Droski went on to run a few 5Ks with a prosthetic leg but loves racing with his handcycle or playing wheelchair tennis. He has a full calendar of marathons this year, just completing the Boston Marathon, and scheduled for the upcoming Detroit and Chicago marathons.
Back to defend his title in the wheelchair division is James Senbeta. The Paralympian wheelchair racer from Philadelphia won here in Grand Rapids in 2022 and 2021 and is hoping to make it a three-peat.
Two elite athletes missing from the lineup this year are Kate Brim and Matt Tingley. Both Brim and Tingley are training with Team USA handcycle team, after making their start with the Mary Free Bed Handcycle team. Tingley won the men’s handcycle division at the River Bank Run last year, and Brim won the women’s. In her first two years of racing, Brim’s career and skyrocketed winning multiple gold medals and two world championships.
This is the 33rd consecutive year that the Mary Free Bed Guild has sponsored the Wheelchair division and the 17th year for the Handcycle division. Athletes will race for $29,200 in prize money between the two divisions.
