Problems are challenges for Saratoga Springs woman

Harrilyn Beehner, the 1998 winner of the Twin Cities Marathon, would rather not make a big fuss over her victory.

"I was the only woman to compete" in the wheelchair division, she recalled, laughing. "I did go the distance. I finished, and I won. There's something to be said for just showing up!"

Mrs. Beehner, a parishioner of St. Clement's Church in Saratoga Springs, has been "just showing up" at world-class marathons, local tennis courts and Adirondack ski resorts ever since a 1986 car accident near Lake Placid left her paralyzed below the waist. Since then, she has competed in the wheelchair divisions in marathons in Boston, Minneapolis and Chicago.

Back in shape

Immediately after the accident, athletics were the last thing Mrs. Beehner was concerned about.

"Obviously, something like this throws you up against the wall, when you find yourself in a situation you never dreamed of and would never expect," she said, describing the period following the accident as a time of "adjustment" and "righting herself."

Mrs. Beehner, concerned that the accident might have an adverse effect on keeping in shape, began to explore exercise options open to the disabled. Her husband suggested wheelchair racing, and Mrs. Beehner, who admitted that she hadn't "been much of a runner" before her accident, tried out a racing chair. She found that being a "wheeler" was something she could do to keep herself active and interested.

Building up

Mrs. Beehner started by small 5K races and fun runs, then moved to larger competitions. After that, she pushed the bar a little higher, beginning to compete in 10-mile races and half-marathons. In 1994, she participated in her first full marathon.

"I didn't think I'd do another one," she said. But two years later, she completed a marathon in Burlington, Vermont, and has been racing ever since.

According to Mrs. Beehner, "wheelers" prepare for a marathon in the exact same way runners do: by simply "pounding out the miles." For example, her training regimen for the last Boston Marathon included practice runs of ten miles three times a week for several weeks.

"Then, you start to build up," she explained, "doing 12, then 15, then 18 miles about once a month before the date."

Arm power

Disabled athletes compete in marathons using racing wheelchairs, which are arm-powered only, and designed for speed and agility. Other racers favor the handcycle, which uses bicycle-like gears and chains to operate. In the world of competitive wheelchair racing, Mrs. Beehner said, "there's been a trend towards handcycles."

During the winter, Mrs. Beehner keeps in shape by using a Saratoga cycle, a stationary flywheel that can simulate road and marathon conditions.

She and her husband have also tried to discover sports they can play together. They have recently taken up tennis, playing outside in the summer and in an Albany gym during the winter. "It's really fun, even though I'm not very good at it," she said. "But I'm learning."

Mrs. Beehner has even been skiing. She hits the slopes on a mono-ski, a specially-designed single ski supporting a chair, outriggers and poles designed to allow the disabled to balance themselves as they fly down the hill like their walking companions.

Out of reach

Despite her athletic achievements, Mrs. Beehner said that it still can be frustrating to do everyday tasks others take for granted, such as grocery shopping, moving furniture, gardening and mowing the lawn.

Even the "little touches" she was accustomed to giving the house before the accident -- hanging pictures and light housework -- have been out of her reach for more than ten years.

For Mrs. Beehner, however, part of living with a disability is to learn that "you can still do things you enjoy. You have the ability to change your life, and you have God-given resources to do it. It's only when you think your life is over that you're stuck. Life can be fun. You can still find function and enjoyment in it."

Volunteer

Mrs. Beehner brings her optimism to disabled residents at the Wesley Health Care Center in Saratoga Springs, where she is a Eucharistic minister to residents who have been injured and paralyzed by accidents and diseases, "just like myself," she said. Unlike her, they can no longer live independently.

"It's the interaction with the people that I find the most challenging," she said. "I'm finding my own reaction is what I learn from. They're in situations much worse than what I'm experiencing. They're not in the world. They're not home with their families. They're struggling to find a meaningful life being separate from people. Bringing communion is reaffirming that they're people, too, and that God loves them."

Mrs. Beehner admits, however, that there still remain days when she feels discouraged.

"If you end up living with a disability," she said, "you do find life twice as challenging. There are days when I just want to jump out of the chair...when I think, 'If I could only walk....'"

(3/20/2003) [[In-content Ad]]