By Khuong Phan
The Childses have competed in dozens of races and have always been welcomed with open arms; however, that all changed recently.
Like most kids, Marcus loves Disney World. Every year, the park holds a marathon and half-marathon and Childs thought it would be great thing to do. Hearing that the event fills up quickly, Childs mailed his and Marcus’ registration forms and fees — $210 total — for the January 2008 race last month. Not even a week later, Childs received a call from the race organizers stating that his son could not compete in the marathon because he was not 18.
Childs’ spirits quickly picked up, however, when he was told that Marcus was old enough for the half-marathon. On March 19, he mailed out a new registration forms and $190 for the race and a few days later he received this message on his answering machine:
“We received the application for yourself and for Marcus. For the event for that weekend, they do not allow one person to push another person. Everyone has to finish the event under their power … We just wanted let you know that we’ll be putting the applications in the mail and getting them back to you.”
Childs called back and was told the same thing again. He was stunned.
“I think there was a moment when my jaw hit the ground,” he said. “This is Disney World. They talk about dreams and about dreams coming true. Well, Marcus and I have them, too. They’re just not completely mainstream; they’re just a little different.”
To add insult to injury, Childs received the registration forms in the mail, but not the check.
Determined to not be turned away, Childs called the Chronicle for help, and the newspaper, along with television broadcasting partner, Bay News 9, began making phone calls this week.
After repeated calls, Disney representative Jacob DiPietre said, “This is a very unfortunate situation. The Disney marathon and half-marathon are USA Track and Field-sanctioned events, and we have to adhere to certain guidelines, which include participants must participate under their own power.”
DiPietre added, “These stipulations aren’t unique to Disney, but also apply to the Boston and New York City marathons.”
DiPietre further cited safety concerns and that in order to compete in marathon or half-marathon, runners had to provide records that showed they could finish the race in 3 hours and 30 minutes (marathon) or 1 hour and 45 minutes (half-marathon).
However, the Disney Web site clearly states that runners need only to keep a pace of 16 minutes a mile, and they are allowed to finish the half-marathon in 3 hours and 30 minutes, and the marathon in 7 hours.
The Childses best time in a half-marathon is 2 hours and 24 minutes, or 11 minutes a mile.
Working in Childs’ favor was that his predicament isn’t unprecedented. Dick and Rick Hoyt are a Massachusetts father-and-son team that has been competing in various events since 1979. Like Marcus, Rick Hoyt suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, and during races, his father pushes him. In total, the Hoyts have completed 942 races, including six Ironman triathlons and 25 Boston Marathons. (During the triathlons, Dick Hoyt literally pulls his son in a raft during the swimming portion and then has him sit on his bike during the cycling portion.)
The Hoyts serve as a guidepost to Childs.
“To be honest, I was a little disappointed to find out they were out there. I thought I invented it,” Childs said with a laugh. “They certainly make me take it to the next level.
“I think every golfer talks about Tiger Woods. I think every basketball player talks about Michael Jordan. Every dad who pushes a disabled kid in a wheelchair talks about the Hoyts.”
Asked about how the Hoyts could be allowed to compete for all these years — particularly in Boston Marathons, which like the Disney event are UASTF sanctioned — DiPietre said that he could not speak on behalf of those other organizers.
Additionally, Jim Estes, the USATF’s long-distance running program manager, could not find a specific rule disallowing someone in the Childses’ situation from competing. He stated that the pair could fall under rules for wheelchair races or possibly the situation could be viewed as an athlete unfairly receiving assistance.
Admittedly, Estes said that this was the first time he had been called about such a situation, and said that while the USATF does sanction events, it’s ultimately up to event organizers to implement the rules as they see fit.
“It’s kind of like you’re driving down the highway and the speed limit is 70 and you pass a cop doing 78,” Estes said. “Some cops let you go, some don’t. I guess some organizers see this as it’s a feel-good thing and it’s a way to let a father and son spend more quality time, but you get the opposite people who say the kid’s not running and he’s not getting into the results.”
Childs bristled at Disney citing safety concerns, because he and Marcus have dozens of races under their belt and have never been hurt nor have they hurt anyone else.
“If this was our first rodeo, maybe I would have bought that, but we’ve done a lot of races and it’s never been a safety issue,” Childs said.
Chris Moling, a competitive runner and triathlete, who helps to coordinate races in Citrus County and throughout the state of Florida, backed Childs’ claim stating that he’s never seen any safety issues in races that he’s coordinated. He further added that from personal experience, he’s done the Disney races multiple times and believed that the course is safer than most because it’s closed and has many stations where athletes can receive help if they need it.
“Having done it, the Childses would present no safety concerns,” Moling said. “Steve is conscientious and wary, he’s not going to create havoc or any kind of situation for other athletes. If anything, they’ll take the back of the pack and work they’re way forward just so they won’t get in anyone’s way.”
As the week wore on, Disney officials offered a possible solution to the problem. Citing safety reasons as their main concern, they called Childs and asked if he would be OK with having someone ride a bicycle and towing Marcus from behind during the race while he ran alongside them.
Childs refused the idea, believing that it wasn’t any safer and also because they were missing the most important point of all.
“It’s about us doing it together,” Child said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
The clouds finally broke early Thursday evening when DiPietre called the Chronicle to say that the Childses had been categorized in the wheelchair division and after much consideration and consultation, “We changed (Childs’) categorization to able-bodied and he will be able to compete.”
After weeks of getting nowhere, Childs was elated to hear the news.
“I know that we had to fight for it a little bit and that just makes me want to train harder and go all out,” he said. “I’m really going to try get a (personal record) at this event. I look at it now and what a pain in the butt it was to get here, and really all we want to do is just race.”
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