One of the best training methods

How long is the wheelchair marathon?

The length of a wheelchair marathon is the same as that of any marathon, which is 26.2-miles or 42.195-kilometres. A marathon race is this length because of a fabled run told in Greek mythology. The marathoncommemorates the journey, of this distance, that Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, made running to Athens from the Battle of Marathon to report the victory.

In most marathons, participants in wheelchairs race before their running counterparts but they cover the same distance, and over the same roads as the able-bodied competitors.

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When was the first wheelchair marathon held?

The first wheelchair marathon took place in Toledo, Ohio in 1974. It was won by Bob Hall in a time of two hours and fifty-four minutes.The following year the Boston Marathon included the participation of wheelchairs, but it was not until the year 2000 that a wheelchair division was included in the New York City Marathon, where, incredibly in 1977 wheelchair participants were banned!!! In 2012, the Canadian athlete, Josh Cassidy, won the Boston wheelchair marathon in the fastest ever time of 1:18:25.

There are now many wheelchair marathons that take place around the world, but there are six highly prestigious events that are known as the marathon majors.

The six best marathons to compete in a wheelchair

1. The Tokyo Marathon- takes place at the end of February or the beginning of March each year. This year the men’s wheelchair race was won by the Swiss athlete Marcel Hug known as the “Silver Bullet,” and the women’s event by another competitor from Switzerland,Manuela Schar.
2. The Boston Marathon- takes place mid-April, and this year’s wheelchair events were won by the American Daniel Romanchuk and Manuela Schar.

3. The London Marathon- is run at the end of April, and Daniel Romanchuk and Manuela Schar took the victories in this event also. British wheelchair athlete David Weir has won the London marathon on eight occasions, the last time in2018, and this year he came in fifth.
4. The Berlin Marathon- is coming up at the end of September. Last year, the Canadian, Brent Lakatos, won the men’s event, and Manuela Schar the women’s event.
5. The Chicago Marathon- will take place in mid-October. In the 2018 event,the unstoppable pair Daniel Romanchuk and Manuela Schar took the wheelchair events.
6. The New York Marathon takes place in early November, and once again the wheelchair events were won last year by Daniel Romanchuk and Manuela Schar.

Who can compete in a wheelchair marathon?

There are different classifications for wheelchair athletes who are amputees or in a wheelchair as a result of a spinal cord injury.

Those classified as T51 or T52 have restricted use of their arms, those with a classification T53 have restricted movement of the abdominal regions, and those in classification T54 (the most common) are totally functional from the waist up.

There are strict regulations that govern both the competitors and the wheelchairs used in racing events. Most racing wheelchairs are extremely lightweight and have pneumatic tyres.

How do you train for a wheelchair marathon?

Racing chair rollers

One of the best training methods is to use racing chair rollers. They have four independent rollers with variable resistances, are Bluetooth enabled, and can record and save your training details, so you can measure our progress. Additionally, they are lightweight and easy to transport so they are ideal for pre-race warm-ups and cooldowns. Listen to what some of the top racing wheelchair athletes have to say about the Invictus racing chair rollers and watch them in a training session.

If you’re not quite ready to tackle a marathon, but like the idea of getting fitter, why not try out the Invictus Active Trainer. This roller is designed for use with any standard wheelchair and lets you get a great upper body workoutand enjoy the multiple benefits that an aerobic workout can bringto your mental and physical health. Click here to arrange your free, seven-day, no-obligation home trial. Who knows? You could be a wheelchair marathon winner in the making.