Any tips or info for participating in a wheelchair?

[ZJ5/9D47]

Soon after returning from my first runDisney trip, a car crash permanently ended my hopes of racing bipedally again in this lifetime. The good news is that my upper body is continuing to heal and I even swam 2 ½ miles yesterday.

My spirit though has been quite unhappy with the new living arrangements and after lots of rehab I've started looking into participating in "running" events using a wheelchair.

Any tips or info about how to participate in the runDisney races using a wheelchair would be greatly appreciated, as well as anything related to wheelchair racing in general.

Are wheelchairs even allowed at each of the races because it seems they weren't even recently and the official website doesn't have any info I can find? I'd love to do the Dopey Challenge, especially since I don't really have an excuse now that I can do it all while seated and I would get to start in the first corral giving me plenty of time for photos with the characters.

 

[StarGirl11]

Can you shoot me a PM? I want to point you in the direction of people on Facebook that will be able to help you a bit more than on here. (There aren't a ton of adaptives on here in my experience). But I don't like splashing the name of the group everywhere over the forums.

 

[anchor262]

Long time board lurker as I planned my race weekend but I have info here that might help!
I would recommend looking into your local Achilles International chapter! RunDisney and Achilles have a close relationship through Cigna, and Achilles athletes race at a lot of runDisney events. More than that, Achilles gives access to training/community/network and both casual running and racing for athletes with disabilities all over the country. There are chapters in most major cities (we can be recognized by our bright yellow shirts).
Regarding rules and chairs, my understanding is Rundisney requires a racing chair of some sort for all races longer than the 5k. This can be a racing pushrim, adapting your typical chair into a racing chair, a handcycle, etc. I’m not sure if this rule still applies - the last I heard of it was 2016.
There are organizations like CAF that give grants for racing chairs/handcyles, and groups like Achilles can provide access as well.