Forty years ago, the finish of the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon left race officials with a scenario they had not envisioned before that moment.
The first contestant to finish the race was the only wheelchair racer in the field.
And race officials weren’t the only ones who were puzzled.
Ken Archer, who had won the wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon earlier that year, said afterward, “I really wasn’t expecting anything like this.”
At the time, officials thought Archer was the first wheelchair racer to enter the event, and his fastest time left everyone involved a bit unsure of what should happen next. Marathon organizers gave Archer a special award and declared runner Bob McOmber, who finished almost two minutes later, as the winner.
It triggered a widespread conversation in running communities that eventually led to wheelchair racer categories that are now an established and important part of marathons. Quite a bit has changed since that era, starting with the racing equipment itself.
Marc Van Rafelghem, a 62-year-old scientist from West Chester, Ohio, was the first wheelchair racer across the line during Sunday’s race. He finished the half marathon in 1:30.11, his latest extended race finish in a lifetime full of them.
Rory Cooper of Gibsonia, Pa., won the marathon wheelchair division at 1:50.15.
Van Rafelghem said he has done 21 full marathons and has lost count of half marathons, estimating he has completed more than 40, including this one.
An alumnus of Wright State University in Dayton, Van Rafelghem and a friend decided to first enter a competitive race in the Detroit Marathon in 1983.
It was a spur-of-the-moment urge that required some creativity to actually enter.
“A friend of mine and I decided on a fluke that we wanted to try road races,” he said. “We didn’t own any racing wheelchairs ourselves, so we borrowed homemade racing wheelchairs that were made at Wright State in the machine shop. They used square aluminum tubing and spare parts from old wheelchairs, and these things weighed about 40 pounds.”
On Sunday, Van Rafelghem finished in a lightweight three-wheeler adorned with the logo of his employer, Proctor & Gamble.
Van Rafelghem said he has seen the full evolution of racing wheelchairs, which he uses because he was born with a neurological disorder.
“I could walk, and it didn’t become evident until I was probably 8 years old and I started dragging my feet. When I was 19, I started walking with canes,” Van Rafelghem said.
Van Rafelghem said he always was into sports, including competitive swimming. While at Wright State, he started competing in wheelchair sports.
He played wheelchair basketball while living in Madison, Wis. — although he admits it was mostly for something to do during the brutal winters — but he always preferred long-distance racing.
“Anything longer than nine to 10 miles is my preferred race,” he said.
Van Rafelghem competes mostly in Ohio nowadays, and drives north for the Glass City Marathon since his son, Christian, went to the University of Toledo.
The passion for road racing, however, remains squarely with dad.
“He ran his first marathon last year, and he said, ‘One and done,’” said his wife, Dawn Van Rafelghem.
In preparation for marathons, Marc said he trains with a roller system in his home and also weight lifts in the gym at work, and has used a personal trainer in recent years.
Shoulder injuries have limited Marc to half marathons, and a bout with pneumonia made training for the Glass City Marathon challenging.
But, like all the other races, Marc was cheered across the finish line.
It has been a 36-year passion, and Marc said he’ll keep competing in the future.
“As long as I can,” he said.
First Published April 28, 2019, 7:20 p.m.
