Harry McKinstry Completes Boston Marathon Backwards in Wheelchair – runnersworld.com

Like many Boston Marathon runners, Harry McKinstry, 53, took the downhills a bit faster than he’d planned. In fact, though his typical pace is around 8:30 or 9-minute miles, he was clocking sub-7 paces at some points.

That’s when Michelle Desmarais, his longtime friend and guide, told him to stop waving and high-fiving and put his hand back on the brake.

McKinstry, a former steelworker, races in a wheelchair facing backward. A workplace accident in 1990—in which he was struck by a two-ton steel beam—caused a traumatic brain injury and left him with limited use of his left side of his body.

Now, he completes distance events in a custom-designed racing vehicle, pushing with his right leg, then rolling forward, then pushing again. He uses his right arm to operate the brake. To steer, he shifts his weight. He finished Boston Monday in a personal-best 4:27:49.

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Two guides at a time, volunteers from the organization Achilles International, run forward alongside him, alerting him to terrain changes and potential obstacles. “They serve as his eyes and ears,” said Erin Spaulding, president of Achilles International Connecticut, who works closely with race officials and otherwise coordinates McKinstry’s logistics.

Courtesy of Erin Spaulding/Achilles International-Connecticut

There’s a handle on the front of the chair they can tap, but not grab, if there’s a safety issue such as someone darting in front of him (guidelines governing wheelchair sports specify that McKinstry must both propel and control the chair on his own).

Though he’s relatively new to endurance sports, McKinstry has an athletic background. A few years before his accident, he was captain of his high-school wrestling team. About five years ago, he began working out at Chapter 126 Sports & Fitness, an adaptive gym near his home in Bristol, Connecticut.

It was there that he heard about Bill Reilly, or “Backwards Bill,” a wheelchair racer with cerebral palsy and an inverted racing strategy. “It’s something I thought I really could never do, compete like that, until I saw a video of him,” McKinstry told Runner’s World. “I thought, if he could do it, I could.”

At first, McKinstry started pushing backward in his regular wheelchair—starting with a mile, building up to a 5K. But the chair wasn’t designed for the motion, and as he built up his distance and speed, the lack of a brake posed a problem.

Plus, he’d “caught the bug,” and aimed to complete larger and longer races, which often dictate certain specifications for racing chairs. So Spaulding worked with Achilles International and manufacturer Eagle Sportschairs to design one that fit the rules and could accommodate his disability, including the reverse-facing seat and the brake on the right.

McKinstry completed his first marathon, New York City, in 2017, finishing in 6:53:38. Last year, he did his hometown Hartford Marathon, then New York again a week later. His time there—5:00:42—qualified him for Boston, his fourth marathon (the qualifying time for mobility-impaired competitors at the time was six hours).

To prepare, he followed a training schedule designed by his Achilles guides, including Olympic cyclist Jimena Dolzadelli. Most runners would recognize its components—intervals, hill repeats over a nearby bridge, and long runs of 20 or more miles.

Courtesy of Erin Spaulding/Achilles International-Connecticut

A rotating group of more than 20 guides, including many who raced with him in Boston, lead him through low-traffic cemeteries and rail trails near his home.

Two to three days per week, he works out at Chapter 126 using the adaptive equipment and with trainers like Stephanie Gesualdi, who specialize in working with athletes with disabilities. Leg presses keep his lower-body muscles strong for pushing, and core strength and manual stretching improve his mobility and help ward off overuse injuries.

The strategy kept him healthy heading into Boston. Starting from the bus ride out to the race start in Hopkinton, McKinstry and his guides said the day was a special experience. “We’re all there chasing that same unicorn,” said guide Mike Feinberg. “It’s all a big community, whether you’re riding on wheels or you’re running or you’re running on blades.”

Feinberg guided through the first half of the race. Friends who’d run Boston assured him this was the “easy,” downhill part of the course. Of course, they hadn’t had to complete it accompanying a racer on wheels. “It’s definitely a challenge to keep up,” Feinberg said.

Desmarais jumped in at that point. Another guide, Monte Wagner, ran with McKinstry the whole way.

The team affixed a sign to the chair that said “Go, Harry.” The crowds roared his name so loudly guides had to come up with a backup system of shoulder taps and hand signals to alert him of potential obstacles. “For all of us, and especially for Harry, it was like 26.2 miles of adrenaline,” Desmarais said.

Boston’s narrow streets and crowded course kept them on their toes—as they passed through the Newton Hills and toward the city, they navigated cramping and dehydrated runners who had slowed and stopped. Still, the cheers and energy carried them through to the finish line. Once they crossed it, “I couldn’t believe it was over. I wanted to go back,” McKinstry said.

Besides aiming for Boston again, McKinstry has other big goals—including a 50-mile ultramarathon. The biggest challenge, Spaulding said, is finding guides who can match his pace and distances.

The selflessness and commitment of those who enable him to run, McKinstry said, inspires him. “I’ve always told them, they are my oil, I’m the motor,” he said. As long as they’re beside him, “I’ll keep going.”

Contributing Writer Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013.