NOVA Parks News
THROWBACK THURSDAY—NOVA PARKS--A RACE FOR CHAMPIONS
Could you imagine participating in a 52-mile race? It would start in Purcellville, Virginia, follow the full length of the W&OD bike trail, all the way Arlington. Yet it would not stop there. It would continue into Washington, D.C., and end at Freedom Plaza. But here’s the thing; to compete in this race you could not run, you would have to use a wheelchair.
For most of us, just the idea of something like this seems daunting. For top-ranked wheelchair athletes, however, such a race could be just another endeavor that would prove that they are some of the strongest, toughest, and most capable competitors in the sporting world. And in 1989, with the help of NOVA Parks, this race became a reality.
The first Wheelchair Race of Champions began as a group of athletes bunched next to a defunct grain mill off a pebbled side road in Purcellville, Virginia. Even the starter's pistol didn't work the first time around. And at the end of the race, after 52 miles of blown tires, persistent rain showers and grit-splattered teeth, the racers were greeted by only a handful of reporters bundled under umbrellas. (Pictured below are a few of the racers in that first race as they pass the old Vienna train station.)
What eventually would become the premier race in the nation for long-distance wheelchair athletes did not anticipate its own success. But it was the race’s potential that captivated competitors and sponsors and transformed it into a big event. And as soon as the next year’s race, in 1990, receptions, seminars and luncheons preceded the competition. Many more racers were also involved. Organizers raised $250,000 (as opposed to $18,000 in ‘89), enabling them to offer upward of $30,000 in prize money, making a true national championship where before one existed only in appearance.
NOVA Parks was proud to be a part of those races and has always made it a point to offer recreational opportunities for all who wish to enjoy its parkland. Well before the passage of the American’s with Disabilities Act in 1990 NOVA Parks was on the forefront of not only adding access dimensions, such as handicap parking spaces and wheelchair ramps but was also providing opportunities for the differently-abled (such as the para-course pictured below from the 1980s).
To this day NOVA Parks continues to work hard to maintain and grow accessibility throughout their holdings.
