Beth Deloria, founder of TeamUP and the Get Back UP Today movement, has become the first mobility-impaired runner to complete 100 races in the Rock’n’Roll Marathon series, as well as the 11th athlete overall to reach the 100th-race mark.
Deloria attained this milestone after completing a race in Raleigh, NC, on April 8, 2018.
Called the “World’s Largest Running Series,” the Rock’n’Roll Marathon spans the globe with more than 500,000 participants in 30 locations each year.
Deloria uses races such as these to raise awareness about foot drop paralysis, a form of paralysis that affects the foot and ankle.
She was joined at the Raleigh event by 11 of her teammates on TeamUP, which is composed of people who all live with foot drop paralysis and use orthoses such as the Allard AFO brace to assist with their mobility.
Several of her teammates competed alongside her in the 5K or Half-Marathon distances, and they all participated in the 1-mile walk, declaring it “Walk a Mile in our Shoes,” according to a media release from Rockaway, NJ-based Allard USA Inc.
The goals of TeamUP and the Get Back UP Today movement are to inspire and educate people living with foot drop that they do not have to suffer needlessly, and to spread awareness of the common, yet frequently undiagnosed condition.
To watch Beth Deloria complete her 100th race, the video is available on YouTube.
[Source: Allard USA Inc]