Mom went the extra mile
As the sun rose, five athletes prepared to run the July 4 Blue Ridge Freedom 5K race.
They were all in wheelchairs.
Before the national anthem, 19-year-old Brady Smith said he was “good” and planned to “win.”
Alongside him were fellow racers Aiden Mullins, Gunner Patterson, Lilly Kicklighter and Ethan Kicklighter.
“I’ve been pushing him in races since he was small,” said Ashley Weeks, his mother and the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Kyle Pease Foundation. The foundation helps give opportunities to athletes with disabilities.
Often, people see being unable to walk as something that inevitably isolates, Weeks said.
“I know what it feels like to never have your kid included in anything,” Weeks said.
But being unable to walk doesn’t have to be like that, she said.
With courage and commitment, anything is possible.
“He’s like, ‘I want to run.’” Weeks said. “And I’m like, ‘That sounds good, man. We’ll make it happen.’”
His mom agreed to his request and literally went the extra mile with him, helping him run with the Fannin County High School cross country team.
“He loved the fact that he’s on a team, that he got to ride on the bus,” Weeks said.
Smith and Weeks trained together, and he got a special racing wheelchair.
Together, they have run as far as a half-marathon.
“Limitations are what you set,” Weeks said. “Sometimes, the people who are watching can get just as much blessing as he does or I do.”
In the race Friday, Smith finished with a time of just over 26 minutes.
“If all I have to do is put out physical effort to literally change a kid’s life and make them feel like they are included and they’re important like anybody else is, that’s a game changer for me,” Weeks said.