We’re over this whole recession debate.
Every business guru with an opinion and a hole to express it seems obliged to answer whether we are, are not, or soon will be in a recession. As debates go, this one is strictly between people with incomes immune to economic gravity.
That would include media mavens and business gurus. For the rest of us, the question was settled about the same time “House For Sale” signs began sporting Spanish Moss.
Recession? Does Bin Laden shit in the woods? Just reading and thinking about the local economy is enough to make you downright downhearted these days, unless you’re able to put it all in proper perspective. For us, proper perspective landed in our inbox the other day disguised as a press release from the Florida chapter of the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). We learned by reading it that CAF has teamed up with the Gasparilla Distance Classic Association to revive the 15K elite wheelchair race.
If you think you’ve got challenges in your life, subtract a major limb or two, rinse and recalculate. Imagine a view of your future, and the world, as a 15-year-old kid confined to a wheelchair. Now, that’s challenging. But life is for living and you’ve got to make the most of it, which is where CAF comes in by helping people with physical disabilities find fulfillment through physicial fitness and competitive athletics.
The 15K elite wheelchair race used to be a fixture at the annual Gasparilla Distance Classic. In 1997, according to CAF, more than 75 of the world’s top racers competed here. But race organizers wanted to give more money from the event to local charities, so they stopped awarding prize money to the wheelchair race winner. As CAF tells it, anyway, that decision put an unintended end to the 15K elite wheelchair race in Tampa. Until now. The prize money is back. $10K to be exact. And so are the big-time wheelchair racers. Two dozen of the country’s best to be exact.
When we use terms like “eilte,” “big time” and “country’s best,” don’t get the idea that we’re just being charitable. We aren’t. These people are serious athletes who train and compete for real. They can flat out kick anyone’s ass in their events - physically disabled or not. And that’s precisely what we think is so supremely cool about CAF and the 15K elite wheelchair race in Tampa this weekend. High-end athletes tend to inspire people by example, especially young people. Physically disabled high-end athletes tend to inspire physically disabled young people to recognize that determination, competitive fire and perseverence can produce some damn fine results.
Susan Harmeling, the Executive Director of the Gasparilla Distance Classic Association, said “competitive wheelchair racing on the streets of Tampa (will make) the community more aware of how participating in events like Gasparilla’s 15K or 5K can provide those with physical challenges a tremendous boost in self-confidence and purpose in their lives.”
Through CAF’s “Race for a Reason” program, able-bodied runners who register to race in any of the four Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Distance Classic Race Weekend events (this Saturday and Sunday Feb. 9 & 10), are eligible to join Team CAF Gasparilla 2008. By pledging to raise a minimum of $100 each for CAF, these runners will help the Wheelchair Division become a permanent element of all future Gasparilla events.
But you don’t have to be a runner or even an athlete to join. Just go here and do what you can. It’s worth the effort.
Lew Friedland, founder of CAF’s Florida Chapter, said, “CAF is here to help those individuals reach goals they never dreamed they could achieve. We’re finding they can actually accomplish anything they put their mind to, and it is impressive to see.”
Amen to that. It’s enough to make you forget the recession.