Ok. I'll try to explain the politics of chair race without taking to long!!!!
You have two types of chair push rim and crank.
A push rim is the old fashion type, where you have to be squashed up like your in a sardine can and have your hand on your wheel rim all the time, except for turning.
A crank is new, you have a set os handles witch you turn around and gears. Stearing is either done by leaning (freedon ryder) of pulling the front wheel handle bar, like the push rims. (all other makes)
The crank chair started to gain popularity when a retired professional pushrim used one in the Boston marathon. Jue to the damage useing a push rim causes he could no longer use one.
Fighting started between the push rims and cranks, with the push rims saying that the cranks should not be allowed. The same people who had been fighting for years to be allowed into a race where now saying that they did not want fellow disabled people allowed!!!!
A agreement was reached for the Para olympics as a buch of push rims said thet would not roll, and the crank wheelchair was put in with the cycle devision. Yet for the tour de France they are counted as a wheelchair and not allowed to enter!!!!
Some races will have seperate classes for both types of chair, some like Disney let us roll, but do not count our results, others like St. Louis, will not let us in at all.
Speed of the chairs depend on the athlete, if you give an gold medalist both chairs, the they will be faster in the crank, but until you really get to that level there is not much in it. I have had a pusher beat me and I bet them, it just depends on who turns up and the course.
The crank chair has allowed more disabled people into the sport, purley because of the position your body is in, from either sitting completly upright or lying down flat. The lower to the ground you are the faster you go, my new chair is 2" of the ground.
Some people just don't like how you have to sit in the push rim, others like me can not do it because of medical reasons. I go to the Mayo clinic and if they say not to do something, i'm going to listen.
The crank chair is gaining in popularity and the push rim is dying a slow death, soon the only push rims around will be the people who want to be considered for the para olympics.
A normal feild of chair races would be around 5 - 10 and mainly cranks, New York marathon had around 75, cranks where limitted to 50.
Unlike runners a lot of the chairs will only come out to play if there is $$$ to be won, or if they are trying to get noticed on the circuit, like I am at the moment.
Most chairs are either elite or sub elite, you will get a few fun chairs, but because of the speed there are not very many, NYC and WDW are the only places I know they come to.
The crank chair is getting more acceptance thanks to the "Achillies Freedom Team" this is a team of wounded vet who once they are medical fit get put into a crank and given the opportunity to train and compete in a marathon.
I have had the honour of racing with the team and they are a great buch, some of them are now sub eilte others are there just for fun. They where racing at the WDW 1/2, they wanted to do the full but Disney would not allow them.
If you saw a freedom ryder then you saw me, as there are not many of us that race that chair, I have only met one other!!!
I race the freedom ryder and my new chair will be a top end, so i'm lying flat, it will depend on the course as to which chair is used.
To me I see the crank chair as the evolution of the push rim, there are just some dinosaurs who don't like change. Allmost all of the para olympinas race and train with both types.
The only problem is that a lot of able bodied men use the crank chair for an upper body work out and are racing.
There is nothing to stop this and there was an able bodied racer in the WDW marathon this year, luckily he did not finish.
A few races, Boston, where you have to have you medical grading card (this grading is is done for the para olympics).
NY and Miami only allow people who members of Achillies International, therefor are trying to stop the able bodied from entering this happend after an able bodied man won Miami a couple of times!!!
You get a lot of mud slinging form the disabled athletes claiming that someone is not disabled, or disabled enough. Thats why I have my medical grading card with me at the races.
