In the Boston Marathon, the legendary "Heartbreak Hill" has broken many spirits with its grueling climb. For LAS student Amanda McGrory, however, it was the downhill portion of the race that posed the greatest challenge, as she finished second this April in the women's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon.
Going downhill, wheelchairs can reach breakneck speeds over 30 miles per hour, says McGrory, a junior in psychology at the University of Illinois. And at those speeds, trying to push would only slow you down, so you simply let the chair carry you.
This proved to be a disadvantage for McGrory, who didn't have as much body weight to propel her chair downhill as the Japanese racer who took first in the Boston Marathon. But second place is still an impressive finish considering this is only her first year racing marathons. In fact, in her first six marathons, she placed first in two of them, including a nail-biting victory in the prestigious New York Marathon last November.
In New York, McGrory endured a crash at the start of the race. But she still managed to catch the lead pack and wound up crossing the finish line two seconds ahead of the runner-up.
"I hadn't even considered the possibility of winning the marathon until it was down to the two of us," McGrory says. "When we got into Central Park and there was only a mile left, I kept thinking about how tired I was and how heavy my arms felt. But then I realized that everyone else felt the same way. They had just pushed 25 miles too."
Although this is McGrory's first year racing marathons, she has been a competitive wheelchair athlete since age 11, when she began racing in junior national events. However, she actually got her first taste of racing at an event sponsored by her hospital when she was only six-a year after the morning that changed her life.
Growing up in Kennett Square, Pa., McGrory contracted a rare viral infection at age five when she woke up one morning and told her mother, "My legs feel funny." After her mother rubbed her legs, thinking it was simply a cramp, it soon became apparent that it was far more serious. McGrory couldn't walk, and hospital tests revealed that she had transverse myelitis, in which her immune system attacks her spinal cord.
With her indomitable spirit, McGrory tackled every sport imaginable, including tennis, archery, golf, swimming, skiing, basketball, and track. Then she went on to become one of the top wheelchair track stars in the junior division (under age 18). McGrory's first year competing in the adult division was tough; but if the past year is any indication, she has found her stride, winning the gold in the 800-meter at the world championships in the Netherlands last summer. She even beat the world record-holder to do it.
At Illinois, McGrory is a starting guard for the Illini women's wheelchair basketball team, which won its second consecutive national championship this past season. She also is on the Illinois wheelchair track team, competing in everything from the 400- to 5,000-meter.
Over the years, McGrory has had her share of crashes; but the worst one came in high school when she couldn't make a fast turn, went into a ravine, and then slammed into a light pole. The force of the crash split her helmet and gave her a concussion and bruises-but no broken bones.
Like most obstacles, the crash didn't slow her down. Today, she maintains an arduous schedule, combining schoolwork with 100 to 150 miles of training each week. An Academic All-American in 2004, McGrory hopes to go on to graduate school in psychology, a field of study that certainly plays a role in racing.
"I don't know if it's my psychology training or just my own personality, but I keep in mind that it's just a race," says McGrory. "I want to do well and get a great time, but it's not the end of the world if I don't. I also think I do a good job keeping myself calm when people sprint ahead of me. I stay confident of my own abilities. I stay confident of myself."
McGrory is following the path of another famous LAS alumna, Jean Driscoll (speech communication '91, rehabilitation '93), who eventually won the Boston Marathon eight times in the wheelchair division and won a gold medal at the 2000 Paralympic Games. Driscoll gave McGrory a pep talk before the Boston race.
