In years past, Sean Hollonbeck has paced the finish line at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race, waiting for his twin brother Scot to roll through.

But on Friday, Scot, a 33-year-old paraplegic athlete and 14-year Peachtree Road Race veteran, says he'll be the one idling while his identical twin plays catch-up.

"He's decent," said Scot, who's finished second in the race twice. "But I'm going to kill him."

Sean Hollonbeck, who lives near his brother in Atlanta's Inman Park, and Canadian Kevin Smith will be the first nondisabled racers to compete in the Peachtree's wheelchair division. Though they won't be eligible to win the $28,000 purse, they'll compete with more than 100 wheelchair racers from 17 countries over the 6.2-mile course.

Mostly, the two men will be competing with their brothers. Kevin will take on his brother, Kelly, a longtime wheelchair racer who is largely responsible for both Kevin and Sean being in the race.

Kelly Smith's quest began last year when he e-mailed race director Rebecca Washburn to seek permission for his brother to compete in the 2002 race. His request was too late for last year's race, but Washburn said it influenced the decision to allow the two nondisabled racers to compete this year.

Once Scot Hollonbeck, who regularly competes against Kelly Smith, heard that Kelly's brother had been accepted this year, he requested that his twin also be allowed.

The "wheelers," as athletes who compete in wheelchairs are called, had no problem with the two additional competitors, Washburn said.

"In the foot race, people compete with their siblings, " Washburn said. "This was the only way the people in the wheelchairs could do it."

"I tease him about it," said Sean, who ran long distance on the University of Illinois track team. "But there's no way I will even come close to competing."

The Hollonbeck brothers joke about beating each other --- now. But it seemed impossible to joke --- or compete again --- after a drunken driver in July 1984 struck Scot while he was riding his bike to swim practice in his hometown of Rochelle, Ill. The crash broke his back.

"Prior to the accident we did everything together --- football, swimming and basketball," Sean said. "After the accident, it separated us for a while."

"One of the challenges of disability is that your life starts to take a different path from your family," said Scot, who won two gold medals in the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games and a silver in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. "They're in a softball league, and you're in a wheelchair league."

Sean, a battalion flight surgeon for 3-160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) (SOAR), hasn't forgotten that morning. He remembers hearing the ambulance sirens. He remembers his mother telling him not to go outside. He remembers feeling helpless.

"I decided I never wanted to be in that position again," Sean said.

Sean, who has spent two of the past three years in Afghanistan and Iraq, doesn't take spending time with family for granted. That's why he borrowed a wheelchair from his brother's friend to use in the Peachtree Road Race.

Today, the brothers are closer than ever. Scot recently talked Sean into moving next door.

Scot, who trains six days a week, said that he's just happy he gets to spend time with his brother.

"I knew we'd get to hit the track and work out together," Scot said. "Now if I could just get him to get a bit faster."

Scot is so competitive he requested his private training spot not be printed. But he couldn't care less who crosses the finish line first, as long as he meets up with his twin at the finish line.

Then again, Scot was born three minutes earlier, so he's used to waiting around on his twin.