Josh Cassidy of Toronto won the men’s wheelchair division of the 44th Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race on Thursday.
Wheeling in wet and sporadically rainy conditions, Cassidy finished the 6.2-mile course in 21:14. The race hadn’t been run in the rain since 1994. The race started at 6:45 a.m. at Lenox Square under yellow-flag conditions signifying exercise caution because of the weather. The start-time temperature was 70 degrees.
Josh Cassidy won the men’s wheelchair division in 21:14. He also won in 2010. Manuela Schar won the women’s wheelchair division in 25:43. This was her first win at the Peachtree.
Cassidy said he almost didn’t enter the race because United Airlines lost his wheelchair going from a race in Birmingham back home to Toronto last week.
He just reclaimed the chair Wednesday night in the Toronto airport.
He had already cancelled his flight to Atlanta. After reclaiming his chair, he booked a new flight last night and arrived near midnight. He got three hours of sleep.
Cassidy said he pieced together an old chair, but said it would be like competing in “old running shoes.”
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