by Annah Chaya
The Celebrate Love Always team, or CLA, was created by Mike Connelly in August 2016 after finding that there was a need for adaptive running chairs to promote inclusion in local races. Adaptive running chairs are wheeled devices that allow individuals who have mobility challenges and constraints to participate in events that include running.
“Once I started running marathons and became more aware of people who are using adaptive running chairs in not only marathons but shorter races as well, that’s when I started getting interested in raising awareness in communities that don’t have chairs, specifically in the Lehigh Valley,” Connelly said.
Connelly, who lost two of his children to neuroaxonal dystrophy, understood the need for mobility for children, especially those that may face mobility constraints. He decided to try to find a way to give back to the community and in doing so ran his first race as a “crew chief.” A “crew chief” is a term used by the CLA team for the runner pushing the chair. Individuals with mobility challenges are known as the “driver.” In some cases, the crew chief and the driver will know one another, but in other cases, the CLA accepts crew chief volunteers to push the adaptive running chair in a race.
Eric Suro is a volunteer crew chief who is a part of the CLA team. He has been running in races and events for the past 13 years and has been running with adaptive running chairs for the past five.
He began pushing the chairs for a Delaware-based team called Fusion Inclusion, which was originated by a friend of Suro’s. Eventually, Suro was introduced to Connelly where he began participating in Lehigh Valley races with the CLA team.
Suro recalled how those that run with the chairs start a minute or two before the rest of the crowd in the St. Luke’s Half and how amazing of an experience it is to watch the race leaders catch up and shout words of encouragement to the crew chief and driver.
Suro has pushed an adaptive running chair four different times in the St. Luke’s races, once in the 5K and three times in the half marathon, and has run with three different drivers. Despite finishing the 2022 half in 1:36:06, the race is about much more than a fast time.
“The races have never been about winning anything,” Suro said. “It’s always been about trying to accomplish something new and prove that I can do it and push my limits.”
The CLA team has donated four chairs over the years. The first chair was donated to Fusion Inclusion in Newark, Del., the second chair to the Lehigh Valley, the third chair to Pathways for Exceptional Children in Montville, N.J., and the fourth chair was donated to FIDEC Foundation in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Celebrate Love Always has raised over $8,000 and continues to accept volunteers and donations to raise awareness about adaptive running chairs in communities.
For more information about the CLA team visit celebratelovealways.org or contact Mike Connelly at mike.connelly@bbraunusa.com.