Castaic Paraplegic to Walk Marathon Finish
Demonstrating the will to walk again, Marc Richards will be joined by two other paralyzed ‘runners’ from the SCV at the L.A. Marathon.
By Stephen K. Peeples
SIGNAL STAFF WRITER
For the second year in a row, Castaic resident and Website designer Marc Richards, paralyzed from the middle of his chest to the tips of his toes due to a medical accident in early 1998, will walk the last 400 feet across the finish line at the 21st Los Angeles Marathon this morning.
Cheering him on will be his wife Nancy, Il-year-old daughter Sami, 14-year-old son Jacob and a gang of friends from Castaic and the Santa Clarita Valley, and his clinical exercise physiologist and trainer. Taylor-Kevin Isaacs.
As he did last March, Richards will cross the finish line under his own power, wearing a specially designed brace for his hips and legs, a pair of forearm crutches, a slick-looking running ought, sweat on his brow, and the determination of a champion.
“The only reason I need assistance is to help put on the brace,” Richards, 46, said last week. “Other than that, I do all the rest.”
Richards may not have won or even run the-race a year ago, but he won the continuing admiration and respect of his community and beyond. Among the many who sent Richards congratulatory messages was Rep. Howard Buck” McKeon, who read about his accomplishment in The Signal.
Richards wasn’t ready to rest on those laurels. “After that, on April 30, I participated in the Cal State Northridge fund-raiser, a 5-kilometer run/walk event:” he said. “I used my wheelchair in the 5K race and then was assisted to my feet, and walked the last 600 feet. Then on Oct. 16, I did the Long Beach 5K in my wheelchair and walked the last 400 feet. Same thing at the Santa Clarita Marathon last Nov. ’06.
Walking in these five runs is part of the continuous, long-range physical therapy program the West Los Angeles-based Isaacs designed especially for Richards, whose paralysis struck suddenly in early 1998. Richards was the chief information officer for Autoland in the San Fernando Valley back then. That January. he suffered a grand mal seizure doctors found to be caused by a malignant brain tumor.
The tumor was successfully removed. but complications with chemotherapy medication following surgery destroyed his spine. Richards’ doctors called his condition Transverse or Diffuse Myelitus. He was limited to bed and a wheelchair for 5 1/2 years. By the time he started working out regularly with lsaacs about 3 112 years ago, training each Friday at Gold’s Gym in Northridge, Richards had trouble getting out of bed.
‘Without exercise. Marc had succumbed to dc-conditioning disuse syndrome’ said Isaacs, who has been working with physically disabled people for 5 years. A Certified Physical Therapist and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Isaacs was a professor of kinesiology at CSUN for several years. He’s also a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, and in 2002; the American Council on Exercise’s “Personal Trainer/Clinical Exercise Specialist of the Year?’
“Taylor’s whole concept is exercise rehabilitation” Richards said. “He’s showing how people can recover from catastrophic illnesses or injuries by performing different types of exercise. In my case, its walking and weight training. Since working with him. I’ve gained stamina, strength and confidence. Taylor’s program is a huge success.”
While Richards was the sole paraplegic walker in the 2005 L.A. Marathon’s field of 25.000-plus runners and wheelchair racers, he has company today. Between eight and 12 other of Isaacs’ clients from teens to seniors are participating as part of their physical rehab goals.
Isaacs said the group’s conditions include Multiple Sclerosis. Muscular Dystrophy, spinal cord injury (paraplegia and quadriplegia). stroke, heart disease, diabetes, traumatic brain injury and cancer. Like Richards. this group will cross the finish line using various assistive devices including walkers, braces, canes and crutches. and in one case, walking unassisted.
“All of my clients are exceptional individuals who have many stories worth telling and many achievements worth applauding.” lsaacs said,
“Among them are Aaron Baker and Kenny Craig. also SCV locals participating in today’s event. Baker, 27, is seven years post-injury from a motorcyle accident. For the past three years. his- mother, Laquita Conway, and him have completed the L.A. Marathon Bike Tour on a tandem bike.” Isaacs said, “This veal, instead, Aaron decided to train to walk unassisted at a self-selected pace across the finish line, In October 2004, Kenny was a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic and given two weeks to live. Three months ago, he started to walk unassisted, so he’s been training for the L.A. Marathon: too”
Richards felt proud and humbled at the same time to learn he’ll be with a pack of peers. “I was an inspiration to do something unique” he marveled.
The message sent by the actions of these individuals is to emphasize the power of possibility and to highlight how, through daily study, preparation, and practice, one can achieve a personal victory.” Isaacs said, “Put another way. the process is the progress.”
Once his clients. are up and walking today, Isaacs plans to let them do it alone, just standing by for safety’s sake. “It’s an honor and privilege for mew be with these individuals, every step of the way” he said. “1 plan to just marvel and admire the enthusiasm and industriousness of my clients in their quest to maximize their recovery from their disabilities and to pro mote the benefits of ongoing therapeutic exercise.”
Richards and Isaacs’ other clients and a growing group of family members, friends and other supporters would like to see Isaacs directing his own clinic and training others in his techniques.
“Our goal is to raise money to build a facility that will focus on Taylor’s work, where he can be the chief medical exercise physiologist and teach his staff how to what he does,” Richards said. “The place would be a melding of regular exercise equipment you’d find at a health club plus some of the specialized adaptive equipment used at the Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled?”
During the day, when his wife is at work (she’s a program coordinator at an elementary school in Studio City), and the kids are in school (Sami at Live Oak Elementary and Jacob at Castaic Middle School), Richards exercises conscientiously and works on his spinalman.com Web site. He drives a specially modified minivan when transporting the kids to and from school and keeping business and medical appointments outside the house. -
Since his Spider Design is a home-based Web business, Richards said he’s glad he can keep a close eye on the domestic scene. “I work on the computer, spend time with our kids. They’re here, protected. We also take care of a neighbor’s kid after school. So I take care of everything?’
What’s next? “CSUN’s 5k is next month,’ Richards grinned.
Learn more about Marc Richards at spinalman.com and Aaron Baker at aaronbakers.com.