AKRON, Ohio — Joe Booth doesn’t ask for help. He doesn’t need it.
What You Need To Know
- The Akron Marathon is this Saturday, Sept. 24
- Joe Booth will compete in the wheelchair division
- Booth has competed all but two years since 2007
“I don’t have anybody else to do it for me,” he said. “But I mean most people that do marathons, they don’t have anybody to help them except maybe their friends and stuff. They’re just out there struggling like me.”
It’s what driven him to ride in the Akron Marathon. He’s participated in all but two of them since 2007. He said the race director at the time got him into the sport.
“It’s all his fault, but I can never thank the man enough,” Booth said. “I love it.”
Booth has spent most of his adult life in a wheelchair. He had to have his leg amputated when he was 18 after being shocked and burned.
“I have burns everywhere,” he said. “That’s not even one of the biggest ones. I have one on my thigh all the way up to here.”
Booth later had a tumor develop in his brain and still has scars from the surgery.
But he rides on, training at the towpath trail. Booth said both injuries were obstacles but not setbacks.
“This isn’t a disability. I lost my leg and in less than a year I was racing motorcycles again,” he said.
As for his current set of wheels, Booth said you train to ride with your shoulders and your core.
“It took a long time to get used to it, but a little practice helped quite a bit,” Booth said.
Now training for the sport has become a way of life.
“I look at life as just keep going no matter what,” he said. “If you fall down, get up. You can only lose in life if you quit.”
Booth said marathons for him aren’t just about winning them, they’re about finishing them.
