Canada’s long distance version of Oscar Pistorius

“Some people can’t figure out what I’m doing. It’s not a walk-hop, it’s not a trot, it’s running, or as close as I can get to running, and it’s harder than doing it on two legs. It makes me mad when people call this a walk. If I was walking it wouldn’t be anything.” – Terry Fox

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is a South African runner known as the “Blade Runner” and “the fastest man on no legs.” Pistorius, who has a double below-knee amputation is the at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men’s 400m race and was part of South Africa’s 4×400m relay team. Canada has its own version.

Rick Ball
Rick Ball is from Toronto and is Canada’s and the world’s fastest marathoner on one leg. Canada’s Paralympic running star was born in 1965 with two legs. In 1986, while riding his motorcycle outside of Orillia, Ont., Rick lost his left leg after a collision with a board that fell from an oncoming truck.

Running started much later in life. Rick began long distance running in 2007, under the guidance of Orillia coach Roger DePlancke. Rick’s running took off and he was soon carded as an elite Para-athlete by Athletics Canada. Fast forward to 2010 and Rick is breaking the three-hour barrier for the marathon (2:57:47), the fastest time ever for a single-leg amputee.

Rick’s Running

Marathon              2:57:47 Single leg amputee world’s fastest time
Half marathon     1:20:44 Single leg amputee world’s fastest time
10K                           37:55 Single leg amputee world’s fastest time
5K                              17:37
10,000m                     37:53.51 World leading time in 2010
Qualified and ran Boston marathon 3:01:50
200m                        26.32
400m                         57.76

Rick’s recent dream was to represent Canada at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, England. When the marathon was no longer offered by the International Paralympic Committee in international competitions in 2011, Rick converted to sprinting in the 400-metres and 200-metres. In November 2011, Rick competed at the Para Pan-American Games in Mexico, where he finished fifth in the 400-metre event and later named the 2011 Ontario ParaSport Male Athlete of the Year. Recently in a sad and odd twist of fate, like his original accident that cost him his leg, Rick was hit by a car while riding his bicycle and ended up with a shattered elbow. The elbow injury compounded the disappointment from missing the qualification deadline due to a torn calf muscle and brought an end to Rick’s London Paralympic dream. But I believe Rick’s story, his drive and his accomplishments can bring to light the Paralympic runners in our Canadian running community and hopefully get a few people to watch our Canadian Paralympic runners in London.

With the London 2012 Paralympic Games starting on Aug. 29, it seemed a good time to highlight a Paralympic athlete. Here is my conversation with Rick.

How has running changed your life and why did you begin running?
“I kind of stumbled into running. As a young man, I wasn’t really into competitive sports and not really good at them. After losing my leg and overcoming several everyday obstacles many other amputees face, I found running seemed to be the one thing I still wanted to try but couldn’t do. Many years later, I had the opportunity to try the flex-run carbon fibre running leg and I immediately felt whole again. Then I soon realized that I had the natural talent for running and some success early on, so it ultimately became my passion.”

“I became part of the Canadian National Team and took a leave of absence from my job. That’s when competitive running became my full time job. I now like to share my experiences by doing motivational talks to various groups including school children. One of my goals is to lead by example and show people that you can overcome challenges in life.”

Can you put it into words how much harder it is to run as a single leg amputee?
“There are many issues that I have to deal with that people with two legs don’t. They put on a pair of shoes and tie the laces, whereas I put on a prosthetic leg and make sure the bolts are secured with Loctite. Other issues that I face include the sweat in my socket which can causes blisters, having to adjust the angle of my leg, slipping issues with the blade of the prosthetic in winter and lose ground. The biggest challenge is the imbalance of having a natural leg and an artificial leg.”

Not everyone makes it to the Olympics – what are your short and long term goals after life threw you this curveball?
“My only goal currently is to get healthy again by working hard at full recovery.”

Who is a Canadian Paralympic runner in London to watch?
“I’ll be watching and cheering on visually-impaired runner Jason Dunkerley in the 1500m and 5000m. He not only has a great shot at the podium but he has been a great advocate and representative for all para-athletes in Canada.”

The Canadian running community is a vast varied group, people who have their own stories, challenges, successes and all make it one I am glad to be part of.

Rick competes with the support of his wife, Stacey, and their two sons, Brayden and Carter, and lives in the village of Marchmont, near Orillia, Ont. Ball is inspired by the determination of Canadian icon Terry Fox and has become an ambassador for the Orillia Terry Fox Run for cancer research, one of hundreds of Terry Fox Runs to be held across the country on Sunday, September 16th. Always one for a challenge, Rick Ball had started triathlon training before his accident with the hope of also joining Team Canada at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He still hopes to go. Run on Rick.

Do you or someone you know have a great running story to tell?

legsnlungs@hotmail.com

See you on the roads or in the blogosphere.