My name is Kyle Magee, and I’m a Runner!

At the beginning of 2006 Kyle set a goal to complete a marathon in October.
His inspiration came from a coworker who had previously completed the White Rock Marathon and was training for the Chicago Marathon. Every day his coworker had a new and interesting story from his latest training run which inspired Kyle more and more. Out of the blue Kyle announced that he too was going to train for and finish a marathon. A lofty goal for someone who was not a runner or really had worked out or participated in a fitness program.

There are certainly a lot of people who get inspired to run a marathon and they do it for a variety of reasons, from a personal accomplishment to raising money for a cause to the social experience. Why Kyle’s story is so inspiring is that he was born with mild Cerebral Palsy. The CP affects his motor skills on his right side and he has limited flexibility and movement in his right knee and severely restricted movement in his ankle, and no movement in his right foot.

Undaunted by his physical limitations Kyle embarked on his marathon journey with a “Rocky Balboa” mindset. He trained on his own for several months and joined RunOn!'s run/walk 301 class in May 2007. The 301 class is base building class designed to build up mileage so that he/she is ready for training in Run On!’s half or full marathon class.

Kyle completed the 301 class and joined the marathon group to train for the 2007 White Rock Marathon. Unfortunately Kyle did not complete the marathon as his body shut down at mile 18. His body was so tired that it could not generate enough heat and he was suffering from hypothermia.

For most the experience at White Rock would have been difficult to overcome but not for Kyle. Just 30 days later Kyle completed the Phoenix marathon in 6:38:16 with the only thing slowing him down being a blister at mile 14.
A 40 pound lighter version of Kyle is still in training with Run On! and his goal is to run the 2008 White Rock Marathon in under six hours. If he makes it Kyle will qualify for the mobility impaired division in the Boston Marathon.

Kyle, thanks for keeping us inspired! Run On!

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