European Marathon Pusher Of WhElchaiR

Background When talking about social inclusion in sports for disabled people, we often refer to their participation in specifically designed competitions.The project wanted to allow disabled people on a wheelchair to run a marathon in the most beautiful European cities, thing that they were not able to do alone. A key role was played by organised people groups called “Spingitori” (literally the assistants) that took turns pushing the wheelchairs through the 42.195 kilometres that the route consists in. Objectives Objectives achieved:For disabled people. Feeling integrated to a sports event with all the other athletes, in a different way from the one of a disabled-specific event. For able-bodied athletes and for the citizenry. Boosting their awareness and knowledge through encounters with disability and a sharing of sporting moments.For public administrations and organiser’s associations. Reassessing the impact of architectural barriers existing in their territory and increasing education to disability Implementation This project has engaged partners from four European countries which organise running races at national and international level: Athens Marathon, Rimini Marathon, Sofia Half Marathon, Gozo Half Marathon. The four race courses were tested by groups composed of wheelchair pushers and disabled athletes.The experience collected during these four events resulted in a (tool)Kit, a real manual for the organising sport associations in order to make this experience possible in other European cities Achievements The programme has seen the contribution of groups of disabled and pushers in all the races performed.This allowed to implement and experiment a model for the arrangement of wheelchair pushers-friendly running races.The Kit created was sent to over 3000 organiser’s sports associations and to their athletics Federations.The project partners stipulated an “Agreement for Conservation and Diffusion” to commit themselves to diffuse in the next years the tools to encourage elsewhere their experience