Sixty-four disabled people compete in wheelchair race in New Delhi, India

From The Times of India:

NEW DELHI, India -- They had not come out to compete, for each of them was a winner all the way. The wheelchairs had become "willchairs'' for the 64 differently-abled enthusiasts who participated in the 3.5km wheelchair event on Nov. 1. The prize money or the first position were not any consideration and their joy of crossing the finish line was palpable, as spectators cheered them on.

Wheelchair-bound M Prakash Nadar from Mumbai could not hold back his excitement on completing the stretch before anyone else could. His face painted in hues of the tricolour, Nadar said, "I wanted to run to show that the differently-abled can do it too. I strongly feel about the problems faced by the disabled while travelling in trains. I also participated for this cause.''

Thirty-four-year-old Anjana's anxiousness did not let her sleep all night before the marathon. "She was persistent to get herself registered for the wheelchair event,'' said Anjana's mother who escorted her. A patient of cerebral palsy, Anjana was bursting with excitement at the thought of participating with other differently-abled people in the 3.5km run. Unable to express herself in words, she just waived tirelessly at the crowds cheering for her.

Young 16-year-old Manik Mishra lives with the most severe form of spastic cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia in which all four limbs and the trunk are affected. His mother Manya Mishra, who escorted him, said their was no limit to her son's excitement. "This was the first time Manik participated in the run. But I wish the track laid out for wheelchair-users was more smooth. It was a hurricane pushing a wheelchair under the bridge,'' said Manya.

Nadar who has won several gold medals in national level swimming, badminton and athletics completed the race in 15 minutes. And a close second was Rajiv Virat, representing the Multiple Sclerosis Society of India from Delhi. "Everybody is a winner here. But the track laid out was not easy for a wheelchair-user. We had to cross the Chanakyapuri stretch under the bridge.'' said Virat. Forty-three-year-old Satya Prakash Tiwari, who met with a train accident at the age of 16, rightly summed up the feelings of all participants in this category. "We run to encourage each other and nobody loses here,'' he said.