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Atlanta, GA (WGCL ) — For some of the participants in the Publix Atlanta Marathon, Half-Marathon and 5K, Sunday’s race was an unforgettable experience.
A record number of wheelchair teams participated, led by brothers Brent and Kyle Pease. For them, it’s been seven years in the making.
“The first time, it was just the two of us jumping through barriers and trying to get to the start line by ourselves, and now we’ve got over 200 volunteers helping pull this whole thing together for us,” said Brent Pease, founder of the Kyle Pease Foundation.
Team Kyle was one of more than 60 push-assist and wheelchair teams participating in Sunday’s race.
Among them was Curtis Ward, who sat in a specially equipped racing wheelchair for the event. Ward told CBS46 he was at work at his movie-theater job when he first met Brent Pease.
“He was like, ‘Hey, we’ve been doing these races and triathlons and stuff. You want to come out and try it?’ And I said, ‘Okay,’” Ward said.
Years later, he’s still at it.
“It was cool. I had fun,” Ward said after he crossed the finish line.
“It was amazing,” said Kyle Pease. “It’s always good to be out here with all my friends.”
“We feel like we’re part of the Atlanta running community now,” said his brother. “People recognize the group. People want to reach out to us and be a part of it and volunteer.”
Many of Sunday’s volunteers were affiliated with Champions Community Foundation and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
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