There is a gap between having a disability and finding a community that truly understands your experience that can make it feel isolating. There is a gap between sustaining a life-changing injury, receiving healthcare, and returning to everyday life that can make recovery really hard. It’s societal: a lack of infrastructure, a lack of funding, a lack of thought. It’s in these gaps that organizations like Achilles International and people like Brandon Stapanowich step forward.
When I chat with Stapanowich on a Monday morning, I think our conversation will mainly center on his work with the Pikes Peak chapter of Achilles International. The organization helps people with disabilities participate in athletic programs and create social connections, and Stapanowich started the Colorado Springs-based chapter in 2014. Stapanowich organizes weekly running sessions and more for the community.
But he opens our conversation by telling me he’s got a day off from working at a school as a physical therapist, where he provides individualized assistance to students with significant motor impairments. In other side notes, he tells me he coaches his son’s soccer team and has been a running guide for a few of his friends who are visually impaired during their projects and races. He’s looking forward to summer vacation, but the mild winter in Colorado has him really worried about climate change. Stapanowich’s capacity to care is instantly evident. Ultimately, it is life-affirming and inspiring.
Achilles Pikes Peak
When Stapanowich finished the 2013 Desert RATS 50 Mile in third place, he was narrowly out-kicked by Michael Oliva, with whom he later became friends on Facebook. When his competitor posted photos from his work helping to set up the Achilles chapter in Denver, Stapanowich — who has a deaf brother — was intrigued. The ethos of promoting running for everybody aligned with what he did professionally, so he asked Oliva how he could start a chapter that hosted group runs himself. Stapanowich remembers, “Michael told me, ‘You know, you just pick a time, pick a place, and show up and be consistent, and people will come.’” Of course, in the beginning, there were weeks when Stapanowich would turn up and be the only person there. But over time, the group grew, and now around 20 people turn up to run regularly.
“You get people from such broad experiences in life,” says Stapanowich, “and running is that unifying thing.” Stapanowich explains that some people join each week just to get a little bit of exercise for the day, some want to be healthy for their grandkids, and others purely seek the social interaction. Some people have been with the group for over 10 years, maintaining consistency from middle school, high school, and through to adulthood. They start off wanting to be able to just run three miles without having to take a walking break, and develop toward completing races. “It’s rewarding to see that development in people,” Stapanowich says.
Achilles International has 29 chapters in the U.S. and a similar number worldwide, spanning Oceania, South America, Europe, South Africa, and Scandinavia. But, says Stapanowich, “I think for whatever reason, different chapters have kind of a different profile.” The Pikes Peak chapter is open to people of all ages and backgrounds, and Stapanowich says that it’s not unusual for the socialization after the run to be longer than the run itself. He says, “The store’s closed, it’s dark, it’s a parking lot, but people are just still hanging out and talking. And I think that’s just as important — if not more important — than the physical benefits.”…