“Bionic Woman” to Gatecrash London Vitality 10k Despite Ban

In the heart of a bustling town market in Melton Mowbray, amid a flurry of conversation and antiquated entrepreneurial spirit, a crowd begins to swell upon the cobbled streets of the square.

In the eye of the storm sits Claire Lomas, a paraplegic charity fundraiser, taking a moment to thank everyone for their enduring support as she readies herself to train for this month’s London Vitality 10k fun run – an event that she has been banned from – for having what event organisers describe as an ‘unfair advantage’.

The innovative exo-skeletal ReWalk suit, which has restored Claire’s ability to stand upright and walk, consists of powered leg attachments, a backpack battery and a simple wrist-mounted remote, which merely enhances the enormous effort Claire puts into every step that she takes.

This suit is also the reason that Claire is not allowed to participate in the fun-run, as the race, which doubles as the British 10k Road Running Championships is governed (sadly not by much common sense but rather) by IAAF, British Athletics and International Paralympic Committee rules, which strictly prohibit any ‘motorised assistance’.

Watching the intense concentration with which Claire, supported from behind by her husband Dan, step forward in tandem, only serves to grow the sense of injustice that anyone could reasonably conclude she is at any advantage.

But this is a woman, with the fortitude to have completed the London Marathon back in 2012 in 17 days, walking on average, just two miles per day and raising over £500,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation in the process.

A woman who earned the honour of lighting the Paralympic cauldron that same year and who has become a source of inspiration to a nation of both, dis-abled and able-bodied people, as she simply refuses to accept her limitations.

A former event rider, before a collision with a tree in 2007 rendered her paralysed from the chest down, her competitive edge is still intact, and she remains adamant that she will ‘gate-crash’ the party, even if it means walking alongside the race, using the footpaths, to finish it.

Penny Dain, Head of Communications at London Marathon Events LTD, said: “The event is fully inclusive and the field includes elite wheelchair athletes, day chairs, visually impaired runners with guides, amputees and other disabilities.”

And while Claire is welcome to participate in a wheelchair, she refuses to sit on the matter. After all, it is the robotic suit, which the now affectionately dubbed, Bionic Woman, has become synonymous with, that epitomises her stance against inequality.

In fact only in conversation with her does it begin to dawn on you that perhaps the Marathon organiser’s are right after all, in that she does possess an ‘advantage’ over other people.

Even while she laughs at how she will come in last place, she does so, with great pride.

Even as she winces, when describing the physical pain she endures in taking each step towards the finishing line, she does so, fearlessly.

If she is at any advantage, it must surely be that of an unyielding desire to overcome and an immensely strong support network of family and friends, as well as an entire community of people willing her across the finishing line.

Over the past few years, Claire has become a mother, an ambassador, and an icon as she has adapted to life, following her accident; demonstrating tremendous grace and guile.

Even now, as she limbers up to hurdle the challenge of exclusion on the grounds of an out-dated ruling – clearly never meant to apply to her – and swerving the obvious hypocrisy of an organisation who made an exception for her to participate in the London Marathon due to the amount of money she managed to raise – one can only wish that the event organisers were half as flexible.

For more information or to make a donation to Claire’s charity, the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation, visit: www.claireschallenge.co.uk

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