Meet the man who completed the Queen City Marathon in a wheelchair

World-record holder Kyle Gieni completed the Queen City Marathon in a wheelchair on Sunday, with his sights set on a possible world record attempt next year.

Gieni, who has Regina roots, said he took inspiration from cross-country skiing to complete the 42.2 kilometre trek through Regina using poles to propel his chair forward.

“I used to do some cross-country skiing back in Regina back when I was a kid, so coming back here it just seems natural to hop on some and start grinding away,” Gieni told CTV News after the race. "Just to show people that it's possible, just to show people that anybody can do it, even if you're in a wheelchair, it doesn't matter, just get out there.”

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Gieni earned a Guinness World Record for the fastest half-marathon in a non-racing wheelchair with poles back in May, recording a time of 1:23:15 in Vancouver.

 

 

 

 

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Gieni guessed his full marathon time at the Queen City Marathon was around two hours and 40 minutes, which he says would be an unofficial world record.

“Maybe I’ll call Guinness World Records next year, and they can come down and see me,” Gieni said.

RUNNERS TAKE OVER REGINA ROADS

More than 4,000 people took part in the various races on tap at the Queen City Marathon this year, ranging from family fun to the full marathon on Sunday.

Each person in the running has a reason for doing so, whether it’s in hopes of setting a new course record, like Logan Roots, the winner of the men’s full marathon, with a new record time of 2:32:15.

For others, it’s about accomplishing something new.

“Had to do a little bit of training for it, I've been fighting some injuries,” said Fred Fox after completing his first official timed half marathon.

But perseverance runs in Fox’s family, and his brother Terry was top-of-mind.

“It made me think about Terry a little bit,” Fox said. “He was running during the Marathon of Hope in 1980 Terry ran pretty much a marathon every single day for 143 days, and that was on an artificial leg.”

“He took one step at a time, one telephone pole at a time, one mile at a time. He didn't quit.”

Organizers say runners from all over the world took part.

“We have eight provinces and territories, 14 U.S. states, and about 10 international,” said Shawn Weimer, race director for QCM. “We’ve got runners from China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Germany, you name it.”

“They’re coming from around the globe.”

Weimer said he’s hopeful to see the marathon work its way back up to the more than 6,000 runners seen pre-pandemic within the next few years.

The first Queen City Marathon took place in 2001.