If you happened to be in the historic town of George in South Africa’s Western Cape last weekend, you’d have seen an extraordinary sight. At 8.15am on Valentine’s Day, 625 competitors were lined up at the start of the world’s biggest, brightest wheelchair race: the Outeniqua Wheelchair Challenge.
Buggies, tricycles, adapted bicycles mingled with sleek racing wheelchairs and hand cycles. South African Paralympic hero and world record holder Ernst van Dyk prepared himself for the marathon alongside athletes who had traveled from France, Namibia and Zimbabwe and all over the country to attend.
On the other side of the partition were a motley collection of participants in the fun race – from disabled 2-year-old babies to a 95-year-old granny in a buggy. It was both bizarre and wonderful.
Bizarre because South Africa is not generally known as a pioneer in promoting disability rights. That may be changing. ]]>