Chad Johnson: Pushing To No Limit

By Kim Brohm

When 28-year-old Chad Johnson decides to go out for a run it's not about finding the right pair of tennis shoes and making sure the laces are tied tight. Johnson's shoes are what he calls his running chair - a 3-foot-tall seat equipped with two back wheels for pushing and one narrow front tire. Those are his shoes and, like most runners, his catalyst for racing.

Johnson's method for "running" may seem strange at first, but just like any athlete he works hard, putting in hours of training to increase his stamina and build strength. Since he began his professional wheelchair-racing career five years ago, he has competed in over 50 races across the country. His resume includes everything from 10ks to marathons and even a 267-mile, five-day race held in Alaska - all testaments that this isn't just the average feel good story about some guy in a wheelchair. When it comes to Chad Johnson, racing is his profession, not an alternative.

"A lot of people when they see me racing for the first time have the reaction, 'Isn't it amazing what that boy can do.' I'm an athlete, not a novelty. I do what I do just like any other athlete, not because I need to feel better about myself," said Johnson. "I don't hear Kobe Bryant say he plays basketball just to feel better about himself. It's not something I do because I'm so upset about how my life is."

The event that changed Johnson's life occurred at the age of ten. Johnson fell while climbing a tree. His injuries included two broken wrists, a broken rib, a collapsed lung and two smashed vertebrate in his spine. After six years of therapy to try to walk again Johnson knew he had to move on. The key was looking at all the things he could do instead of what he couldn't.

"I remember people used to say that I was doing a lot better than they would," said Johnson. "It's not like I was just going to drop dead. I focused on the things I can do and not can't. I tried my best to fit in with the other kids and learned as I went. That's why it just saddens me when people feel sorry for themselves and want to quit."

When he was younger Johnson recalls jumping in to play basketball with the other kids and even kickball. When it came to time for him to kick, another kid would step in to kick the ball for him or he would get to be the all-time roller. When he was 14 he joined the Derby City Mustangs Wheelchair Athletic Club to play basketball. That led him to Ball State University where he competed in a wheelchair basketball intramural program and was the wheelchair intramurals club team president.

GETTING ON THE ROAD

It wasn't until 1997 when his college roommate, teammate and best friend, Mike Gillam, bought a racing chair that Johnson even considered racing.

"He thought I should try it out. I thought it was stupid, that racing was dumb and I just played basketball," said Johnson.

But being a competitor, Johnson borrowed a chair from another friend, Audie Kemp, and started racing in some 10k races on the weekend for fun. Although the chair was six inches too wide for his body and had duct tape holding the front together, Johnson found his fit in the sport. Then in 2000, Johnson had his own racing chair made and decided to take racing to another level.

Now Johnson trains twice a day and currently puts in 135 miles on the road a week while competing almost every weekend. Besides the everyday aches and pains, Johnson has also had to face the challenges that come with being a wheelchair athlete. In his last four years as a professional, Johnson has sat out almost a total of two years due to injuries. In the summer of 2001, Johnson suffered a third-degree burn on his hip caused by the friction of the tires heating the metal frame of his chair. According to Johnson, the burn was the size of a baseball and kept him from racing that July until February of the next year. The same thing happened again a year later at the same race on his other hip.

"I don't feel hot and cold real well. I remember I started to get a back spasm but kept going. At the end of the race I had a big nasty blister. I would have to go to the doctor and get it scraped once a week. It just takes time to figure out the best way to fit in the chair. I've got it worked out now."

According to Johnson, finding a chair that fits is similar to a NASCAR driver having a seat made to fit his or her body. Instead of regular racing gloves Johnson uses special gloves he molded himself out of clay and rubber to help push his chair.

Still there is the challenge of being accepted as a true athlete. Pushing may be his form of running. However, the concept is not that easy. Where runners use their feet, Johnson relies on his arms and upper-body strength.

"It's hard to push fast. Once you get speed and are not already worn out it's a lot easier to hold than to get it there. It's harder to get your speed up and gain momentum."

That's why Johnson is working on increasing his weekly miles. He hopes to get up to around 180 miles a week. His training just requires going out and pushing while sometimes getting lost on the road. Since he started Johnson has had no coaching and hasn't been taught any special techniques. Like from the time he was a kid, it's all about going out there and figuring things out on his own.

"There's just so little research out there. Sometimes I talk to other professionals if they are willing to tell me their secrets. Basically I learned as I went."

Johnson is doing the same thing with his new hand cycle that will be used to race in bicycle races. He designed it himself and is working on learning how to ride. Just like finding the right shoes to fit, Johnson is still working on finding the right position to ride.

OFF THE ROAD

When not on the road racing, Johnson teaches percussion and marching band part time at Jeffersonville High School . In high school he played the drums in the band at North Harrison High School . Besides wheelchair racing and basketball, Johnson also competed in bodybuilding competitions for three years while at Ball State . He even initiated adding a wheelchair division to the competition while placing second in the overall competition in 2000.

Johnson is also active as a volunteer with various youth programs and camps for those with disabilities.

"I help friends as much as they let me but getting the word out that it's alright to participate in wheelchair athletics is still a problem," said Johnson. "I've approached some kids about it but give me a kid in a wheelchair that is willing to learn and I'll coach them any day of the week."

LOOKING AHEAD

As for the future, Johnson is looking forward to competing in the American series, which consists of eight races. That will give him a chance to compete against all the top wheelchair athletes and see exactly where he stands.

Johnson's goals include making it to the Olympics, working hard and trying to give his best. That's why he just shakes his head when people look at him funny or when 75-year-old men open doors for him as he approaches yards away. Sure those attitudes and glances will always be there, but just as when he was younger Johnson knows he's had a choice - move on or complain. At times he claims to do both. Then again, who doesn't?

Johnson may appear to have plenty to complain about, but in his eyes there's much more to work toward and accomplish. Racing may be what he does, but not all of who he is.

"I just try to enjoy life and compete. I'd like to go to the Olympics someday but I'm just trying to see how far I can go. Like Lance Armstrong, I want to see if I can keep winning."

Winning races that is. In the races that life presents, Johnson may have already won.

Kim Brohm recently received a B.A. in English from Spalding University, where she was a three-sport athlete. Her e-mail address is kimbrohm@hotmail.com.