GIANNI POLI OF ITALY WON THE 1986 NEW YORK MARATHON IN 2:11:06 AND ON MARCH 2, 2003, MARK YATICH OF KENYA WON THE LOS ANGELS MARATHON IN 2:09:52, BUT TO ME, THE REAL HERO OF BOTH MARATHONS WAS THE MAN WHO FINISHED DEAD LAST IN BOTH MARATHONS. HIS NAME IS BOB WIELAND A FIFTY-SEVEN YEAR OLD VIETNAM VETERAN, WHO ON JUNE 14, 1969, LOST BOTH HIS LEGS AT CU CHI VIETNAM. AFTER HIS LOS ANGELES LAST PLACE FINISH, BOB AUTHORED A BOOK ENTITLED: “DISABLED RUNNER, A WINNER, HANDS DOWN” SAYING, “THE FIRST THING I WANT TO SAY IS MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS WERE NOT NATURAL, THEY WERE SUPERNATURAL. THEY WERE ONLY ACCOMPLISHED BY THE GRACE OF GOD. I WAS A COMBAT MEDIC IN THE TWENTY-FIFTH INFANTRY DIVISION IN VIETNAM IN 1969, AND I WAS ATTEMPTING TO SAVE A FALLEN BUDDY, WHEN I STEPPED ON AN 82-MM MORTAR ROUND DESIGNED TO DEMOLISH TANKS AND I LOST BOTH LEGS. BETWEEN 1982 AND 1986 I WALKED ACROSS AMERICA ON MY ARMS AND IT TOOK ME THREE YEARS, EIGHT MONTHS, AND SIX DAYS. I WAS THE ONLY DOUBLE AMPUTEE TO COMPLETE THE IRON MAN TRIATHLON IN KONA, HAWAII, WITHOUT A WHEELCHAIR. TO DO SO, I HAD TO SWIM 2.4 MILES, BIKE 112 MILES, AND THEN COMPLETE A 26.2 MILE MARATHON, ALL THREE EVENTS CONSECUTIVELY AND NON-STOP. OUR LATE PRESIDENT RONALD REGAN PROCLAIMED, “TRULY, BOB WIELAND IS AN INSPIRATION FOR ALL OF US. BOB WIELAND IS A TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE OF PERSEVERANCE.”
From Gene Edwards’ Sermon: The Road Less Traveled: Perseverance