By Cris Villalonga-Vivoni, Staff Writer |
The first time 40-year-old Jason Rustico watched the Gaylord Gauntlet 5K and Obstacle Race, he was still using a wheelchair and unable to move. It was 2023, and his dad had wheeled him onto Gaylord hospital grounds in Wallingford to watch as the racers, some in wheelchairs or relying on a guide to help them, lined up before diving across a muddy field and down the 400-acre course.
A lifelong Connecticut resident and father of four, Rustico, of Southington, was a patient at Gaylord Hospital at the time. He was recovering from a severe car crash that injured three areas of his brain, severed his ear and broke his hip, back and bones in his neck. His brain injuries also caused visual impairment, memory issues and a visual deficit that caused him to drift to the right while walking. Yet, Rustico said he was determined to run the gauntlet himself.
Months of physical, speech and occupational therapy later, Rustico was now standing at the starting line with his running guide.
"I felt so proud of myself because a year ago, I literally watched it from a wheelchair and said, 'I want to do that during 2024,' so I felt happy," he said.
Rustico, now 42, is running the race for a second time on Saturday alongside more than 1,000 athletes, marking record-breaking attendance in its 11-year history, said Katie Joli, program manager at Gaylord Sports Association, which the race fundraises for. Of the racers, 30 are adaptive athletes.
Athletes like Rustico who participate in sports despite having a physical or neurological disability or health conditions are known as "adaptive athletes." They often join with support in many cases, such as offering running guides for visually impaired individuals or utilizing all-terrain wheelchairs.
From fire pits to waterslides to rope swings, she said the 24-obstacle course, spanning the 400-acre hospital campus, is designed to be challenging for everyone while also being accessible enough to allow adaptive athletes to participate in the same race.
Offering opportunities for patients to explore new ways to participate in sports gives people the chance to stay active and healthy, Joli said.
"For us to be able to have this equipment that people can try and learn and find out that they can get back to biking using a three-wheeled adaptive bike, or hand cycling… it's life-changing," she said. "It opens up a whole new world for people because if you're not in this situation, you don't always know what's out there."
Laurie Bizzario, 55, had only relearned how to walk a few months before running her first gauntlet race last year, but she likes a challenge.
She participated with the help of a Gaylord-sponsored team and her family members, who practically grabbed, lifted and pushed her through the obstacle course. She finished the course in under two hours.
Bizzario, of North Branford, has been recovering from a boat accident in 2022 at 52 years old that caused a severe spinal cord injury but only started relearning how to walk a year and a half ago. The first time she stood up, she felt like one of the car dealership-inflated tube men blowing in the wind due to her lack of core strength.
"They gave me, like, a 1% chance of recovery to walk again," she said. "I took that 1% and kind of ran with it."
She worked with a private physical therapist in conjunction with therapy received at Gaylord, which she said ultimately helped her re-learn how to walk and eventually run. Access to adaptive sports, like rock climbing, also pushed Bizzario's boundaries of what's possible when it comes to sports.
Her physical therapist, Dr. Kathy Papayani-Szabo, joked that whenever Bizzario would finish an exercise, she would immediately ask for the next thing or something more challenging, like "it was never enough."
She felt working toward the gauntlet with Bizzario pushed her as a therapist because it showed her how far she could take her clients.
"She opened my eyes to how much you really can challenge a patient and how much recovery is possible," Papayani-Szabo said.
There are moments of insecurity, but Bizzario continues running past them.
So far, Bizzario has participated in races in Cheshire, Hartford, and Mystic, all to run in a race in every one of Connecticut's 169 municipalities. She said it's both addictive and therapeutic, contrary to her previous apprehension of the sport.
Her goal at the upcoming Gauntlet is not only to beat her previous time but also to finish early so she can cheer on the other athletes.
"The equipment and expertise at Gaylord, in conjunction with what Kathy was able to offer as a physical therapist, was, honestly, I think, probably best case scenario for recovery for me," she said. "Honestly, I can't believe that I'm walking again. Never mind running."