By Christian Metzger |
There will be 1,120 racers, the maximum number of spots available to run the track that day and the highest number of participants that Gaylord has seen. It began with only several hundred in the first year in 2014.
The gauntlet is a 3.3 mile-long- obstacle course that takes place on the hospital grounds, featuring 24 obstacles from cargo nets, mud pits, and a water slide. The event is a massive fundraiser for the Gaylord Sports Association, the hospital’s adaptive sports program that offers 17 sports programs throughout the year to encourage those with disabilities and physical impairments to get active again and help them restore some sense of mobility.
These sports include archery, golf, adaptive rock climbing, water skiing, wheelchair rugby, and more. According to Katie Joly, the program manager for the GSA, adaptive sports are a critical component towards restoring confidence towards those who are undergoing physical therapy, who are often daunted by the prospect of restoring a sense of mobility after going through such traumatic injuries.
“When someone goes through a major injury or illness, your life can change in an instant,” Joly said. “Getting back to your life for a lot of people, especially those people who are active - either athletes or those who want to be involved in different recreation sports - means getting back to these sports and recreation activities, or even just realizing that all of these opportunities exist for people."
The Gaylord Gauntlet helps the hospital to afford specialized equipment needed to help adapt to the needs of its patients, giving them the chance to participate in the obstacle course, which for some is a milestone for how far they’ve come on the road to recovery. This year there will be 30 adaptive athletes participating in the event, with this year’s featured athlete being Bristol resident DJ Angelillo.
Paralyzed in a biking accident in 2021 that saw him suffer from a brain injury and paralysis on the right side of his body, Angelillo has been working on improving his mobility for years in outpatient care, making it his goal to finally be able to run again at the gauntlet this year.
For Laurie Bizzario, from Northford, the gauntlet also represented a significant milestone in her recovery. She had been out on the water on the Long Island Sound when their boat hit a wave, bouncing her up, only for the ship to bounce again on another wave and slam up into her back, breaking Bizzario’s spine and paralyzing her from the neck down.
According to Bizzario, she was given only a 1% chance of recovering her ability to walk, even after she had been able to use her arms again after a couple weeks.
It took Bizzario two years of care before she was fully able to recover her ability to walk.
“It's very humbling. I guess humbling is the best word. It's honestly crazy, It drives you crazy that you can't do this,” Bizzario said.
She said she was looking forward to race again this year, in her first year attending since having left Gaylord, looking to prove how far she’d come in her journey.
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