'A summer of hell': 13-year-old with spina bifida, who has had 31 surgeries, completes Community First Fox Cities Marathon
NEENAH – Gabriel Langlois made it to the finish line at the Community First Fox Cities Marathon Presented by Miron Construction on Sunday.
Just getting to the start line may have been an even bigger accomplishment for the 13-year-old from Fox Crossing, who was born with spina bifida and is paralyzed from the waist down.
Gabriel did the ThedaCare Half Marathon last year with the help of his father, Daniel, and his grandfather, James, and decided almost immediately that this year he would attempt the 26.2-mile full marathon.
That proved to be a bigger challenge than any of them could have imagined.
“We had some hiccups over the course of this year,” his dad said following Sunday’s race. “He was in the hospital or on bed rest for basically two months. He had back surgery in June. Had an infection. Had another surgery in June. Had four more in July. It wasn’t until mid-August that he was actually able to get back in his chair and get moving again.”
Gabriel didn’t get clearance until Friday from his doctor to participate in the marathon.
“We were still like, ‘Is it going to happen?’” Daniel said. “Definitely glad we did it. This is something that he can look back on for the rest of his life and go, ‘Hey, when I was 13 I went through a summer of hell and came out on top.’”
It was also the first marathon for 47-year-old Daniel, who said he had never run even a 5K until 2018.
“It was a challenge, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “It was definitely worthwhile. I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again.”
During last year’s half marathon, Gabriel pushed his wheelchair for almost the entire course. This year was more of a challenge, and Daniel said Gabriel pushed himself about 6 or 7 miles and had help the rest of the way. They finished in a time of 5 hours, 53 minutes, 57 seconds.
“When I did the half, I knew it was kind of easy for me. When I did the full, since I didn’t practice a lot, it wasn’t as easy,” Gabriel said. “I’ve only gotten to like 6 miles before this, so I didn’t know if I would be able to complete this.”
They did complete it, with the help of friends and inspiration from spectators lining the streets throughout the Fox Valley.
“I had a couple co-workers that graciously volunteered to help us out through the middle of the course, kind of keep us going,” Daniel said. “Honestly, this course is fantastic. There are people everywhere cheering you on and just pushing you to keep going. That motivation is really what kept us going.”
After hearing his story last year, the community stepped up and Gabriel received a racing wheelchair, a wheelchair treadmill and support from local track and field coaches to assist in his training.
Daniel said the support was overwhelming for the family.
“Honestly, it has been huge. We never expected any of it,” he said. “After everything that he’s been through, his bib number is 31. That represents every surgery he has ever had. He’s been through 31 surgeries. To get that support, he deserves something out of this. He’s always had a good outlook and he’s always been motivated.”
Jordan Crawford sets course record
Jordan Crawford moved to Wisconsin only 10 weeks ago from Atlanta, and he’s already made his presence felt.
The 23-year-old Crawford, who lives in Menasha, set the Fox Cities Marathon course record in the competitive walk division Sunday as part of the ThedaCare Half Marathon with a time of 1:41:08.
He found out about the event from a friend at work and since he was already planning to do a training workout Sunday, he decided to sign up for the race.
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“I don’t know much of the course, so I was like I might as well just have some fun with it,” he said. “Then when I got into it I kind of liked the course. It’s really flat. It’s on roads, which is really good for competitive walkers. So I was like, ‘OK, I might as well just go a little harder.’ I was passing a lot of people. The crowd was really loud and cheering, so I was like I’m just going to go a little faster for the last bit. So that’s how I ended up with the pace I was at today.”
Crawford was an NAIA national champion in race walk in college at Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis and his goal is to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team.
He has been doing competitive walking since he was about 10 years old. He played basketball and also tried running before hitting his stride with walking.
“I was really good at that and I was like, ‘OK, I might as well just keep doing it.’ So I just kept doing that,” he said.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: 13-year-old with spina bifida completes Fox Cities Marathon
