When two-time Paralympian Ian Gainey entered the MCG on Sunday, he wasn’t just racing towards the finish line of the Melbourne Marathon; he was bringing the curtain down on 25 years of competing in the gruelling event.
Since entering his first marathon in 1978, the Werribee resident has set himself to cross the finishing line 25 times. On Sunday, he achieved his dream.
“I had a coach [early in my career] who said to set short-term goals and long-term goals,’’ Gainey says. ‘‘It was a personal goal to complete 25 marathons, but there’s wear and tear on the body and it takes its toll mentally and physically.”
A member of the Melbourne Marathon Spartans, a group that embraces runners who have competed in 10 or more marathons, Gainey was presented with a singlet marking his 25th Melbourne Marathon.
He says it was little things like being a Spartans member, and the friendship he shares with other competitors, that kept him competing all these years.
“I enjoy keeping fit, the camaraderie I have with running athletes, the challenge it presents,” he says. “I can learn training techniques from able-bodied runners. The training is the same when you’re in a wheelchair … you just don’t wear out a pair of runners.”
Gainey has spent most of his life in a wheelchair after contracting polio in 1954, aged 2.
But he has never let it stop him competing in sport. He started out playing wheelchair basketball before deciding to give individual sports a try.
Gainey began track training and in 1984 was selected to represent Australia at the New York Paralympics, competing in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres.
In 1988, he travelled to South Korea for his second Paralympics.
In 2000, Gainey was selected as an Olympic torchbearer, a moment he says is “right up there” with the best moments in his life.
Gainey has never won the wheelchair section of the Melbourne Marathon, but he finished third in 1985, missing out by just three seconds.
“I thought I was in with a chance but there were two guys who were faster,’’ he recalls. “My mum and dad were there. That was the first time I thought I had a chance of winning so I asked them to come. I wasn’t able to do it for them, but it was a very special time.”
