By Alesha Capone
Werribee’s Ian Gainey says that crossing the finishing line of his 30th Melbourne Marathon was a “very emotional” moment.
Mr Gainey, 69, placed first in the wheelchair division of the event, with a time of three hours, 28 minutes and 55 seconds.
The marathon, which was held on the weekend of December 11 and 12, was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Gainey completed his first Melbourne Marathon in a personally-built road-racing wheelchair, in 1979.
He said that he had hoped the 2020 marathon would be his thirtieth marathon, but its postponement to this year meant he continued training for an extra 12 months.
He trained four days a week, for 20 kilometres at a time, in the lead-up to the marathon.
Mr Gainey said finishing up the marathon within the MCG was “quite exhilarating and exciting”.
Seven family members were present to cheer him on including his sister, brother-in-law, nieces and grand-niece.
They carried a placard with “You are our superhero” written upon it.
“What I enjoyed most was weather and my physical condition, my preparations, I got everything right,” Mr Gainey said.
“For some other marathons I have over-trained and for some I have under-trained.”
After he finished the marathon, Mr Gainey appeared on several television news bulletins.
He said that while undergoing five months of intensive chemotherapy treatment for bowel cancer in 2016, his ambition of competing in his thirtieth Melbourne Marathon helped him to stay positive.
Mr Gainey, who represented Australia at the 1984 and 1988 Paralympic Games, contracted polio when he was 18 months old.
He spent two years in hospital.
As a result of the polio, Mr Gainey uses forearm crutches and callipers strapped to his legs to walk short distances.
Mr Gainey said he had originally been planning to retire from the Melbourne Marathon after his thirtieth event, but might yet change his mind.
“At this moment in time I’m done, but in 12 months, who knows?” he said.
Aside from keeping fit, Mr Gainey also volunteers three days a week at the Werribee Bowls Club and Uniting Vic.Tas, calling elderly people to check on their welfare.
