The Phenomenal Marathon Runner
Zoe Koplowitz
- - by Shirley Butler
"It's never a solitary victory for me. It's the stories and the dreams of all the people I meet along the way and during the year. Don't just have a dream; go out and live your dream. If I can do it, all of you can do whatever that thing is that really calls your soul. It's not about doing a marathon. It's about doing that thing in your life that matters. "
Zoe Koplowitz - "The Winning Spirit"
My Handi-Capable Reporter became aware of this month's Phenom, Zoe Koplowitz, in April of this year when she ran the Boston Marathon. We at MHCR love to find stories about people who have not so much learned to accept their disability and adapt successfully, but to have that disability or condition inspire them to a goal that they might not have attained except for their condition.
Zoe is most certainly one such person. Proud of being a native New Yorker, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1973 at the young age of 25. Being so young, she felt the denial and the hopelessness that we all feel when something traumatic enters our life, changing the rules forever. Her doctor at the time gave her the cold facts and little else.
He basically told her to adapt to the MS, change her way of living, and accept the disease. He told her not to push herself, not to do anything too strenuous. And, as most people in this type situation, she rearranged her life and lived in the shadow of her disease for a long time. Basically, she was living her life according to the MS - waiting for the MS to eventually "do her in". Then one day she happened to be walking past a television store. One of the sets was on but not tuned to a channel, and all she could see was static - just gray, fuzzy screen.
For some reason she didn't understand, that television grabbed hold of her and wouldn't let go. She stood staring at it until, like some epiphany, she saw it symbolize her life with MS. It was then that she formulated her theory that we are all born with about 100 channels.
Ninety-nine of those channels have some positive programming on them, and one just has static. Zoe figured her static channel had MS on it. Her choices were to sit still and let the static hypnotize her into doing nothing, or to get up and change the channel. Zoe changed the channel and commenced living again.
A freak accident in her office involving a rather large Vitamin C pill helped to change her perspective also. Zoe was taking some Vitamin C to ward off a cold. She tried to swallow, couldn't, and choked on the pill. Not getting any air, she passed out, turning blue. Quick thinking and some CPR by a fellow worker brought her around again, but it was a close call. She began thinking about how this disease had transformed her from a physically active person into what she terms the "ultimate spectator".
People with disabilities have to give up a lot of the fun and interesting things they used to do, either because they can't do them anymore or because they are advised against doing them. Zoe hadn't pushed herself because she had been living under the assumption that the MS would be the inevitable eventual cause of her death, and until then, she was just existing. The incident with the Vitamin C, however, changed all that. She began seeing each day as special and that anything could happen to her at any time. If a vitamin pill could kill her rather than the MS, then perhaps a lot of what she had felt to be true about her disease and how she should handle it wasn't written in cement!
She decided to set a goal for herself that would help her defeat all the stereotypes under which she had been living. And what would her goal be? She set her sights on the New York City Marathon! Zoe hooked up with a track club called Achilles. Achilles is an international running club for disabled athletes. It was through this organization that she began her long building-up of energy, stamina and road training. With them she began her twice-weekly workout sessions, and with them she competed in her first 5K race, then a number of other competitive events, and then a half-marathon -13 miles. Zoe uses special shock-absorbing crutches (by LifeLynx) that enable her to handle the rigors of using crutches under such circumstances for prolonged periods of time. She was ready for the first of her many New York City marathons (ten in all) only after many months of grueling training . All of her hard work and effort in these races culminated in this year's Boston Marathon (she finished in just short of 31 hours). Although no one in Zoe's time class (i.e., double-digit hours) had ever been allowed to enter the race, it was in a way a new world's record. As she said, "a record in reverse, but a record nevertheless!"
Much has been, and will be written in the media about Zoe and her many achievements and we won't try to duplicate that here. About her life with MS, she has written a very inspirational book with the help of her friend (and New York Marathon team member) Mike Celizic called "The Winning Spirit - Life Lessons Learned in Last Place". In her book Zoe relates the circumstances surrounding her diagnosis, her denial and ultimate acceptance, and her treatment by people who should have been the first to be supportive. She discusses how she came to finally find her way out of the frustration and hopelessness of being diagnosed with a disease the magnitude of Multiple Sclerosis. She tells how she came to the point in her life when she needed to do the marathons to prove to herself, if to no one else, that the Multiple Sclerosis was not going to overpower her spirit, even though it did create some limits on her physical self. The book is truly encouraging, s demonstrating how being the best you can be in your given situation, is all that really matters.
Of her marathon exploits, Zoe says, "People run marathons every day of their lives, one way or another". While Zoe runs a race, another person's marathon may be just walking one mile, or getting the grocery shopping done, or going to work on a day when legs don't want to move, or functioning while being exhausted from dealing with a disease or injury. Zoe is aware of some of the controversy her runs have caused within the Multiple Sclerosis community. While the overwhelming majority of people laud her efforts, some feel the comparison between Zoe and other disabled individuals causes a "if she can run a marathon, why can't you (reader fill in your own blank)?" reaction. However, she feels her runs have attracted so much media, because "the trend is finally turning from 'being first is best', to 'being the best you can be', and doing the best you can within the capabilities of your disability".
Zoe also enjoys speaking to groups, especially children. She feels her overall philosophy can help children in the inner city who are daily confronted by gangs that rob or sell drugs. These children see that the guy who sells drugs on the corner has lots of money, he can afford a snazzy car and great clothes. In their eyes, this makes him a winner. Zoe tries to make them understand that it is not just the money that makes you a winner, just like it's not coming in first place and winning the medal that makes you a winner. It's what you do to get there that counts.
If what Zoe accomplishes in these marathons inspires those with disabilities, or anyone else, to push just a little harder, to try one more time or even try something for a first time, I'm sure she would be thrilled. Those of us at MHCR award the Gold Medal to the "Marathon Lady", Zoe Koplowitz!
You can contact Zoe personally at P.O. Box 620, Peter Stuyvesant Station, 432 East 14th Street, New York, NY 10009. She carries all the letters she has received so that each writer's spirit crosses the finish line right along with Zoe.
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