Mission Statement

CTD believes that there are no barriers to fitness or competition. Members of the Contenders, our running team, which is composed of both able bodied people and people with disabilities, demonstrate this by entering races ranging in length from 5 and 10k runs to marathons. The individual contenders have a variety of disabilities, ranging from quadraplegia to deaf and blind.

Austin Gorilla Run

William in his Gorilla Costume

The Austin Gorilla Run is organized to raise funds to support the Silver Backed Gorillas, an endangered primate. The Silver Backed Gorilla share 98.6% of the DNA of human beings, so they are very closely related to us as a species. They do not survive in captivity, so it is impossible to see one in a zoo.

Everyone in the Austin Gorilla Run will be completing this 5k course in their gorilla costumes, so you can see Austin's version of the Silver Backed Gorilla in downtown Austin this weekend.

Past Races

White Rock Marathon

  • William Greer

This is the foruth marathon William completed. The race was unexpectedly cold and rainy, but William finished in three hours and fifty three minutes.

CASA Superhero 5k

  • William Greer
  • William Greer
    • 17th overall (out of 874)
    • 3rd in age group

4th Annual NOCC Balance 5K & Kids' K

  • William Greer
    • 10th overall (out of 203)
    • Third in age group

Maudie's Moonlight Margarita Run

  • William Greer
  • Mary Roberts (sighted guide)

Even though this 5k started at 8p.m., it was a very hot race. William averaged a 7:17 minute mile. Great thanks to Mary Roberts, his sighted guide.

Congress Avenue Mile

This is the shortest race William ever entered. He finished in under six minutes, with a time of 5:56, but found the distance far too short. He now longs for the next 5k! He wants a longer race he can take at a slightly slower pace.

Schlotzsky's Bun Run

  • William Greer
  • Laura Perna

William and Laura both ran in the 2011 Schlotzsky's BunRun. William came in 11th in his age group, and 92nd overall. He completed the 5k in 21:17, with an average pace of 6:49 minutes per mile | 

2011 ADAPT FUNRUN

  • Dennis Borel
  • William Greer

The ADAPT FUNRUN is an annual fund raising event. Every participant in the ADAPT FUNRUN has one hour to complete as many quarter mile laps as he or she can. Supporters of the ADAPT FUNRUN pledge anywhere from $1.00 to $25.00 for every lap the participant completes. Participants can complete the laps any way they choose. This includes walking, running, riding in a wheelchair skipping, and jumping rope. All of the money raised then goes to support both ADAPT and the CTD, two important disability rights organizations.

William, who completed 32 laps, raised a total of $210.00 in pledges. Dennis, who completed 20 laps, raised a total of $3765.00 in donations.So, William may have completed more laps, but Dennis raised much more money!

When combined, the total comes to $3975.00, which lends great support to both the CTD and ADAPT.

Statesman Cap10k

  • William Greer

William gathered a total of 15 students, and one teacher from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired to enter this 10k. Many of the students ran the race, hwile a couple of them completed the race at a walk. Everyone on the team had a great time even though it was a little challenging. There was a large crowd of people and the total distance of 6.2 miles may have turned out to be a little longer than the students were expecting. The students can best describe their experience, however, in their own words.

2011 Austin Marathon

  • William Greer

William's goal was to complete the marathon in under four hours. He finished it in his fastest time ever: 3:50:23. Will he be able to complete the next marathon in 3:45?

Jingle Bell 5k

  • William Greer

William wanted to average a 7 minute mile for the whole race. He came close, averaging a 7:14 minute mile, and placing 3rd in his age group! His next big challenge will be the Austin Marathon. Stay tuned for results.

Thunderclouds Turkey Trot

  1. William Greer
    • Keith Wadsworth (sighted guide)

William's goal was to simply finish the Turkey Trot. He wanted to see how well his legs had recovered after the San Antonio marathon. He was able to hold a steady 9:31 pace for all 5 miles of the course. He is glad to see his legs have recovered from the marathon. Now it is time to give them a rest for a couple of weeks.

Then, in mid December, he can start training for the Austin marathon.

San Antonio Rock 'n roll marathon

  1. William Greer

The San Antonio marathon is the second marathon William completed. He reached his goal of completing the marathon in under four hours by finishing in three hours and 55 minutes.

An even bigger challenge will be completing the Austin Marathon in under four hours.

Casa Superhero 5k

  1. William Greer
    • Keith Wadsworth (sighted guide)
  2. Laura Perna
  3. Geoffrey Glass

All children need heroes, but children who have been neglected or abused need superheroes. CASA organizes the superhero 5k every year to raise funds for abused or neglected children. Runners are encouraged to wear the costume of a superhero, or create their own, to enter this race.

Laura ran as Strawberry Short Fuse, Geoffrey ran as Immitation Crab Man, and William ran as Sporkman. All had a great time, and did rather well.

results

  • Laura: 39:38, 44th out of 74 in Women aged 25-29
  • Geoff: 39:26, 23rd out of 34 in Men aged 35-39
  • William: 27:14, 13th out of 38 in Men aged 40-44
  • Keith: 27:15, 5th out of 15 in Men aged 50-54

Schlotzsky's Bun Run- May 2, 2010

Statesman cap 10k

The Austin American Statesman called this race the 20k 10k because 20,000 people ran in it. Some of them were timed, some were in it for fun, and some even ran the race wearing costumes!Although William was timed this year, next year he may wear a costume during the Statesman 10k.

Austin Marathon - February 14, 2010

  1. William Greer
William in the Austin Marathon

William did a great job on his first marathon. He finished it in Four hours and eight minuts (4.08.06). William finished as number 1412 out of the 4039 people who finished the marathon. This places him in the top 35% of the runners.

William did not really start to feel the pain until mile 24. Somewhere between mile 24 and 25 is where he "hit the wall". He knew, though, that he just had to keep his legs moving for the last two miles, so he just put one foot in front of the other until he crossed the finish line at 10th and congress.

Zilker Relay - September 4, 2009

  1. William Greer
  2. Dennis Borel
  3. Joe Ploguer
  4. Chase Bearden
The Contenders

The maiden voyage for the Contenders: a 10k relay. Each team member had to complete one fourth of the course, a 2.5 mile loop of Zilker park. Joe, William, Dennis, and Chase all had to cooperate to complete the course.

The weather turned cold and rainy, so everyone had to complete a cold and wet course.All of the Contenders were very happy (and soaking wet) at the end of our first race.