Team Never Run Alone: Racing the Extraordinary Way

Words by Kath Alvey and Bim Legisniana
Photos courtesy of Team Never Run Alone

Most experienced runners aim for a marathon finisher’s medal while beginners race to shed some pounds in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle. A few don racing bibs to inspire.

In 2009, while strolling around the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Kevin Fernandez—a 19 yr-old who has been diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and autism when he was still a kid—excitedly gestured to people running around the Academic Oval.  Vlad, Kevin’s father, after seeing the excitement on his son’s face immediately thought of joining running events with him.

This began the inspiring father-son duo known as Team Never Run Alone (TNRA) which has since joined numerous running events in the country from 5K to full marathons. Their first race was the Botak Paa-bilisan Road Race in November 2009 for the 5K category then gradually advanced to marathons in December 2010 at the 2^nd Quezon City International Marathon. A marathon is a 42K running event which is typically joined by experienced runners. Vlad and Kevin clocked 5 hours and 18 minutes—quite good for first-time marathoners.

Running in wheels

In spite of several difficulties TNRA has encountered—running in a wheelchair, for one—they have kept their positive outlook. “On our first runs, we used Kevin’s original wheelchair until in one running event, we tumbled down and had an accident,” Vlad said. The team then decided to get a wheelchair that can endure running for several kilometers. “We first thought of buying a ready-made one, but none is available in the Philippines. Buying and shipping it from abroad is too expensive for us so we decided to custom-make,” Vlad added.

Kevin’s customized running wheelchair which they named as Push-racer is a collaboration of TNRA and people from Tahanang Walang Hagdanan. It was first put to the test in the Condura Run last February 2010.

The Push-racer carries Kevin in a training run in Clark, Angeles City.

Finding Inspiration

Vlad had previously seen videos of “Team Hoyt”, a father-and-son tandem from Holland, Massachusetts who race in the same manner and joins marathons and triathlons, but had never imagined doing it themselves.

Vlad and Kevin also ran along with Team Logan in a number of local races. Team Logan is composed of Craig, Michelle and Justin Logan who was afflicted with Meningitis after birth which later on aggravated to Cerebral Palsy. They officially started racing at the Yakult Race in September 2006.

Hardships and Pay-offs

Given Kevin’s condition and Vlad’s work schedule, it was rather hard to be consistent on trainings for upcoming runs, “Training is a challenge for us. We have to squeeze it into my work schedule. This means we have to do our long runs on Sundays and squeeze in short runs on late weeknights or very early morning weekdays. Often, I miss my training schedule,” Vlad said.

Training is just one part of their many challenges. During actual races, Vlad doubles all his efforts as he pushes Kevin to the finish line. Kevin understands the meaning of teamwork—he manages to shift his weight and help control their speed.

While racing, Kevin exudes a certain kind of bliss. “Kevin is always ecstatic on runs. He often shouts or cheers every time we are running. He used to be shy but this changed when we started running. He beams with a smile more often now, especially when he knows we are scheduled for a run,” Vlad shared.

Since the team started racing in November 2009, they have progressed from 5K to 10K, to a full marathon.

Running for Higher Cause

Aside from athletic pursuits, Vlad is also involved in a non-government organization called the Community and Family Services International which brought him closer to marginalized people. This fulfilling job molded him into seeing the importance of the society’s involvement to those in need of special care and protection.

“When we started, we were just thinking of enjoying the time together through the running experience. As we attended several races and received encouragements from fellow runners, we felt that our running experience might be bigger than we thought. So, we decided to carry on an advocacy in our runs, and that is to promote the social inclusion of people like Kevin into mainstream community activities–in this case running,” Vlad shared.

Vlad and Kevin given an extra push by a runner in the final stretch of the Adidas King of the Road race in October 2010.

A race is a battle both Vlad and Kevin fight with all their hearts; not for the finisher’s medal or bragging rights, but for a higher aim of proving to everyone that people with physical disability can be active members of the community. A battle well fought by Vlad and Kevin.