BOSTON (AP) 鈥� Bob Hall, a childhood polio survivor who became known as the father of wheelchair racing after twice winning the Boston Marathon and then going on to build racing chairs for the generations of competitors that followed, has died. He was 74.
The Boston Athletic Association said on Sunday that Hall’s family after a long illness.
In 1975, Hall convinced Boston Marathon organizers to let him into the race and was promised a finishers鈥� certificate like the one the runners got if he completed the 26.2-mile distance in under 3 hours. (In 1970, Vietnam War veteran Eugene Roberts, who had lost both of his legs in the war, needed more than six hours to finish.)
Hall crossed the line in 2:58.
鈥淚t had nothing to do with, per se, the marathon, but it was about the inclusion,鈥� Hall said last year, when he in Boston on the 50th anniversary of his pioneering ride. 鈥淚t was that I was bringing people along.鈥�
Hall returned to the Boston race in 1977, when it was designated as the site for the National Wheelchair Championship, and prevailed in a field of seven. As they crested Heartbreak Hill, eventual men’s winner Bill Rodgers and fifth-place finisher Tom Fleming slowed to encourage him.
鈥淭he interaction was a sign that we were fully accepted as athletes,鈥� Hall said.
Hall, who lost the use of both legs from childhood polio, sued in 1978 to have wheelchair racers admitted into the New York Marathon, a fight that wasn鈥檛 settled until the race created men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 wheelchair divisions in 2000.
鈥淏ob Hall is an incredible man,鈥� five-time Boston winner and eight-time Paralympic gold medalist Tatyana McFadden said last year. 鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful for him. And I think we all are, as wheelchair racers, because he really paved the way.鈥�
Hall finished in the top three in Boston three other times, and remained active with the race. More than 1,900 wheelchair racers have followed him from Hopkinton to Boston; this year鈥檚 race on April 20 will include 50 more, along with 50 others in eight para divisions competing for more than $300,000 in prize money.
The BAA said that Hall taught 鈥渉ow we can continue to ensure athletes of all abilities have competitive opportunities on the highest stage here in Boston.鈥�
鈥淏ob designed innovative wheelchair equipment, raced with courage, and was proud to be a two-time Boston Marathon champion,鈥� the BAA said. 鈥淗e helped lead a technological change, transforming simple wheelchairs into racing chairs built for peak athletic performance. Bob鈥檚 influence and effort five decades ago led to the global circuit of wheelchair racing today.鈥�
Many of the competitors 鈥� including McFadden and seven-time Boston winner Marcel Hug 鈥� learned to race in chairs built by Hall.
鈥淏ecause of him crossing that finish line, we鈥檙e able to race today. And it鈥檚 evolved so much since then,鈥� McFadden said last year. 鈥淚t was him. It was him being brave and saying, 鈥業鈥檓 going to go out and do this because I believe that we should be able to race Boston Marathon just like everyone else.鈥� So he had the courage to do that.鈥�
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