By Renee Durham
Sam Spencer has a goal. He is going to do a marathon.
Sam is 14, and has recently started meeting with Achilles Arkansas on Saturday mornings. Achilles enables people will all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics. They pair up their athletes with volunteers for their weekly Saturday workouts.
Sam is keeping his focus on his goals. He wanted to run, and he is doing that. He has been riding a bike, too. When he outgrew his bike, he got a new one and decided he wanted to do a marathon. He has a clear vision of what he wants and with the support of his family and his friends at Achilles Arkansas, it won’t be long before he is breaking records.
Even though Sam runs everyday for physical therapy, his whole family is getting out and exercising together. During the week with his family, he runs two days; usually about two miles each time. Sam also rides his bike two days. He comes from a healthy, fitness-minded family. Sam proudly tells people his mom and dad participate in Crossfit and Stronger U.
On Saturdays with his Achilles team, Sam is doing 5K on his bike, and he has volunteers running along side him. No easy task, since he is up to 11 miles per hour and they have to keep up.
Sam attends Grace School, and also likes to play on his iPad. His favorite foods are chicken nuggets and pizza poppers. He also eats vegetable everyday and loves broccoli, asparagus, green beans and sweet peas.
Sam’s words of exercise and fitness encouragement for everyone “Get pumped y’all.”
To meet more of our kid heroes, click here!
*The mission of Achilles International is to empower people with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream running events in order to promote personal achievement. Click here to donate.