‘It isn’t a cheap sport to get into’ - Northampton wheelchair racer starts fundraiser for new race chair

A Northampton-based wheelchair racer who has competed in New York and Tokyo is raising funds for a custom race chair that he believes will take his performances to a new level.

Steve Montgomery was paralysed from the waist down after a fall and initially began playing wheelchair rugby with the Northampton Saints. He then took up racing two years ago.

The 55-year-old said: “I was just randomly approached by a coach from Corby Athletics Club while I was in the supermarket. He just came up to me and asked if I fancied it, because of some of the other things I’d tried, and I thought yeah, it’s worth giving it a go.”

Steve now trains with the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club under Paralympic coach Job King, and is ranked #1 in the UK in his age group.

Steve told this newspaper about some of the best experiences of his racing career so far

He said: “Some fantastic opportunities have arisen just by getting into this sport. I’ve done the New York and Tokyo marathons abroad, a 10km in New Jersey, and a couple of half marathons in Lanzarote.”

Earlier this year, he recorded a personal-best time at the Tokyo Marathon, and hopes to compete in London and Chicago in the coming months.

However, Steve’s performances have still been hampered by his reliance on a second-hand race chair that used to belong to one of his teammates, while most wheelchair racers will use an individually-fitted chair to avoid injury and optimise their times.

Steve added: “After anything more than 10km - so if I do a half-marathon or a marathon - I get cuts and rub marks on my ribs, where I’m hitting against the cage of the seat.”

Wheelchair racing can be a prohibitively expensive sport. An individually-fitted chair can cost several thousand pounds, even without taking into account the cost of the wheels, gloves, or any of the other equipment needed to compete at the highest level.

Earlier this year, Steve started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the cost of one of these chairs, but has yet to meet his goal.

You can donate to Steve’s fund here.