Achilles Strong

You could call it a “Band of Brothers.” Roughly 40 veterans came together as part of the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Military Veterans to compete in November’s New York City Marathon.

At the center of this group was Georgia Southern alumnus Greg Sapp, class of 2012, who completed the 26.2-mile course in the handcycle division. Sapp is a combat-injured veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sapp first became involved with the Achilles Freedom Team in 2010, through his connection with the Christopher Reeves Foundation. In 2010, Sapp competed in his first marathon—the Marine Corps Marathon in the Washington, D.C. area—and at that time made a personal commitment to complete at least one marathon a year.

“I like competing in marathons because I find it very inspiring. I get to ride with a lot of veterans who were wounded in combat, a lot of amputees,” he said. “And I am racing with a lot of people from different branches of service. We all come together for one cause.”

And that cause is to raise money for wounded veterans. The Achilles Freedom Team was founded in 2004 by Achilles International to specifically aid veterans. Achilles International is a nonprofit group that empowers people with disabilities to participate in athletics. The group has chapters across the United States and in 60 countries worldwide. Achilles International founder Dick Traum, who lost one of his legs at the age of 24, when it was smashed between two cars, went on to become the first amputee to complete a marathon when he crossed the finish line in New York in 1976.

Sapp and his wife, Cassandra, who is also a combat-injured veteran, are raising money by competing in Achilles Team events. They plan to start a Georgia chapter of Achilles Freedom. “We do this to support the wounded veteran’s organization. I do my own fundraisers and I have raised more than $24,000 so far,” he said.

Sapp’s latest support has come from the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, which donated $10,000 and paid for the team’s trip to the Boston Marathon this spring. “They gave us the donation at the end of last year and told me they also wanted to support us at the event, including catering food for us,” he said. Sapp also noted he receives support from larger companies such as Merck Pharmaceuticals.

The New York City Marathon was exciting for Sapp even though the marathon itself presented a few challenges. “It had a lot of hills and I was not prepared for that. Statesboro does not have a lot of hills so I wasn’t able to train for that kind of course,” he said.

Sapp said his goal for New York was to finish in less than two hours, but that because of the hills, his finish time was two hours and 25 minutes.

He said, however, that the marathon became more of a personal event for him because his brother, Brian, came to New York, ran in the race and raised $3,000 for the Achilles team. “It was special because he ran in support of all of us and it was his first marathon,” said Sapp. “He had wanted to run New York for a long time.”

Sapp admitted there is something special about the New York City Marathon.

“The crowd was awesome…there were so many people there,” he said. “It was pretty cool to have all the people out there and the support. New York and Boston are the two biggest marathons as far as supporters.”

Sapp said the biggest difference for the wheelchair racers is that they take off before everyone else. “The wheelchair racers don’t have all the runners around; we don’t have the congestion that the runners have, but we do compete on the same route as the runners.”

Sapp graduated from Georgia Southern in June 2012 with a degree in psychology and is now working on a master’s degree in clinical psychology as part of an online program at Walden University. He expects to receive his degree in December and then move into their Ph.D. program.

“I really liked Georgia Southern. It is a good school,” he said. “The school does an excellent job working with students with disabilities.”

Sapp said he had help from the University’s Student Disability Resource Center, which worked with him to allow for changes and accommodations regarding testing. “This helped make it a much less stressful situation for me,” he said.

To help the Achilles Freedom Team, visit Gregg Sapp’s Fundraiser: Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Military Veterans. And take Sapp’s word for it—“It’s a cause worth supporting.” – Steven Hannan