As most endurance athletes near the finish line of a race, they relish in the applause and cheers from onlookers and use it to close out their sweaty efforts with a bang. But when Dave Sheanin, a 49-year old triathlete from Erie, Colorado, closes in on a finish line, he prefers the crowd’s attention be on the person directly in front of him.
Sheanin isn’t hoping another athlete will edge him out right before the finish line; instead, he’s acting as the engine behind his串联的运动员partners as they swim, bike and run to countless finish lines as a pair. Athletes in Tandem (or AiT) is an organization that focuses on cycling, running and triathlon events, pairing endurance athletes with those who require use of adaptive equipment to participate in these activities.
例如，患有脑瘫或其他运动障碍的运动员可以通过被推入跑步车，拉上自行车拖车和木筏来成为两人团队的一部分。在过去的六年中，Sheanin与八个不同的合作伙伴配对，并完成了数十个活动 - 平均每年3-5个活动。
“It’s so motivating, especially when the other athlete’s whole family and friends come out to cheer them on,” he says. “I have a number of finish line pictures where I’m looking pained and my partner is obviously enjoying all the cheering and feeling so happy. I love those.”
回馈
Sheanin is a lifelong athlete, particularly when it comes to running and swimming. As a kid, he tried all the “ball sports” (baseball, football and basketball) and jokes that he “sucked equally at all of them.”
但在高中,他走上年代wim team and discovered a sport he could finally do fairly well. In college, he wasn’t quite fast enough to make Division I, but he signed up for a triathlon — and it didn’t take long before he was hooked.
“My first race was a total disaster,” he says, with a laugh. “I was so underprepared. There was no internet and the library only had one book on triathlon training, so I’d check it out every three weeks.” He walked most of the 10K run [the last leg of the triathlon] and had to take a nap in his car when it was done, but he couldn’t wait for the next one.
一旦他进入训练和赛车的节奏，他仍然很开心，但感觉自己正达到高原。尽管他的时代继续改善，但他想做更多的事情来回馈这项运动，因此他开始教练。当他在2012年了解AIT时，他知道这正是他想有所作为的。
“I was in as soon as I heard about it,” Sheanin recalls. “I knew it could deepen my connection to the sport and to the community and that my actions would have a big impact on these athletes.”
训练风格
For most people, completing a triathlon is enough of a challenge. Imagine doing the swim with a raft attached to you, then pulling a trailer on your bike and, finally, pushing a jogging stroller in front of you as you run.
The swim is around 15 percent harder than competing alone, Sheanin says, and the run is 20 percent harder. But it’s the biking that’s really tough — he estimates that it’s twice as hard. And, he adds, it’s completely worth the extra effort.
“It’s a totally different experience because you’re no longer racing for yourself,” he says. “It’s not about your time anymore or your speed; it’s really about finishing. When you see how excited your partner is to be part of the event, there’s no way you’re going to quit.”
According to Sheanin, part of what inspires him to keep signing up for paired races is seeing his partner become the center of attention. People along the race ask the name of his athlete partner and cheer that person on. It’s an incredible opportunity to do a sport he loves and to support those with mobility impairments at the same time.
“My partners get to be stars at every event,” he says. “Who wouldn’t feel inspired by that?”
