Dear Friend of New York City Road Runners and New York City Parks:

We are excited to announce a brand-new resource for youth here in New York City: a free youth wheelchair racing clinic taking place on three different dates this summer.
 
New York Road Runners’ mission is to help and inspire people through running, and that includes people of all ages and abilities. The clinics will introduce youth ages 5-18 to the sport of wheelchair racing and provide an opportunity to try it out. No previous wheelchair racing experience is needed.  We want to enable and engage the community of youth athletes with disabilities and help ensure that opportunities like this will lead to health, fitness, and goal-setting.
 
NYRR has been instrumental and leading this sport by providing racing platforms at the professional level and to young racers at some of our key events. Inspired by world-class professional wheelchair athletes such as Tatyana McFadden, Ernst Van Dyk, and others, youth can learn the basics of the sport and aspire to professional wheelchair racing themselves.
 
The clinic will cover racing chair components and proper seating, track rules (helmets, lanes, impeding), basics of control and “the push,” and more. Participants will be able to practice in chairs on rollers to understand the motion and mechanics of pushing.
 
The clinic dates, times, and locations are here <http://www.nyrr.org/youth-and-schools/series-and-events/nyrr-free-youth-wheelchair-racing-clinic>. Advance registration is required.   
 
We hope you can join us and help spread the word as we continue to work with all interested parties in the development of training programs for youth athletes with disabilities. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
 
Sincerely,
 
Peter Ciaccia
New York Road Runners
President, Events