Bob Wieland | |
---|---|
Born | |
Education | University of Wisconsin [ clarification needed ] California State University, Los Angeles |
Known for | Completing marathons with no legs or wheelchair |
Bob Wieland is a Vietnam War veteran who lost his legs to a mortar mine in 1969. After recovering from his injuries he was inspired to become a marathon participant. Over his lifetime he has finished many marathons, often taking multiple days to finish. He is the only double amputee to finish the difficult Kona, Hawaii Ironman race without a wheelchair. He "ran" across America on his hands, taking three years, eight months, and six days to travel from coast to coast. [1]
Growing up in Wisconsin, Wieland attended the University of Wisconsin.[ clarification needed ] A talented baseball player, he was negotiating a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies when he decided to join the Army as a combat medic. [2]
In Vietnam in June 1969, his squad walked into a mine field. When a member of his unit stepped on a booby-trapped mortar, Wieland rushed to give first aid but he, too, stepped on an 82mm buried mortar, a round designed to destroy tanks. It severely damaged his legs; they had to be amputated above the knee. In a letter to his parents after his accident, he wrote:
June 14, 1969
Dear Mom and Dad.
I'm in the hospital. Everything is going to be O.K. The people here are taking good care of me.
Love, Bob.
P.S. I think I lost my legs. [1]
Wieland likes to say of that day, "My legs went one direction, my life another." [1]
After recovering from his injuries, he enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles majoring in education. After college, he joined the Green Bay Packers as a strength coach. [2]
In November 1986 he completed the New York City Marathon, taking four days to complete the 26 miles (42 km) race. [3] He "ran" across America on his hands, taking three years, eight months, and six days to travel from coast to coast and raise money for Vietnam war veterans. [4] In 1988 at 41, he finished the Los Angeles Marathon, taking 74.5 hours to finish the 26.2 miles (42.2 km) race. He started the race a day earlier than everyone else and finished two days after the last runner had crossed the finish line. [5]
Wieland was a guest on 100 Huntley Street.
On August 23, 2012, Wieland announced his plans for the Celebrate America Tour starting in January 2013. Over the next 5 years, his plans are to visit all 50 States in the US, extending a challenge to do a measure more and inspire others! He will be speaking at conventions, corporate meetings, military bases, universities, high schools and churches. [6]
In the 1988–1990 TV series Sonny Spoon , Wieland played the character of Johnny Skates.
Jean-Claude Killy is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there. He also won the first two World Cup titles, in 1967 and 1968.
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and again in 1999; his best result was a sixth-place finish in the 1993 Brazilian GP. He returned to CART in 2001, but a major crash in the 2001 American Memorial resulted in the amputation of his legs. He returned to racing less than two years after the accident; competing in the European Touring Car Championship in 2003–2004 and then in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2009, scoring four wins.
Stephen Roche is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia general classification, plus the World road race championship, the first being Eddy Merckx. Roche's rise coincided with that of fellow Irishman Sean Kelly.
Joseph Robert Kerrey is an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. Before entering politics, he served in the Vietnam War as a United States Navy SEAL officer and was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat. During the action for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor, he was severely wounded, precluding further naval service.
Elroy Leon "Crazylegs" Hirsch was an American professional football player, sport executive and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974. He was also named to the all-time All-Pro team selected in 1968 and to the National Football League (NFL) 1950s All-Decade Team.
Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time. Runnerworld called him the "Most comprehensive runner of all time".
Francois Robert "Rob" de Castella is an Australian former world champion marathon runner.
Timothy Lee Richmond was an American race car driver from Ashland, Ohio. He competed in IndyCar racing before transferring to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one of the first drivers to change from open wheel racing to NASCAR stock cars full-time, which later became an industry trend. He won the 1980 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award and had 13 victories during eight NASCAR seasons.
Daniel William Wood is an American singer and songwriter. He is a member of the boy band New Kids on the Block and also served as a choreographer for the band in late 80s and 90s.
The Coast to Coast is a non-standard multisport competition held annually in New Zealand. It is run from the west coast to the east coast of the South Island, and features running, cycling and kayaking elements over a total of 243 kilometres (151 mi). It starts in Kumara Beach and traditionally finished in the Christchurch suburb of Sumner, but since 2015 finishes in New Brighton. The event was created in 1983 by Christchurch personality Robin Judkins, who sold the rights to Queenstown-based tourism company Trojan Holdings in 2013. Richard Ussher took over from Judkins as race director in 2015. In 2019, Glen Currie was contracted to continue on from Richard Ussher in the role of race director.
Ronald Hill MBE was a British runner and clothing entrepreneur. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, and laid claim to the marathon world record. He ran two Olympic Marathons, and achieved a personal marathon record of 2:09:28. In 1970, Hill won the 74th Boston Marathon in a course record 2:10:30. He also won gold medals for the marathon at the European Championships in 1969 and the Commonwealth Games in 1970. Hill laid claim to the longest streak of consecutive days running – every day for 52 years and 39 days from 1964 to 2017.
Rolando Patricio Vera Rodas is a retired long-distance runner from Ecuador, who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988. He reached the top ten of the 10,000 metres at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics. He enjoyed much championship success at the regional level: he was a two-time South American Champion on the track and won gold medals at the South American Games and Bolivarian Games, as well as reaching the podium at the Ibero-American Championships and the 1987 Pan American Games.
Bruce Emery Bickford is a retired long-distance runner from the United States. He claimed the gold medal at the 1987 Pan American Games in the Men's 10,000 metres, and represented his native country in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He set his personal best (27:37.17) in the 10,000 metres in 1985 in Stockholm, Sweden. Bickford won a gold medal in the 1989 United States Olympic Festival Half Marathon.
Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich is a Kenyan professional athlete who specialises in long-distance running, competing in events ranging from 10 km to the marathon. He was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is the former world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:03:23, which he set at the 2013 Berlin Marathon. He has run under 2 hours 4 minutes for the marathon on four occasions.
Samuel Tsegay Tesfamriam is an Eritrean long-distance runner running for the Swedish track club Hälle IF and currently going through the process of acquiring Swedish citizenship, who specializes in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. He was born in Eritrea. As a junior, he competed in the junior races at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing seventeenth in 2005, eighth in 2006 and eighth in 2007. He finished fourth in the 10,000 metres at the 2006 World Junior Championships.
Marcel Eric Hug is a Paralympic athlete from Switzerland competing in category T54 wheelchair racing events. Hug, nicknamed 'The Silver Bullet', has competed in four Summer Paralympic Games for Switzerland, winning two bronze medals in his first Games in Athens in 2004. In 2010 he set four world records in four days, and at the 2011 World Championships he won a gold in the 10,000 metres and four silver medals, losing the gold in three events to long term rival David Weir. This rivalry continued into the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where Hug won two silvers, in the 800m and the marathon. In the 2013 World Championships Hug dominated the field, winning five golds and a silver. During the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, Hug was one of the most consistent competitors in the T54 class, winning two golds, in the 800m and marathon, and two silvers medals, in the 1500m and 5000m.
Tsegai Tewelde is an Eritrean-born British distance runner, who competed in the marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Jack Burnell is an English retired swimmer. He won a silver medal in the 10 km race at the European Open Water Swimming Championships in 2016 but was disqualified during the same event at the 2016 Olympic Games. He retired from swimming in 2021 and now works as a performance mindset coach for the football team Brentford FC.
Jeff Bauman is an American author. He lost both of his legs during the Boston Marathon Bombing attack in 2013 and was the subject of a famous photograph taken in the aftermath of the bombing. The film Stronger is based on a memoir of the same name he co-wrote, with actor Jake Gyllenhaal portraying Bauman.