Special trophy for Robert's marathon run RUNNING BOB CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN DECEPTION Bay Athletic Fashion shoe club has presented a special trophy to distinctive member, Robert Biancucci, 2 It marks his achievement in becoming the first intellectually-handicapped Australian to complete a marathon.
The courage behind his finish in the Moreton Bay marathon in three hours 16 minutes certainly merits the tribute. Robert, who suffered brain damage when knocked down by a car as a child, was well on his way to a sub-three hour marathon when his mother, Margaret, checked his progress at the start of the Hornibrook Highway crossing. She recounted this week she drove home to Redcliffe at that stage and came back on her bicycle to keep tabs on Robert. When she caught up with him along the Clontarf-Woody Point road he said: "
"Mum, my feet are sore. That bridge blistered them." Mrs Biancucci said: ""He sat down, took off his lightweight shoes and threw them in the middle of the road. ""Both his feet were blistered and bleeding, but he started running barefoot along the nature strip. ""I thought he would never make it like that. One of his friends, Jason, rode home and fetched his heavier training shoes _ Brooks Chariots they are _ but by that time Robert was past Margate." He sat down beside the road again, pulled on his trusty trainers and set off for the finish line.
A lot of people would be delighted to run their first 42 kilometre race in three hours 16 minutes in the best of conditions, but with injured feet it is a particularly fine effort. If it is any consolation, Robert, marathon winner Lawrie Whitty said after the race that, judged by international standards, parts of the course were a little rough. His handicap has not robbed Robert of a sense of humor.
He announced there was a large free pair of lightweight shoes for ""anyone with large feet". Coach Jack McGuire let him rest last week but he resumed light training on Monday. Jack says Robert's condition will decide whether he resumes training for the Sport Wheelies' and Disabled Games in Brisbane next month, or winds back before training for a half-marathon late in the season. Robert has won gold medals in the 400, 800 and 1500 metres in the cerebral palsy section of the disabled games.
SUNDAY will see the premier interfashion shoe club event of the season _ the Caboolture-Maleny road relay. About 45 eight-man teams are expected to contest the tough uphill run. The A-grade competition promises to be one of the keenest yet, with Nundah and Thompson Estate fighting out first place and last year's winner, Mount Gravatt, and the record-holder, Toowong, duelling for third. The date has been switched from a Saturday to Sunday to avoid motor traffic. The first-leg A grade men runners set off from Caboolture sports ground at 130 a.m. and women and other grades at 10 a.m. ROBERT Biancucci . . . tribute merited.
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