Rae in for the long haul inspired by the Hawkins brothers
DEREK Rae never saw it coming. The articulated truck that flung him headlong off his motorbike six years ago and into a world of pain, rehabilitation and uncertainty. His life altered irrevocably, its course shifted 180 degrees.
After six days in intensive care in a Dundee hospital, reality sunk in. His right arm was incapacitated due to nerve damage, with subsequent surgeries only restoring a fraction of its full function. His career as a joiner was over. Running, however, provided an unexpected sanctuary.
His arm wrapped in a sling, Rae composed himself and took one step forward after another, firstly for enjoyment, then with purpose. “Luckily for me, I’ve always been a driven,” he says. His times post-accident surpassed anything before. His enthusiasm multiplied exponentially as end results justified the means.
“I’ve always dedicated myself to a task and as the door opened to Paralympic sports, [success has] come a lot faster than I’d have imagined,” he says. “I had to get through the IPC classification first but since then I’ve had a great team behind me, with my wife, my coach, the Lottery, it’s helped make this a reality.”
This being a spot on the starting line in this morning’s marathon in Rio that will bring competition at the 2016 Paralympic Games to a formal close. The 31-year-old, who was 13th at last year’s world championships and one place higher at the London Marathon this spring, has now established himself among the leaders in his T46 class. “It’s felt very surreal,” he acknowledges. It took a little polishing from his St Andrewsbased coach Ron Morrison to get him here, to instil tactics and no little discipline, and to be ready for his toughest 26 miles yet.
Inspiration, he declares, has been easy to find. Watching fellow Scots Callum and Derek Hawkins pass over much of the same course during the Olympic marathon set a precedent he will gladly emulate. “Callum ran the race of his life,” Rae says of that unforeseen ninth place. “To be leading the Olympic marathon at half-way, if someone had told him that would happen not so long ago, he’d never have believed it. It just shows how hard work by him and the team behind him can pay off. The Hawkins brothers are so humble and they’ve worked really hard to get what they’ve got.” He has done likewise. Now he hopes it will pay off, with his wife Susan – who has been there for all the ups and downs– travelling out to share the end of this amazing journey. Living the dream, Rae smiles. “I prepare for every race the same,” he says. “There have been times when I’ve thought, ‘This can’t be happening to me’. Even when I was seeing photos on Twitter or Facebook of the guys in the holding camp, I didn’t feel, ‘I’m going to be going out to join them’. I don’t think it will hit me until I get home. “But that’s not a bad thing. It’s kept me quite relaxed and ready. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be out at a Paralympics.” Another Briton in action today will be David Weir – who has confirmed he will retire next year – as he defends his wheelchair marathon title after drawing a blank on the track.