CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – On Sunday, April 28, 2019, the starting gun will go off for the second annual Bionic5K in Harvard Square. The event recognizes the resilience and tenacity of adaptive athletes while inviting runners of all abilities to participate. According to race director Will Borden, it’s more than a typical road race because it is also a celebration of the recent scientific and technological advances that are ushering in a new bionic age.
Two of the three-race founders, Hugh Herr and Will Borden, are amputees themselves. Hugh leads the Biomechatronics group at the MIT Media Lab, which creates advanced bionic devices, and Will is an elementary school teacher at an independent school in Cambridge. The third founder, Conor Walsh, directs the Harvard BioDesign Lab, which focuses on developing wearable robotics that helps restore human mobility.
In describing the reason for creating the event, Borden elaborates, “The 5K is the #1 race distance in the United States. In 2016, 17,000 5K races were held in the US with over 8.2 million finishers. Typical races include one or two adaptive athletes in a large crowd of participants. We believe we can do something different.”
“By assembling a critical mass of amputee and adaptive runners, we can break down barriers and normalize the experience of running alongside people with mobility challenges. In addition, by shining a light on the recent advances in science, technology and rehabilitation medicine, we can engage and inspire a broader group of people as volunteers, runners and supporters, building awareness of the incredible strides that are being made to end disability as we know it today,” adds Borden.
“Ultimately, we hope that this truly inclusive race will not only bring different types of runners together but also bring new people into the running community – encouraging those who might ordinarily shy away from a 5k because of a physical limitation to joining our group of all ages and abilities,” Borden added.
For more information and registration, please go to: www.bionic5K.com.
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