Running for mobility

They say traveling can change a life. It was certainly true for Don Schoendorfer when he saw something in Morocco nearly 30 years ago that would influence him to this day.

On a dusty street lined with beggars, he saw a disabled woman crawling across the lane. No one helped her or even seemed to take notice.

“Every few months or year, something would remind me of her,” Schoendorfer said.

The image kept picking at his brain. In the late ’90s, Schoendorfer found out there are more than 100 million disabled people in countries around the world without access to wheelchairs.

The MIT-educated engineer realized this is because wheelchairs are fairly pricey — $300 on the low end and up to $3,000. Schoendorfer, a Santa Ana resident, was compelled to help and designed a different type of wheelchair that was more cost-effective.

He built it out of cheap, easily accessible materials. Combine a lawn chair, bicycle tires and metal tubing with some ingenuity and you’ve got an easy way to impact someone’s life in a huge way. It’s been Schoendorfer’s passion ever since.

“All it took was one wheelchair to convince me what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” Schoendorfer said.

Free Wheelchair Mission is Schoendorfer’s faith-based organization that raises money to manufacture and distribute these wheelchairs worldwide. One of the project’s main fundraising events is the yearly oceanfront marathon in Huntington Beach.

The Surf City USA Marathon, formerly known as the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, will see thousands of runners spend Super Bowl Sunday getting a different brand of exercise. There will be nearly 16,000 runners total, with 1,000 running the full 26.2 miles. There is also a half marathon event and a 5K race.

Runners come from all over to participate. Every state will be represented as well as a handful of other nations.

Ken Saxton is a Huntington Beach local who runs the race every year. He ran his first marathon in 1987. When he took off his shoes, he was confronted with blackened toenails and swollen, blistery feet.

It inspired him to think about running a little differently.

“That made me realize shoes weren’t really protecting my feet, I needed protection from the shoes,” Saxton said.

The computer technician at Cal State Long Beach began to occasionally run to and from work barefoot. By 1998, he was running marathons shoeless, and he said it makes him run better.

“People think it’s really hard to run barefoot, but if you pay attention to what your feet are feeling, you’ll start running better,” Saxton said.

He started a website, www.runningbarefoot.org, and the movement has been growing. Saxton said there are more than 1,000 people in the site’s e-mail group.

It may seem strange to run barefoot, but despite dangers to bare feet on the road, Saxton said paying attention protects runners. “You watch a little more closely and look at where you step.”

While Saxton and many others will participate in the Surf City Marathon for the love of running, many others are doing it to support Free Wheelchair Mission. Racers raise money for the charity before the race. Some work in teams, like Team Legs Benedict. Last year team members Benedict Jones, his sister Adele Jones and friend Amit Gupta raised $10,500. This year the team will be joined by Caroline, another Jones sibling, for the half marathon. Adele said the group is pumped.

“The most shocking part of all of it is how easy the run is,” Jones said. “After is when you get sore.”

Free Wheelchair Mission is a cause that hits home for the group. Benedict has been paraplegic since 11. Adele said the race is important to her because she’s witnessed how crucial mobility is through her brother. Adele said people often take simple things, like walking, for granted. She hopes the money will help in countries where wheelchairs aren’t readily available.

Which goes to show that traveling — even if it’s only 26.2 miles — really can change a life.

Note:Most streets will open again around 9:30 a.m.

 Pacific Coast Highway will be closed from Beach Boulevard to Warner Avenue.

 Overlook Drive will be closed.

 Seapoint Street will be closed in both directions from Pacific Coast Highway to Palm Avenue. There will be one lane open northbound on Seapoint from Palm Avenue to Summit Drive that will allow access to local residents.

 Edwards Street will be restricted to one lane northbound from Garfield Avenue to Ellis Avenue.

 Edwards Street will be closed in both directions from Ellis Avenue to Central Park Drive. Access will be made available to local residents adjacent to Central Park West.

 The run goes through Central Park. Breakfast in the Park and the Park Bench Café will be open for business.

 Goldenwest Street will be closed between Ellis and Slater avenues.