Volunteer News

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Talbot Kennedy, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

This was Talbot Kennedy’s sixth year participating in the
AJC Peachtree Road Race, a 10K run whose route passes
right in front of Shepherd Center. A former patient who
sustained a spinal cord injury during a high school tram-
poline accident in Memphis, Tennessee, Talbot, 33, is
now a peer support liaison at Shepherd Center. We talk-
ed with him a week before the big race.
Q: How tough a race is the Peachtree?
Talbot: I do a lot of 10K wheelchair races and this is
one of the harder ones. The first half is pretty easy, it’s
mainly downhill, until right about when you get to Shep-
herd Center. That’s where it becomes what they call Car-
diac Hill. But passing Shepherd is my favorite part even
though it’s the hardest part. You see all the patients and
therapists and friends and families out there supporting
you. It’s tough not to stop and start talking with them.
It’s definitely the best part of the race.
Q: Do you have a training routine?
Talbot: Because I’m on the USA Wheelchair Rugby team and we’re in the middle of our season, I do a lot of training in
my rugby chair. But I’ll go out to the Silver Comet Trail and push in my racing chair for about seven miles. I also get on
rollers (a kind of treadmill for chairs) at Shepherd and train for 35 to 40 minutes. The Sunday before the race some of
us go out and do the actual course. That’s when we notice if there’s any potholes we have to watch out for on race day.
Q: Any pre-race rituals?
Talbot: The night before I like to have pasta – I’m a pasta guy anyway but I load up on carbs. I also make sure my equip-
ment is ready to go, there’s nothing worse than being ready on race day and finding you have a flat tire. So I make sure
my tires are aired up and look over my wheelchair — make sure the compensator and handle bars are all good. In the
morning, I usually have a fruit smoothie I bought the night before, and bananas and apples and muffins. I definitely like
to eat. I know some racers just drink a cup of coffee and go do it but that’s not me.
Q: What’s your race strategy?
Talbot: There are a few people who are definitely faster than me in the T52 division (one of two divisions for racers with
quadriplegia), so I do have a strategy. At the start of the race, it’s flat or slightly uphill for about a mile, and I’m thinking
in my head if I can just hang with those guys until we go downhill, the rest of the race will go pretty well. Then when we
go downhill I’m usually with a teammate, and I just let it go as fast as possible. We may or may not draft on each other,
but there’s not too much of an advantage because everyone’s pretty much going to stop when we get to the bottom of
Cardiac Hill. Once you get up the steepest part, that’s when you know you’re going to be tired, so the hardest part of
the race for me is to keep going until 10th St. – I just push through it. Then it’s pretty much downhill from there. Usually
by then there’s somebody who’s trying to catch you, or who you’re trying to catch, and that’s pretty good motivation.
But at that point I just want to get to the end quickly, get to brunch and celebrate.
Q: How does it feel to finish the Peachtree?
Talbot: It’s definitely an accomplishment every year. Last year was my fastest, 32 minutes, and I’d love to beat that this
year. But one of the biggest things for me when it comes to wheelchair racing or rugby or whatever sport, is we’re all
out there competing to win and beat each other, but when it’s all over the best feeling is that we’ve all done it together.

By: Drew Jubera