{"id":2654,"date":"2013-11-07T10:12:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/?p=2654"},"modified":"2013-11-25T08:47:56","modified_gmt":"2013-11-25T14:47:56","slug":"ot-student-guides-runner-through-new-york-city-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/2013\/11\/07\/ot-student-guides-runner-through-new-york-city-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"OT student guides runner through New York City Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NYCMarathon2\"<\/a>Nathan Cruse, a third-year doctoral student in the School of Occupational Therapy, was part of a volunteer team organized by Achilles International to guide a blind runner through the 26.2 mile New York City Marathon this past Sunday.\u00a0 Cruse signed up for this duty back in May and was chosen to be one of three individuals to guide runner Theresa Khayyam.\u00a0\u00a0 In the months leading up to the marathon, he guided Khayyam in training runs once or twice a week, working on running in unpredictable weather and on unfamiliar courses to increase her confidence in her abilities and her faith in her guides.<\/p>\n

As an avid runner, it has always been a dream of Cruse\u2019s to run in the New York City Marathon.\u00a0 \u201cI love the feeling of completing a race, knowing that all the sweat and pain of training has truly paid off,\u201d said Cruse.\u00a0 He added, \u201cI have always imagined what it would feel like to cross the finish line of the New York City Marathon.\u00a0 Little did I know that taking a back seat and standing alongside another runner while she completed the race would be an even greater experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruse has become increasingly involved with Achilles International, an organization that coordinates guides for athletes with disabilities.\u00a0\u00a0 He participates in weekly runs and has performed guide duties for athletes with a wide variety of disabilities, from cerebral palsy to visual impairments to spinal cord injuries.\u00a0 \u201cit is an amazing opportunity to help others find joy in an activity that has become such a big part of my life,\u201d said Cruse.<\/p>\n

On race day, Cruse ran alongside of Khayyam as she trekked through all five boroughs of New York City, battling exhaustion and chilly morning air while being encouraged by enormous crowds.\u00a0 \u201cThe running was completely her own,\u201d said Cruse, \u201cand through determination and perseverance, Theresa completed the marathon in 6 hours, 45 minutes, and 34 seconds.\u00a0 I could not have been prouder to stand by her side.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nathan Cruse, a third-year doctoral student in the School of Occupational Therapy, was part of a volunteer team organized by Achilles International to guide a blind runner through the 26.2 mile New York City Marathon this past Sunday.\u00a0 Cruse signed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chs","category-occupational-therapy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2654"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2701,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654\/revisions\/2701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}