Wheelchair bound Andy conquers New York Marathon

Twenty-four years to the day after being in a car accident which left her wheelchair bound, Andy Sostak crossed the finish line at the New York Marathon after completing 43.6km alongside Kira Horwitz and Rabbi Eitan Ash. 

“It’s just surreal,” said Sostak. “I can’t actually believe that I crossed the finish line. I have the medal and the finisher’s jacket. 

“It was Andy and my first marathon ever. But it was the perfect team effort. We put everything together. We ran it together, we pushed together,” said Ash. “Andy works the entire time. Andy uses her hands to move the wheels the entire time. She’s not afraid. She works and works and works. She’s a superstar.” 

Ash said their only goal was to finish the marathon, as none of them had ever done one before, and didn’t know what to expect. They drew strength from one another, their training, and the incredible support of the crowd and friends who had come to cheer them on. Crossing the finish line, especially in less than five hours, felt like the culmination of months of hard work and an unforgettable dream come true. 

“It’s the most impressive thing I’ve ever done at this late stage of being a non-sporty human at 57,” Sostak said. 

Years ago, Sostak was encouraged by a friend connected to Achilles International, an organisation affiliated with the New York Marathon, to take part in the race. She signed up and began training, but after falling ill, she had to abandon the idea, and for years, running or fitness never crossed her mind again. 

That changed when a friend of hers, Erin Lazarus, underwent an amputation. Knowing her athletic spirit, Sostak introduced her to Achilles, hoping she’d run the New York Marathon. To her surprise, the organisation insisted that she join too. Though reluctant at first, the challenge reignited something in her. While Erin went on to run the London Marathon, Sostak began training in earnest. 

“Andy came with me on a Poland tour last year. She had always wanted to do it, but due to being in a wheelchair, she was always nervous to do certain things,” said Ash, “But it was a dream of hers to do it, so she came to Poland. And while she was in Poland, she was walking in Majdanek with a lady named Sam Fanaroff. And they decided they had to do something different to bring good and love to the world, to create something different. They came up with the idea of running.” 

Sostak trained every day, each time with a different group, to ensure that she would cross the finish line at her first marathon. She ran to raise funds for a BackaBuddy campaign for people with disabilities to show that nothing holds people back. 

They were also cheered along the way by friends and family who flew to New York to support them with “Team Andy” shirts. 

“I started off thinking well, I’ll never do this,” Sostak said. “The first training that Sam and I ever did was over 3km. She pushed me pretty much all of the way. I’m so proud of myself, sweating, I’ve done nothing. But [that changed] literally inch by inch over a year, increasing distance, speed, hill training, lots of biokinetics to strengthen the core, and all of that,” she said. 

“There were times that it was incredibly hard. But I don’t think I took the smile off my face for five hours,” said Sostak, “The crowd gets you going. I was in a movie. It was the most insane experience I’ve had in my life.” 

She said that even when she felt like she couldn’t run anymore, “there was no way of giving up anyway, you have to finish. You can’t not finish, so you just keep going.” 

Sostak said that through running the marathon and raising the money, she is inspired to keep going. “I raised a lot of money for charity before I left. And I figured if that if I’m going to do this, I must make it count and let other people also share the privilege of this opportunity,” she said.