While the wait is on, it doesn’t stop Dr. Josh Wandell from continuing to race.
Team Wandell stayed busy throughout the weekend, competing in the Carter County Relay For Life 5K Glo-Run Friday and the Tweestie Trail half-marathon Saturday.
Team Wandell recently put on the Wheels for Wandell 5K, which served as a benefit race during the month of April. The event was organized by RunCorps, as a way to help raise funds needed to purchase a custom race chair to help Wandell continue to race.
The custom “UT orange” chair is expected to be in town before the start of the Crazy 8’s race in Kingsport in July, but Wandell is sporting a temporary pink chair for the time-being. While coming across the finish line Friday with Michael Lowe, Josh also participated with various members of Team Wandell during the Tweetsie Trail race, where he finished second in his age group – coming in at under two hours.
RunCorps helped put on Saturday’s event, too. Timothy Svecz, with the organization, thanked the volunteers that assisted with the event, including: Tom Ecay, Jason Copenhaver, Liz Manning, Jason Tipton, Danielle Tipton, Jessica Frazier, Meagan Quisenberry, Jennifer Smith, Robert Patterson, Kristen Whited, Robert Peters, Sydnee McLellan, Tammy Gray, Rick Gray, Brenda K. Shelton, Amanda Tipton, Elaine Frantz, Conner Hall and Ariel Hacker.
Wandell was diagnosed with amoytropic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2013 and has continued to provide inspiration to the community by sharing his testimony.
Prior to this diagnosis, Wandell was active with running and continues the tradition today.