Howie Sanborn, a military veteran and wheelchair triathlete from Alton, will be representing the U.S. at the Paralympics later this summer.
Sanborn started competing triathlons during his career as an Airborne Ranger, during which time he was also on the US Army Parachute Team. It was while training for a triathlon that he had the accident which would leave him paralyzed.
“Flash forward to 2012, I was cycling in the exact same city where I did my first triathlon in Kirksville, Missouri,” Sanborn said. “A distracted driver hit me and one of my teammates while we were training for an Ironman, we're just on our bikes. So I have a spinal cord injury and am paralyzed from the waist down.”
Coincidentally, Sanborn’s physical therapist competed in IronMan triathlons as well, and introduced him to one of the founders of a paratriathlon team. Sanborn started training as a wheelchair athlete just two months after the car accident.
“I knew that my military career was going to end, and so it definitely helped me find something that I could focus on and have purpose with, and I could set goals with,” Sanborn said.
Sanborn set his sights high from early on in his recovery.
“Right around the time I got injured is when they announced that para-triathlon would be part of the Paralympics for the first time, in 2016 at the Rio Games,” Sanborn said. “I wasn't at the highest level yet by any means, but right away, I was like, ‘Okay this exists. So this is going to be my shoot for the stars kind of goal.’ ”
Sanborn, who is now based in Colorado, says he trains about 20 hours a week. The training, he says, hasn’t changed much physically leading up to the Paralympics, but the mental preparation is different now.
“I think a lot of my changes in training are how I think about it mentally, to make sure that I'm not letting the stress of an anticipation come in front of just the idea of doing everything to the best of my ability, even small things,” Sanborn said.
According to Sanborn, he has his team to thank for his success.
“I go to the recovery center to get massages and hot/cold plunge and all that stuff, and there's just people there that helped me — especially in a wheelchair — transfer back and forth,” Sanborn said. “So support system, support system, support system is huge.”
Sanborn said that in a way, his time as a para-triathlete connects to his time in the Army.
“My goal has always kind of been to continue to represent my country at the highest level the way I did in the military the way I did on the Golden Knights, and then in triathlon, so I've competed wearing the red, white and blue ever since I got hurt.”