Interview with Candace Cable

Candace Cable is wheelchair racer and cross-country skier. Her athletic achievements include Paralympic Gold and six Boston Marathon victories. Cable discusses the Boston Marathon, women in racing, training, marketing and fellow competitor Jean Driscoll.

The Boston Marathon

Q: Do you think the Boston Marathon is the premiere wheelchair road race?

CC: That's a tough one. We've struggled a long time. The wheelchair division has struggled a long time with Boston. They didn't want us here for a long time and they are still not that hip as far as some races are. They really want the wheelchair division. I think it's more the right thing to do now. That so far with ADA and all those things happening. I think that they can't take a step back and keep the wheelchairs out but they aren't doing a lot to encourage us. As far as the premiere event, it's a big event because when you talk about the Boston Marathon to someone and you are explaining your career they know what you are talking about because everyone knows the Boston Marathon. You say oh I run 10 Ks and marathons like the Boston Marathon and they go "Oh" and a light goes on in their head. But there are more races where the wheelchair division is welcomed with open arms.

Q: So how could they encourage more athletes to participate in the wheelchair division?

CC: Well they could be a lot more financially supportive as far as helping athletes get here as far as with hotels and things like that. Currently they don't really do anything like that. They may do that for the winners coming in that won last year but that's two out of say 100 and traditionally races that have a pretty strong wheelchair division are pretty supportive with any kind of travel money or hotels or something like that to help athletes get in because I know they help out the able-bodied athletes.

Q: What do you think about the discrepancy in the prize money between the AB runners and the wheelchair athletes?

CC: Well the first thing you have to consider is that this is a running race so they are the stars and the wheelchair division is a division of the running race, as is the masters division. So I don't think that. I would like to get the same money that they get...that would be great... But I think along the lines as far as numbers and things like that we can't compete with them and we never will because there will never be more disabled people as there are able-bodied people just like there will never be more disabled women than men. More men get disabled than women, that's just the way statistics go. And so if it's a number thing well then no, we shouldn't be getting the same amount. But I think it should be up and it should be more and I know the master's division is considerably more than the wheelchair division here. But that is the fight that Boston has always had is that they don't really...they want the wheelchair division but they don't. It's kind of a love-hate relationship. They kind of have to put up with us. I know they do a lot of great things and I'm really good friends with Guy Morrison, who is the race director and since he's become the race director it's changed quite a bit. Because he's fought hard for the wheelchair division but he has a lot of people he has to fight against. That Board of Directors they have are kind of interested in keeping it a running race.

Women in racing

Q: What are your thoughts on prize money for the top three finishers for the men and women?

CC: I think that first place in the women's and the men's in wheelchairs should always be the same. For it to go deep in the depth of men and women of course it has to be different because there are more men than women. And it's not that women don't want to compete, it's just that there aren't that many disabled women out there. And that is the problem. I think the guys and race directors have to realize that we really have to look at the women's division not as numbers but as followers.

Q: Is it more of a challenge to encourage disabled women rather than men to compete?

CC: Women aren't encouraged to be competitive. It's changed a lot in the past years and in the 15 or 16 years I have been involved in competitive sport. When I was first disabled, I was high heels, long nails, tight skirts...you could not get me to sweat. So when I broke my back, here I was having to work on this wheelchair and get my hands greasy and my fingernails were breaking off all the time. I had to change my whole outlook of who I was. Where as men they get into the wheelchair and it's same old, same old and it's nothing different. So that's the fight that disabled women have as far as with the division is that there aren't a lot of women who want to compete once they are disabled. Their images of themselves are shattered and they are trying to rebuild them and sometimes they aren't ready to rebuild in a competitive way. Because it's the issue of their femininity and all of that so there's a whole lot of that in there and I know it's a whole lot different for someone who grew up with a disability versus someone who gained a disability somewhere along in their life. I was 21 when I broke my back so there was a whole lot of time there when I was able-bodied and part of the mainstream and I never saw anyone in a wheelchair. So being a woman in a wheelchair I can see all the struggles that happen.

Q: What do you see for the future of women in your sport?

CC: For women in this sport and all disabled sports we are seeing a lot more junior women, girls getting involved with sport. And what I'm hoping is that they don't get so involved with the competitive aspect of it in the beginning, when they are young, that they lose the pure joy and the fun of being at an event, and meeting people that are like you, and dealing with the same issues that you deal with. And that you are not the only one that feels that way and be able to learn those things, instead of being so focused on the competitive aspect of it that they are not able to see those other opportunities that are available with sport. I see with the junior movement that disabled sports can grow. I think what they need to do is they have to build up the women's division to make it last or they are going to lose the women. And I think to lose the women would be a real terrible thing. They add a lot to it. I think they add a softer side to the competition. I think women that compete are a lot more open and a lot more giving of their knowledge and their time than the men are.

Racing and training

Q: Is the marathon your strongest event?

CC: What do I consider my strongest event? That's a really good question right now because I had a couple years away from the sport and I used to feel that I was pretty strong in the marathon but with wheelchair sports you kind of have to be a jack of all trades. You have to be good at 400 meters, and the marathon and anything in between. I think probably my better distance now is the 10K now. And I think one of the reasons is I'm not willing to put in the long hours that really are required for the marathon because there are other things that I am doing. And I enjoy doing these other things now and wheelchair racing is not the sole focus in my life now.

Q: How do you know if you are ready for a marathon?

CC: Well you never know if you are ready for a marathon. Anybody can have a bad day, anybody can get a flat tire. I mean you can wake up in the morning and think, "oh I'm going to die" and get to the start line and have the best race of your life. So I think the basic thing you have to realize is the week before the marathon there isn't a whole lot you are going to be able to do. It's the kind of idea the hay's in the barn. And you are just going to go out and conserve as much energy the week before. You know get in a little wheeling every day so your body doesn't forget what it's supposed to do but it isn't going to get any faster and you aren't going to get any stronger. And you aren't going to get any more endurance so I think pretty much when you get to the starting line you just relax and realize that you are going to do the best that you can and go as hard as you can and hope that it's good enough.

Q: How do you prepare the day of the race?

CC:Well I am the type of person that is not a person that goes inside myself. I mean before the race I am a pretty gregarious. I can tell jokes and I can laugh and have a good time. The night before, probably the day before and even before that I am always going over the whole course in my mind and I also go over all the movements that I make and I try to make up unpredictable situations that can happen. Moments like if you hit a pothole and your chair bounces one way, what should you do? You can make a race plan and you can make plan B. But it always seems like plan C is the one that comes up and it's not anything that you ever thought about. So there's a lot of unpredictable things that can happen and I find because it's so long there's so much more that can happen. The other thing I would do is hydrate. And then the day of the race I don't like to give myself too much time before because I start to dink around doing things. And I turn around and I'm running late so I really try to only give myself so much time before I have to get in my chair. I like to be in my chair for at least a half an hour before I have to race because I like to have that time warming up and just sitting in my chair and setting in, straps you know you can adjust them a little more and see if there is anything you need to change...is there something you want to add. Sometimes you want to add more water to your chair somehow. So pretty much for me I don't like to have a lot of time to mess around. And I'm pretty friendly and I'm pretty talkative and I'm wishing the other competitors good race, safe race, especially at the start because usually the start is the place where if things are going to happen they are going to happen there.

Q: Do you have a specific strategy to win a race?

CC: Well you know I am not a how can I beat you type of a person or I want to kick your butt type of a person. I am more of I am going to do the very best that I can. One of the things that early on in my career I said I would never do, and I don't do, is that when somebody asks me how fast I can go I don't say how fast I think I can go because I think it sets a limit on myself . I think by saying I want to beat that person that sets a limit because that may not be the person I want to beat. And I may beat that person but it could be someone else that wins so for me to focus on beating someone or running a certain time is not really the issue. The issue for me is doing the best that I can. And if I go out and leave it all out there on the course then I am happy. And if I come in 5th and I still leave it out there that is fine because I know that I did the best that I could.

Q:For five years in the 1980's you were unbeatable on the road, Could you talk about that winning streak?

CC: That was...boy when I finally got beat it was like... whew...finally! Because there's a lot of pressure that you put on yourself throughout. It's this great feeling because you are saying, "man I can't lose." But there's this other aspect where you are thinking, "when am I going to lose? Who's going to come up? And so I would train even harder and harder. And I would have to say that when I finally did lose, it was kind of a weight being lifted off my shoulders, that finally I could relax and chase after someone. And I've heard other people say it too, that in losing you gain because there is so much that you can learn from yourself when you do lose, that sometimes winning, you don't see it anymore. It's like, "wow! I can't lose. I'm invincible. I can do this forever!" and so sometimes injuries and losing wake you up a little bit and make you say, maybe I do need to pay attention this stretching or this strength aspect, or something like that. But I have to say it's great fun when you win.

Jean Driscoll

Q: Why do you think Jean's been able to win six times?

CC: I don't know. I can't really say because I don't know what Jean does and she doesn't really let a lot of people know what she does. She kind of likes to keep it a secret. She's kind of a keep it to herself kind of girl and I'm more of a share it type of person. If someone wants to know what I do or what I'm doing, I just let them have it because it's one of those things where I don't feel I have to kind of hide everything I do. Because if someone is going to beat me they are going to beat me. I don't really have any secrets anymore. I know Jean does a lot of coaching and I know that she's working with a coach so that's probably something that has helped her and I know that she has a great work ethic and she's really strong. And that she has the desire and those are really important things too, and I think that all of that is really important to be successful. I think she probably loves the sport which is the ultimate.

Q: What does it meant to racing for Jean to win seven Boston marathons?

CC: I think what's really great about what Jean's doing is that she's taking this sport to another level which I think each of us has done. I know Sharon has done it, and I have done it at one time. And I think Jean is taking it to another level right now and it has to do that so the sport can grow. And she's probably under some pressure right now who knows how much. But it's a great pressure though. It's fun!

Marketing

Q: How do you market yourself so you can pay for your racing?

CC: Oh let's see...I've done a lot of different things. Mostly you try to send out letters to attract the attention of someone. I actually got hooked up with Team Danskin which is an all-women team that Danskin supports, and basically what we do is we're at shows and we do catalogs for Danskin and we try to create more awareness in the female field about sport and being active. I ended up with that company through an agent and I had never worked with an agent before. They had a lot more ins and outs then I could ever imagine but mostly what I've done in my past is sent letters out. I try to encourage large businesses or corporations to use the disabled because I feel they are a really untapped resource. And that we were a people that are consumers and we are out there and we are very visible. People look at us all the time and for your name to be on me would be an important step for you for getting your name out, but also another step is creating a new awareness as far as the disabled person and how marketable we are. I've had good years where I've had really good sponsors and I've had real dry years where I haven't been able to put together sponsors so it's kind of a roller coaster a little bit. It's up and down. I see more and more companies using disabled people and not just using them as a token either, actually using them. Using them to speak and because most of us can speak well in front of a group and we are able to tell about our experience but also to talk about some of the things we use to get through our life which anybody would use.

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Disability

Q: How did you get involved in Wheelchair sports?

CC: Well for me I started getting involved in some type of sport after my accident because I wanted to meet other people in wheelchairs and find out how they dealt with their lives. Because I had just had a traumatic change in my life and the only clues I had were from the physical therapist in the hospital that told me how to get in and out of my wheelchair and that was it. They just didn't tell me a lot of the psychological effects and how to deal with obstacles that you would come across in your daily life. So I thought probably the best way to do that would be to meet other people in wheelchairs. So one of the things I got involved with was swimming and through swimming I met other people in wheelchairs and I started getting fitter and I kind of liked that. And I met a woman and her name is Barbara Chambers and she's a track coach, she lives in Las Vegas now but at the time she lived in San Jose, California and she said you know you'd probably be good at wheelchair racing why don't you try it? And I said what's that? And this was kind of late 70's and I said, "okay do you have one I can try?" And she said, "we can find one" and I borrowed somebody's and I went around the track for her as hard as I could once. And she said I think you could be good at this. And so I would have to say she was my biggest inspiration besides the aspect of just wanting to meet other people in wheelchairs and find out how they dealt with their lives and give me some kind of encouragement.

Q: So you weren't initially opposed to wheelchair sports?

CC: Probably the only time I had that was when I was first in the hospital. And I was in the hospital for two months and they put me in a rehabilitation hospital for another four, and these guys came into my room in wheelchairs and they wanted to play wheelchair basketball and they told me to come out and watch them. And I watched them and they were running into each other and knocking each other out of their chairs and I was still at the point where I was worried about my fingernails, and so I said I don't think so. Isn't there something else I can be involved with? I didn't think falling out of my wheelchair was going to be a lot of fun so I kind of shied away from the wheelchair basketball in the beginning. But besides that I don't think I ever backed down from any of the sports because I felt they would be patronizing. I always looks at it as an opportunity to learn, and then eventually to educate. I think that through sports is one of the easiest ways for us to educate the general population about disabilities. And it's the only minority you can get into any time really and that it doesn't discriminate against anyone, anytime. So I think through sports you are able to bring that aspect into light in a real positive way and people can deal with me on that level rather than that poor crippled girl over there.

Q: What are the negative images of the disabled that you want to dispel?

CC: When I was first disabled, I never saw anyone in a wheelchair and I thought I would spend the rest of my life in a convalescent home because I didn't know. I thought, I'm paralyzed now, I can't walk. The rest of my life is over. I mean that's a pretty devastating thought and uh it's an image a lot of people have of the disabled,that we are unable. And for them to see through corporate advertising or speaking or anything like that or sports to see that we are able.