LITTLE ROCK, Ark.– Runners across the state and the country have prepared for months and looked forward to Sunday for a year. The LR Marathon took place on Sunday.
Nearly 5,000 people shut down streets as they ran in the LR half and full marathons.
One of the runners, an Arkansan, believes he set not only a personal best but possibly the best time for a runner with cerebral palsy.
The University of the Ozarks professor and West Virginia Tech graduate stands with his buddy at the starting line.
Casey Orndorff said, “Well I’m about to go run 13.1 miles.”
Doctors diagnosed Orndorff with cerebral palsy as a toddler.
An Arkansan who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a toddler ran the half marathon in Little Rock. He believes he set a new PR & record when it comes to runners with his disability. We followed him on today’s journey. #ARNews pic.twitter.com/wGiDyfHvom— Price McKeon (@PriceMcKeon) March 3, 2019
He said, “I didn’t let it define me. I just wanted to well be who I wanted to be.”
It impacts his right side. The 28-year-old aims to run Sunday’s half marathon in under 2 hours.
“One- I’m nervous, nervous. Two- I don’t like wind but this weather right now is perfect for me because I hate the heat. So the colder the better,” the runner told us.
If he hits that time the Clarksville man believes he will do more than set a personal record.
Orndorff said, “I haven’t found anyone that has broken the 2 hour barrier with my condition.”
He is one of nearly 5,000 runners on the course Sunday.
We caught up with him with only a half hour left until that tow hour mark.
He shouted at us, “30 minutes left. 5k. Let’s go.”
We raced to the finish line in time to catch him and his friend running across it.
We asked how he felt.
He replied, “I want food. I want food and I want to sit.”
Orndorff does that while we wait to learn his unofficial time. It appeared to be close.
He said, “1 (hour) 59 (minutes) 27 (seconds) and a 9:07(mile) pace. That’s what I wanted to do.”
A LR marathon official confirmed to us that’s his official time registered at under 2 hours.
“I feel so good but I think my boss will be ok if I take off tomorrow,” he said.
Despite the exhaustion and the pain Orndorff wraps up the interview with a message to everyone with cerebral palsy.
“I hope this will motivate you to keep pushing beyond your limits because I’ll uncertainly pushed well beyond mine today.”
The runner said he’ll first eat a pizza then he’ll start preparing to run a full marathon.
