AWD and Guides Information
Athletes with Disabilities and Their Guides
Please read the following information carefully if you are an athlete with disability (AWD) being accompanied by a guide, or a guide accompanying an AWD. For questions or concerns, please contact Achilles International.
Guides are not official entrants in the marathon and are not timed, scored, or listed in the official results. All guides participate in the marathon free of charge, and have the satisfaction of assisting another person in completing the ING New York City Marathon.
Guide Responsibilities
On race day, a guide is expected to accompany his/her assigned AWD from the start to the finish.
A guide's pre-race day and race day responsibilities include:
Registration
- Communicating with assigned AWD and, if possible, meeting and training with him/her prior to marathon day. AWD contact information is available from Achilles.
- If possible, checking in at number pickup with assigned AWD at the expo, preferably early in the registration period (October 29-31).
- Assuring that baggage -- the guide's and the assigned AWD's (which may include a spare wheelchair) -- is placed in the correct UPS truck at the AWD Staging Area at the start and is retrieved from the same truck after the race.
- Assuring that AWDs stay to the side of the road during the race when being approached from behind by faster runners or official vehicles on the course in order to avoid collisions.
Registraton for both AWDs and guides takes place at the expo at the Javits Center. Guides should check-in at the AWD registration booth inside the Expo, where they will be issued a special guide race bib (reflecting the race bib number of their assigned AWD), as well as tickets to the Barilla Marathon Eve Dinner and Post-Race Party Presented by Clear Channel Radio. (AWDs receive a bib number and other items provided to all entrants.) After checking-in, guides will proceed to the Achilles booth located just outside the entrance to the expo, where they will receive their guide shirt and certain instructional materials. .
To gain entry into the number pickup area, guides and AWDs must bring a government-issued photo ID (driver's license or passport) and proof of acceptance into the marathon. For AWDs this is their marathon registration card e-mailed by NYRR in mid-October; for guides, it is a copy of the assignment letter or e-mail provided by Achilles. Without these documents, entry into the registration area may be denied.
Race Day
Guides are transported free of charge to the starting line. Details about transportation for both AWDs and guides will be provided at the expo. It is strongly recommended that AWDs and guides travel together on the buses. If this is not possible, they should arrange a spot to meet within the AWD staging area on Staten Island. At number pickup, guides will receive information about the location of the AWD staging area. The UPS baggage trucks for AWDs and their guides will be located in that area.
The Start
Assignment of AWDs and their guides to particular starts is made by NYRR. Different color-coded bibs will be distributed at the expo based upon these assignments.
There are four starts for AWDs:
1. Wheelchair/Handcycle Starts -- 8:20 a.m. for push-rim chairs; 8:45 a.m. for handcycles; both on Blue Start. AWDs wear bibs with blue border and white flood-coat, with the letter W for wheelchairs and H for handcycles ; there are no guides in these starts.
2. Special AWD Start #1 -- 8:45 a.m. on Orange start for AWDs (including certain wheelchair/handcycle entrants) who require additional time to complete the marathon. AWDs wear bibs with orange border and white flood-coat, with the letter W (for wheelchairs) or H (for handcycles), or orange border and pink flood-coat, with the letter X (for ambulatory AWDs); guides wear orange bibs.
3. Special AWD Start #2 -- 9:40 a.m. on Orange Start. A number of ambulatory AWDs will be assigned to the last corral of the first wave start. AWDs wear bibs with orange border and white flood-coat, with the letter G; guides wear white bibs.
4. General Start (Wave 2 or 3) --10:00 a.m. and 10:20 a.m. All ambulatory AWDs who are not in one of the prior starts, and their guides, if any, will be assigned to either the Orange or Blue Start in one of these two waves. [Start Info]
Buses carrying AWDs and their guides for these starts will load and leave between approximately 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. from Fifth Avenue and 37th Street in Manhattan, and will unload just outside Fort Wadsworth. AWDs and their guides will be directed to the special AWD staging area adjacent to the Grete Waitz (Green) Village, from where they will be sent at the appropriate time either directly to their assigned starting lines, in the case of Start Nos. 1 and 2 above, or to their assigned corrals, from which they will proceed to their starts (Orange or Green), in the case of Start Nos. 3 and 4 above.
Standby Guides
There are two types of standby guides:
S1 guides accompany AWDs whose pre-assigned guides become unavailable. They will be assigned by Achilles to AWDs either prior to race day or on race day at the bus loading zone or staging area.
S13 guides will be stationed on race day at the standby guide station on the course at mile 13.1 and will enter the race at that point in order to provide substitute or additional assistance to AWDs requiring it. These guides should go directly to the standby guide station on race day. More precise information about these stations will be distributed to standby guides during number pickup.
Instructions for AWDs and Guides
Instructions for AWDs, including wheelchair and handcycle participants, and all guides will be distributed during number pickup. Please note: It is required that all wheelchair and handcycle entrants wear HELMETS at all times while on the course. Athletes not wearing helmets will NOT be allowed to start the race and are subject to removal from the course.
A final reminder: Without guides, many AWDs would not be able to participate in the marathon. It is important that no guides, assigned or standby, withdraw from or fail to appear at the marathon.
