Push Harder

Our man Michael Mills is hard at work getting ready for up coming events.

Up Coming Race Schedule:
March 28th Champions Meet Atlanta, GA
March 30th ING 1/2 Marathon Atlanta, GA
March 31/9th Champions camp W.S. GA
April 5th Cooper river bridge run 10k Charleston, SC
April 25/27th Desert Challenge Meet Mesa, AZ
May 4th Bloomsday 12k Spokane, WA
May 9-11th Dixie Games WS, GA
May 18th Cleveland 10k Cleveland, OH
May 26th Boulder 10k Boulder, CO
June 12/15th USA TRACK MEET Mesa, AZ

BIOGRAPHY
>>I had an easy teenager's life in my small hometown of Smithville, Mississippi. My days were spent with 32 classmates at Hatley High School and when class dismissed, I headed to the Sonic in Amory for work. Once I punched the time clock at the end of my shift and grabbed a few burgers to go, I headed to my best friend's house to squeeze in a few hours on my skateboard before curfew. Skateboarding was my life. I believed my dreams would come true after I graduated and moved to California to pursue a career in skateboarding. However, before my Junior year of high school, my life took a different direction.
>>On May 2nd 1993, I was struck by a drunk driver. I was on my way home from work and less than two minutes from my house when I was hit. After multiple surgeries and several months of rehabilitation, I was discharged from North Mississippi Medical Center. Being the first spinal chord injury in the Tupelo area, I found myself searching for anything that would bring me the challenge and purpose skateboarding once brought to my life.
>>Three years later, I was watching ESPN and saw an exhibition event from the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia; I saw wheelchair racing for the first time. I was immediately drawn to the sport. It had everything I was searching for in my life: speed, endurance, strength, and most of all, the ever evolving style and competition similar to skateboarding. From that day forward, I decided to pursue the sport of wheelchair track and road racing. I began searching online for more information and found the website for Eagle Sportschairs. I was soon able to order my first racing chair and began to compete in local races with other wheelchair athletes from around the state. After a few years of racing, I decided I would need to get in better shape if I wanted to become an elite athlete. As of August, 2002, I was at my heaviest weight of 250 pounds. I was unhappy and not feeling like a true competitor, so, I decided to make a lifestyle change. I started a weight training program and began to eat the proper foods to fuel my body to become a better racer. After two years of the proper diet and training, I had lost almost 100 pounds. I felt like a new man! My racing improved and I was getting faster and stronger. The years passed and the racing scene started to acknowledge my abilities; I began to make a name for myself. I moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 2003 to join Lakeshore Foundation's wheelchair track and road racing team. Kevin Orr, a Paralympic Gold Medalist, provided me the coaching I needed to improve my training and competitive edge.
>>In January, 2005, I resolved to focus all my efforts on the upcoming season. I pushed harder, faster and averaged more miles per week. I set my goals high and was determined to excel in my chosen sport. My first competition was Dixie Games held in May. My best event was the 1500 meter where I qualified for the finals. This was my first time to qualify for a final event. When the last heat finished and the times were recorded, I was approximately 30 seconds faster than a 1500 meter event I had competed in just one month prior. I finished with a time of 3:17.56. I had finished within Paralympic standards. This time also qualified me to represent Team U.S.A. in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. I continued to improve and met my 2005 goals by finishing my season with faster personal records in all of the track and road races in which I had competed in previous years.
>> With regard to my personal life, on September 9th, 2006, I married my best friend and coach, Christie Dafoe. Christie and I currently reside in Marietta, Georgia In addition to my personal training regime, I have joined Shepherd Center's wheelchair racing team and train with them throughout the year. My goals for 2008 include competing in events I have entered in previous years and to branch out to other, more challenging, races. I will compete in more total racing events this year and will work on my personal times to qualify again for Team U.S.A.

The Virus