If you have crossed paths with Julia Beckley you might think of her as a little crazy but courageous and passionate wheelchair athlete/pushrim athlete. Julia started pushrim (wheelchair racing in specific chair) in 2019 and accidentally got roped into not only doing ultra distances but loving them too. Julia faces many medical challenges as an athlete that go beyond just one complex condition. Julia has a rare bone disorder called hypophosphatasia, immune condition hereditary angioedema, mast cell activation disorder and many comorbities that are complications for treatments. In 2022 Julia jokingly brought up the idea of doing the world marathon challenge which is 7 days 7 continents and 7 marathons. At the time Julia was spending every 4-6 weeks in the hospital and knew that she would have to become a whole new person to do what she loves which is traveling and adventuring in her chairs. Julia chased the dream of better health and now we’re in a spot to celebrate and practice with the idea that there are bigger and better things ahead too! The 96 hour run was started by a race directing company out of Tennessee that Julia did her first one hundred mile race through (virtually). You might think doing this virtually is crazy but it wasn’t when so many friends showed up to do the miles with her and make that first buckle happen. In fact it was rather perfect because Julia got to have an accessible ultramarathon course in her own backyard.
Julia has long term goals that include developing a back yard ultra specific for wheelchair athletes, a national adaptive running 24 hour team and again the world marathon challenge. Whatever the future holds Julia knows that she will be grateful for every step and while it may not be easy to meet lofty goals, any mile is a good mile.
So here we are planning this 96 hour event where Julia will travel to 7 different locations (all hosted by different run clubs and organizations) to see just how many marathons she can squeeze in, or maybe how many 5ks.
As a friend says “You are competent, you are capable, you will be wildly successful and its okay if that looks different.” -KR
This is the sentiment of the Beckley marathons. Its okay if it looks different.
Julia hopes to cross paths with hundreds of runners and aspiring ultramarathoners to share some smiles and laughs and miles. Julia has a bigger goal than breaking 100 this time but we’ll see where we go.