Curt Brinkman used one word to describe his 245-mile, four-day marathon ride from Cedar City to Provo: terrible.
Brinkman, who is the senior rehabilitation director for Deseret Industries in Salt Lake, lost both of his legs when he was 16. While climbing a utility pole, he received a 36,000-volt charge from a nearby power line that caused him to fall 35 feet to the ground. Last week Brinkman undertook the "Curt Brinkman Ultra Marathon" to raise awareness of the abilities of disabled people.But the first day out, Brinkman broke an axle on his wheelchair. He and his friend, Lynn Dillingham, who provided support for Brinkman, had to drive all the way back to Provo and get a new chair.
"We didn't get going on the second day until 2 p.m. and went until 1:30 a.m.," Brinkman said.
The third day of the marathon didn't go much better.
"It was all uphill against the wind," Brinkman said. Instead of his usual 9 mph, Brinkman averaged 2.5 mph.
And to top it all off, the marathon raised little money, probably less than $300 according to one hospital official.
"Enough money for a small piece of equipment or to sponsor an activity - a ski event, picnic outing," Brinkman said.
The marathon was harder physically than he anticipated. In fact, there were moments when he thought he wouldn't make it.
"I stopped a few times and thought `What am I doing?' " Brinkman said. "I cried a little out there."
He got tendinitis in his wrists. His back ached. His hands only got two blisters - but they were huge, about the size of quarters.
So Curt Brinkman was pretty discouraged when he finally rolled on to the red carpet stretched out in front of the rehabilitation center at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center Friday night, right?
Wrong. Curt Brinkman had made it and as he greeted the well-wishers who gathered around him, he was smiling broadly. He had set a goal and he had seen it through to the end, despite the obstacles and frustrations along the way.
And the trip was not without its bright spots. Brinkman said about 20 miles outside of Eureka a couple of older women pulled up and proceeded to follow along behind him in their car.
"That is when I was going about 2.5 miles per hour," Brinkman said. "After a while I turned back and said, `Can I help you?' They said no, they were just admiring how well I was doing. And they gave me a $5 contribution."
Brinkman admits that his drive to create more awareness of the abilities of physically disabled people did not really achieve the magnitude that he had hoped.
"But there will be a few people who read about it or heard about it that will think a little bit differently. I had my accident 19 years ago and the attitudes and awareness of disabled (people) and their abilities was a whole lot less than now," Brinkman said. "I think things have really advanced. All I want to do is advance that a little more. Not that (a disabled person) has to go drive 245 miles but you can go hiking, skiing, you can enjoy life . . . No one ever said life would be easy, but it can be great."