PossAbilities Members Take Top Two Spots in LA Marathon Men’s and Women’s Hand Cycling Races

Loma Linda University Health PossAbilities members Jenna Rollman and Chris Sproule placed in the top two in the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon hand cycling races in the women’s and men’s divisions, respectively, on Sunday, Feb. 14. Rollman placed first, completing the 26.2-mile race in one hour, 1:53.44 – a 22-minute improvement from her first place time in 2015; and Sproule finished second, finishing in one 1:26.16. Sproule, 39, competed against 30 other hand cyclists in the marathon, which is just one of about 40 races he has competed in since 2013. A Las Vegas firefighter, Sproule was paralyzed in an accident 2003. He took up hand cycling a few years later, but only recently decided to take the competitive route. “I began to see hand cycling,” Sproule said, “as a way to regain my independence, my identity as the lifelong athlete that I had been, and perhaps, to serve as an inspiration for others to move ahead and beyond the challenges that life can throw at you.” Sproule hopes to join the U.S. Paralympic team in Tokyo 2020. Since 2014, he has been invited to participate in three U.S. Paralympic Training Programs, just one more step in his quest to make the U.S Team. “To be invited to these Training Camps, I had to meet strict Paralympic time standards, which I achieved,” Sproule boasted. “To put the speed of these hand cycles into perspective, my fastest downhill speed is in excess of 50 miles per hour at only two inches off the ground.” As for Rollman, riding bikes has always been a part of her life – even as a child. She started riding bikes competitively in 2009. While on a training ride in Chino on the morning of Feb. 1, 2013, she came around a turn on a straight highway and unknowingly closed in on a parked work truck at 25 miles per hour. “Paralysis was instant and I was completely aware of this,” she recalled of the accident, “knowing I had just experienced my last moments of cycling, walking, running, jumping and able-bodied life as I had known it.” Rollman was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center. She spent two weeks in the intensive care unit and the remainder of the time at inpatient therapy at LLUMC East Campus hospital. Rollman, now 29 years old, started hand cycling in July 2014 and attributes who she is to her cycling journey. “Cycling has helped me through the darkest time in my life. I do not see this as an accident—more like this is exactly where I am supposed to be because this is how I can make the biggest impact on those who need it the most.” Both Sproule and Rollman are part of Loma Linda University Health’s PossAbilities, which is a free, non-profit, community outreach program. Powered by Quest Diagnostics, PossAbilties’ goal is to provide those with permanent physical disabilities support and resources to stay active and healthy in life.