Friends help man complete marathon in wheelchair

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By KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

“Wooooo! Terrific! Everything is great.”

Sure, that’s “Crazy” Leonard Vavra talking about his 99th marathon appearance coming up Sunday in the 30th annual Lincoln Marathon.

“Yes, this is big,” Vavra said from his Omaha home. “Running was my life. These friends are letting me keep going.”

Vavra, 78, lost a leg during complications from knee replacement surgery in 2004. He figured his long love affair with running was over.

But friends who ran with the man who hollered and cheered during every race for more than 25 years figured a way for Vavra to continue participating in marathons. Last fall, about 25 friends helped push Vavra through the Omaha Marathon. Sunday, they’ll push him around Lincoln in a special running wheelchair.

“He really wants to do this but he doesn’t want all the attention,” said Vavra’s wife, Delphine. “He was so shattered back in 2004 when he lost his leg. He thought he was all done with marathons and he loved running and all the people he ran with so much.”

Susan Smisek, who helps coordinate what is known as the “Crazy Leonard Relays,” said she had no trouble getting help for the marathons.  Each relay member will push Vavra for a mile or so.

“This is great because Leonard has loved running since he was about 50 and started running with a neighbor,” Delphine Vavra said.  “The kids wondered what  dad was doing running in the street — remember this was back when there weren’t many runners around here — and he’d be out there every day, running with his friend or running with his hunting dog.

“He raced all over the country. I found an old Boston Marathon medal in his old Oldsmobile last year and we laughed about it,” she said.

Leonard Vavra said he doesn’t want to make a fuss about the marathons.

“Those runners, they do the work and the preparation,” he said. “I’m lucky to have friends help me do this. I just think they are great.”

Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.