AKRON, Ohio — On Saturday, more than 2,300 runners will lace up their shoes and run the Goodyear Half Marathon and 10K in Akron.
Among the athletes congregating at the Goodyear Proving Grounds and Test Track starting line will be Jon Portyrata, an IT specialist for Goodyear, and his 4-year-old niece, Gabby Smith, who began experiencing severe health problems at the age of two months.
Portyrata, of Akron, will push Gabby in a wheelchair in the 10K (6.2 miles) event. It's part of their training leading up to the Marine Corps Marathon scheduled for Oct. 29. In that race, Portyrata will challenge himself to push Gabby for 26.2 miles.
"Every day, I think about her. She just humbles me. It's like, what can I really complain about? Running is hard, but it's really not hard compared to what she faces," Portyrata said.
Gabby has endured a lot in her short life, starting with spasms as a baby. When she was 2 years old, doctors diagnosed her with Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that affects one in a million people worldwide, according to her mother, Catherine Smith.
Gabby is non-verbal, suffers from seizures and faces other ongoing physical and developmental battles.
"There was a time when she had to reteach herself how to walk, and she did that," Smith said.
Despite all the challenges, Smith says her daughter is almost always happy.
"She always has a smile on her face. She lights up a room. She finds so much joy in life," Smith said.
Portyrata, who has been an avid runner for ten years, wanted to do more to advocate for his niece, so he thought, why not push himself— and more importantly, push Gabby— in races?
As they trained, Portyrata discovered the feeling of running brought great joy to Gabby.
"A lot of times, she'll look back at me and give me a smile or something, and that's nice," he said. "She loves going fast, which is good and bad for me. It definitely makes the pace a little hard. She's always pushing me to go faster."
Portyrata said he feels inspired while running with Gabby but admitted pushing the 33-pound girl over a long distance requires a lot of adjusting.
"I'm definitely a little taller, so bending has been a struggle to figure out how to get the right form," he said.
Smith, who is Portyrata's sister, said the bond between the running duo is remarkable, and the feeling of inclusion is invaluable.
"He's my only sibling and one of my biggest champions," Smith said. "This is something that she can be involved in and considered an athlete. All the races we do, she gets a medal and a T-shirt, so it's really something important I find for our family to just feel included with our daughter."
Portyrata has no doubt crossing the finish lines at both the 10K in Akron and the marathon in the nation's capital will be special, but he also recognizes it's only the start of their story filled with positivity and empowerment.
"It still kind of feels like a dream. To think about it actually happening, I'm not sure if it's real or not, but when it does happen, it'll be awesome."
The family is also raising money for Ainsley's Angels of America, which focuses on wheelchair running and inclusion in the special needs community. CLICK HERE for more information.
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