Mark Perkins drives 164 miles round trip at least once a week to work out with the SPIRE team at the multi-sport training complex’s Veterans Sports and Fitness Training program.

That should tell you something.

Perkins, whose leg was amputated in 2014 learned about the SPIRE program from his contact at the Northeast Ohio VA in Cleveland a few months after his surgery. Wanting to keep fit and active despite his new challenges, Perkins toured SPIRE’s Veterans Sports and Fitness Training Program and immediately liked what he saw.

“That was six years ago, so the program was smaller then,” explained Perkins. “It’s really grown over the years, because all of us who work out there tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on and so on… It’s a quality program, but more importantly, it’s run by quality people. This program represents the big commitment that SPIRE has made to supporting veterans like me who are living with disabilities in northeastern Ohio.”

SPIRE’s Veterans Sports and Fitness Training program encompasses general fitness and sport-specific training for both wheelchair and ambulatory competition, nutrition, camaraderie, and support. Program participants participate free of charge, and include men and women with single and bilateral below-knee amputations, visual impairments, traumatic brain injury, diabetes, stroke, spinal cord injury, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

According to Patty Whitecotton who works in Physical and Medical Rehabilitation Services at the Northeast Ohio VA, SPIRE, “The need for adaptive sports programming in this area is significant, and SPIRE has made a commitment to provide a program that our veterans are motivated to attend. SPIRE continues to expand and better equip the program, and I commend them for that. Our veterans are extremely grateful for the opportunity to work out at SPIRE, and for all the organization has made available to them.”

After an introductory phase, participants move into competitive training in powerlifting, track and field, swimming, recumbent cycling, triathlon, and more. Many in SPIRE’s program work out not only for overall health and wellness, but also to train for high-profile adaptive sports competitions like the Valor Games, Buckeye Games, Golden Age Games, and the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

Bill Searles, an 8-year veteran of the program, says that training for the National Wheelchair Games is not only great for his physical strength and stamina, it also helps with his mental wellbeing.

“Every year, I make a commitment to go all out to train for the National Games,” he said. “Even when the VA had to stop bus transportation for us due to the pandemic, I didn’t quit. I just started driving my own car. It’s about a 45-minute drive each way, but it’s worth it.”

Searles says he has a prostheses, but he uses a wheelchair to compete in the 100 and 200 meter sprints, discus, javelin, and shot put events, “It feels good to decide to do something and then just keep at it, no matter what. I get a lot back from what I put into the program, but that’s one of the big benefits right there.”

Veterans who participate in the program focus on proper technique, program design, and cardiovascular training while in SPIRE’s fitness center. Veterans also participate in two types of group exercise classes designed to promote fitness for life, ending the day’s training by eating a healthy, post-workout meal together.

Due to the number of participating veterans and their different levels of mobility and endurance, the program’s “boots on the ground” team included several highly qualified coaches and exercise physiologists. Keith Webb, Director of SPIRE FIT, the division of SPIRE which encompasses all local and regional play and programming, leads an impressive group of coaches and others who work individually and in small groups with the chair and ambulatory athletes.

“SPIRE Institute was founded to unlock the full potential of the human spirit through athletics, academics and service,” said Webb. “SPIRE respects and honors the principles that built our nation and is committed to offering those who have served our country a program that honors and supports their minds, bodies, and spirits.”