Meet Dave Eckstrom: Wheeler at Every Twin Cities Marathon

By Sarah Barker

Dave Eckstrom at the 2015 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.

Dave Eckstrom walked into the coffee shop! That’s right, the only member of the Twin Cities Marathon Charter Club who’s completed every Twin Cities Marathon since its inception in a racing wheelchair walked into the coffee shop! Then I noticed the prosthetic on the lower part of his right leg.

The 70-year-old Eckstrom said he’s used to the surprised looks. In fact, he credits his longevity  in the sport with the fact that he can get around in his daily life without a wheelchair. 

Eckstrom grew up on St. Paul’s East side, playing a range of sports offered by Johnson High School, but he wasn’t really interested in running. Working at an office furniture warehouse, a 400-pound file cabinet slipped off a fork lift and fell on him, crushing his spinal cord, but not severing it completely. He suffered permanent nerve damage, but retained use of his trunk, hip flexors, and quads. After two months, he walked out of the hospital with crutches and braces. He was 23 years old, married, with two infant sons. That was 1978.

He completed his first road race in March of 1980, his first marathon in July 1981, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and  City of Lakes, when it was a marathon, in 1981. When he lined up for his first Twin Cities Marathon in 1982, he never imagined he’d make 41 (and counting) trips from Minneapolis to St. Paul.  The Professional Push-Rim Wheelchair Division that Eckstrom has been a part of for more than four decades is one of four Athletes with Disabilities categories that Twin Cities In Motion supports in its efforts for make its events inclusive to all.

Eckstrom has a unique perspective on running—from the frame of a push rim racing wheelchair. He is the best one to tell it.

Twin Cities in Motion: What was your motivation immediately after the accident?

Dave Eckstrom: My sons were three months old and 14 months, so I was a new dad.  And I felt blessed to walk out of the hospital. I met people that didn’t get to do that. When I got out of the hospital I had to do something; Courage Center is where I discovered wheelchair sports. That was my outlet. 

1978 was the infancy of wheelchair racing.  Were there any role models to look to?

Courage Center opened up a whole new world for me. At first, it was adaptive basketball, but then I heard about Bob Hall, who was the first person to complete the Boston Marathon in a racing wheelchair in 1975. Sharon Hedrick was the first woman to do Boston in 1977, using a homemade 50-pound wheelchair. On those hills, that must have been brutal. Then, the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles had an exhibition 1500-meter wheelchair race on the track. 

So, at first you had your right leg.

Yeah, not amputating immediately was my choice. Problem was, I didn’t have feeling in my lower leg and in 1980 I got a little blister and didn’t realize it was getting infected. The infection spread to my bone and I dealt with that bone infection for the next 24 years. I’d be in the hospital three to four times per year on IV antibiotics. 

Twenty-four years! That would have been when you were doing most of your racing.

Yes! I remember one Twin Cities Marathon in the early 2000s—it was the Thursday before the race and I was in the hospital with 103 fever. After 48 hours of IV antibiotics, I was feeling better. The doctor said it was not a good idea, but I checked myself out and did the marathon. Shortly after that, I had the lower part of my right leg amputated. I just wanted my life back.

How has wheelchair racing changed since the 1980s?

The equipment was archaic in the 80s. It was an everyday wheelchair that you added stuff to. They were heavy— 50 pounds—and had four wheels, instead of three like we have now. The four-wheeled chairs were shorter and less stable, so people crashed more often. In 1975, the wheelchair world record for the marathon was just under three hours for men; now it’s 1:15.  Now, three-wheeled chairs are under 20 pounds, way safer, and cost about $5000. A carbon fiber one will be $10,000.

In the 1980s, I’d do a 10K or 5K twice a weekend, just to build awareness of wheelchair racing. I’d call the race director and ask if I could have a minute head start. 

What’s the difference between training as a runner and as a wheeler?

Nothing’s different. Matt Haugen (the former St. Olaf and Macalester College coach) volunteered at Courage Center. Back in the day, he would give me the same workouts as the runners he coached—hills, speed, fartlek. When I was in heavy training for a marathon, back when I was competitive, I’d do 60 miles/week, one day speed—10 x 400 with 30 seconds rest or 6 x 800 with a minute rest—one day hills. In the winter I’d put my wheelchair on rollers indoors and do mileage that way. Tami and I would bring the kids to the Stillwater High School track, and they’d ride their bikes while mom and dad worked out.

Tami?

Tami Oothoudt. We met in 1984 at the Detroit Marathon and have been together for 40 years. She’s won Grandma’s nine or ten times, Twin Cities ten times. She is the gold medalist in the marathon at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics. She’s the real athlete. When we first met, that’s what we did together—we trained. We still train together to stay fit.   

Any Twin Cities Marathons stick out?

The 36th Twin Cities—I got a flat tire at 10K. I got the spare off the back of my chair, but it was the wrong tire. I had the right one at home… long story short, I ended up pushing the last 21 miles on a flat tire. It would have been easy to say, I’m done. Thirty-five is enough. But I had to keep the streak going. 

I’ve done 41 Twin Cities, 19 Grandma’s, probably 75 marathons total. My PB was at the 1992 Grandma’s Marathon—1:47.

Other than a spare tire, what do you carry with you?

I have a water pouch under my seat with a tube for drinking so I don’t have to reach up to grab water off the tables. You don’t want to get your gloves wet or they’ll slip off the rim. I super-hydrate for two days before the race so I only have to drink 4-5 times.  I’ll have 3-4 Goo packets. A CO2 cartridge for tire change. A helmet. I usually put new tires on before a race. And I take off the prosthetic to cut weight—this thing weighs six pounds.   

What part of the body takes the most abuse in push rim racers?

I’m punching downward with two fingers and my thumb. That’s why I have arthritis in that thumb joint. I’ve lost a thumbnail. The day after the marathon, it’s my lats. But I’m lucky—a lot of wheelchair racers get torn rotator cuffs, total shoulder replacements. Most of them aren’t racing anymore. 

To what do you attribute your longevity in the sport?

It’s a  huge blessing that I’m still able to do this. And I’d like to get to 50 Twin Cities [Marathons]. It’s the only race I do in the year. There are people I know out there—we make it an annual event. I ordered a new wheelchair frame; I’d like to get back to a three-hour marathon. That’s my goal. It’s funny, wheelchair racers get a five-minute head start and the runners never used to catch me at all. Now they catch me at the two-mile mark!  

But I like to train; it keeps me fit. I can still fit in my racing frame—that’s what I’m most proud of!

This article originally appeared in the TCM's weekly e-newsletter, The Connection. Subscribe to the Connection here.

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Sarah Barker is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Deadspin, Outside, Runner's World, and elsewhere. She's enjoyed the vibrant Minnesota running community for a lot of decades, and hopes to continue in said pursuit. Sarah's most recent TCM Blog story from 2024 caught up with Olympic marathoner Janis Klecker.