Sarah Reinertsen Running Through Obstacles
Photo by J. Alan Paul Photography | By Andrew Jason
“I guess what I really want people to walk away from my speech is knowing that whatever goal there is in life, as daunting as it may be, you can reach that and you can get there, even by taking a little step today.“
It started when she was seven years old. That’s when the proximal femoral focal deficiency finally caught up with Sarah Reinertsen and her left leg had to be amputated. Reinertsen had lost the battle against the disease, but she would eventually win the war. Reinertsen’s struggle for her leg actually began before she was 7. She was born with her left leg slightly shorter than the other. Telling a seven year old they’ll lose their leg can be a traumatizing experience. “You remember flashes of things,” Reinertsen said. “You get these memories that stand out in your mind. Moments that stand out for me are – I remember being in a lot of pain, especially after the surgery. I remember the night before my amputation, my dad coming into my room and saying, ‘Let’s get a picture of you before we go to the hospital tomorrow.’ That is when it hit me. This is the last photograph of me and my leg. That’s when I remember screaming and crying and being like, ‘Oh my God, they are going to cut a piece of my body off.’” Her life was irrevocably changed. Little did she know that she would become a world class athlete who has run several marathons, competed in dozens of triathlons and was the first female to complete an Ironman with an artificial leg. The journey to where she is now really started when she was 11.
She was at a 10K with her parents when she saw someone running the race with a prosthetic leg. This opened her eyes to what she could do. She went home and, with a lot of help and practice, she began to run. Reinertsen was hooked. “Learning how to run at 11 was a critical age because they say girls between 11 and 13 is a really important age in development,” she said. “This running thing kind of captured me in a critical stage. Once I learned how to run, I started to feel good about my body.” Although Reinertsen ran with a “hitch in her get along” as she put it, she didn’t stop. In 1997 she ran her first marathon at the New York City Marathon and immediately dedicated herself to becoming an Ironman. After years of training, she entered the Kona Ironman in 2004. After a successful swim she was unable to meet the cut off time for the bike portion of the event and was disqualified. Reinertsen came back with a vengeance in 2005 and completed her first Ironman with a time of 15:05:12. Through it all, she has not stopped running. She is still running races, traveling the country speaking and inspiring thousands. “I guess what I really want people to walk away from my speech is knowing that whatever goal there is in life, as daunting as it may be, you can reach that and you can get there, even by taking a little step today. What you do today can get you one step closer to where you want to be tomorrow.” 7