To Table of Contents
Alan T Brown with Christopher Reeve and former business partner , Steve Lefkowitz
Not long after , Alan and his brother took action in Alan ’ s hometown of New York City to foment change for wheelchair athletes in the world-renown New York City Marathon .
He sets the scene : “ Back in 1990 when I did my first marathon , they started the wheelchair division about four hours before the race actually started . A lot of the streets were not closed in Brooklyn , and when I finally got to Central Park ahead of the lead runners , I was physically stopped and told I could not continue .”
He says this was his first taste of discrimination , and being stopped from finishing the marathon in 1990 was frustrating . “ I ended up being a little bit aggressive , and getting my point across , and they finally let me go .” Alan ’ s brother , Dan Brown , an attorney , saw what happened , and was moved to lead a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a group of wheelchair athletes .
In 2000 , Dan won the pro-bono lawsuit , and that year , the New York City Marathon introduced a separate wheelchair division that featured prize money . Alan clarifies the point of his advocacy for equity and change for wheelchair athletes : “ We are not on the course pushing 26.2 miles just to inspire other people , we are there just like everybody else : to finish a race . That was my first big push-back that I had to deal with . But in the end our solution paved the way for so many other individuals to participate .”
Alan credits his father with his drive to make things right , and to help people as a way of life . His role model , he recalls his father advising , “ It ’ s not about recognition , it is about getting things done .” When he asked