Have wheels, will travel

Hawkins at the starting line of the Rockville Centre 10K in 2013.

Theresa Exconde

Peter Hawkins relaxing in his home in Malverne.

Rossana Weitekamp

Hawkins trains in his garage by putting his racing chair on a roller, turning it into a stationary bike.

Rossana Weitekamp

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Malvernite Peter Hawkins trains nearly six days a week to prepare for the seven marathons and the dozens of races he participates in each year. Over the past 25 years, he’s won roughly two dozen competitions, establishing his name and his abilities in sports circles around the globe. In his spare time, he rock climbs, skis, swims, and wants to try a triathlon soon. He visits classrooms throughout the year, speaking to students and looking to inspire, but not with his athletic prowess.

Peter Hawkins became paralyzed at age 17, and wants to share the valuable life lessons he’s learned with kids of similar age.

“It was 1981, the middle of my senior year of high school and I got into a car with someone who was drinking,” said Hawkins. “He started to drag race on Sunrise Highway and I got thrown out of the car. People tell me the accident wasn’t my fault, but me being in that situation was my fault. We have to realize the choices we’re making have consequences.” The accident resulted in Hawkins’ spinal injury.

Schools like Southside High School in Rockville Centre, Valley Stream’s middle schools and high schools, and others, regularly call on Hawkins to come speak to their students. Hawkins says that when he goes to schools to give his presentations, he shows them videos of himself playing football before the car accident, because it’s hard for the kids to picture him exercising when he is confined to a wheelchair.

They wouldn’t feel that way, however, if they saw Hawkins work out. On a cold afternoon last week, Hawkins was training in his garage where, unassisted, he rope climbs, does a dizzying amount of pull-ups, lifts weights, and trains for races by putting his chair on a roller, turning it into a stationary bike. “You can’t train by just lifting weights,” said Hawkins. “I’ll train on the roller and just push and push and push and push.” The size of his arms already made that obvious.

Hawkins will stroke the wheel of his chair once per second during his more intense, two-hour workouts, completing 7,200 strokes in 7,200 seconds. He says he aims to be on the roller five days a week, and lifts weights one day a week with his trainer in East Rockaway.