Since she was 13, Jill Walsh envisioned herself becoming that 80-year-old lady with knobby knees who would pass people half her age in marathons. That’s how much she loved running.

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2010, the former triathlete won’t get to run her whole life like she imagined. But she also never dreamed she’d end up where she is now — winning gold for Team USA in the Para-cycling World Championships and Parapan American Games and traveling the globe training and competing.

Her next goal? To take gold at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I find different ways to challenge myself,” said Walsh, 52, who lives in Jamesville, New York. “I was never a cyclist. When I did triathlons, cycling was my weak link. But that’s all I have now, so I’m embracing it.”

In 2014, Walsh won silver and bronze medals for Team USA in the Paracycling Road World Championships in Greenville, South Carolina, and she won gold for Team USA in the 2015 Paracycling Road World Championships in Switzerland.

In Switzerland, she beat the reigning world champion, Australian Carol Cooke, by six seconds in a 30-kilometer road race.

Phillip Elgie | Staff Photographer

The mother of three is currently training under the assumption that she’s going to Rio, but will find out for sure when the competitors are announced after they perform in a time trial on July 2 in North Carolina.

There are 13 different categories for cycling in the Paralympics: five for 2-wheel bicycling, five for handcycling, two for tricycling and one tandem for the visually impaired.

Walsh competes in the T-2 division for trike. Divisions are determined based on the nature of the disability and are set to ensure athletes are competing against individuals with similar levels of ability. Out of all 13 categories, only six or seven women will be able to compete for the U.S. in the Paralympics for cycling.

An active athlete her whole life, Walsh said that for years she had symptoms of body parts feeling numb and chalked them up to over-training, ignoring them until they disappeared — until one day they didn’t.

In 2010, Walsh realized something was wrong when she continued experiencing vertigo. When she went to the doctor, they thought she had an ear infection and gave her antibiotics. After her symptoms persisted, she underwent several more tests including MRIs before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS is a disease that causes the immune system to react abnormally to the central nervous system. Specifically, the immune system attacks nerve fibers and myelin — a fatty substance surrounding the nerve fibers, forming scar tissue over time. The disease has a wide range of symptoms and manifests differently and in varying levels of severity for each individual.

For Walsh, it resulted in symptoms such as dizziness and difficulty balancing. MS also makes walking challenging for Walsh, as she has developed a symptom called “foot drop” caused by muscle paralysis that makes it difficult for her to lift her left foot and feel where it’s located.

Walsh said she felt fine for a while after being diagnosed, but in 2011 when she was training for her first Ironman — which consists of a 26.2-mile run, 112-mile bike ride and 2.4-mile swim — she had a major relapse and was unable to walk or drive.

Acting against the advice of others, Walsh said she stayed sane by continuing to train for the Ironman.

Phillip Elgie | Staff Photographer

“Doctors and people would try to tell me, ‘You’re not going to be able to do this …,’” Walsh said. “He’d be like, ‘You’re never going to be able to do it all at once. You’re not walking right now, and it’s January.’ And I just said to him, ‘No. Stop. This is what I’m doing.’”

Amazingly, Walsh crossed the Ironman finish line that summer in 16 hours, 16 minutes and 55 seconds.

Now, because of her disability, she can no longer run in marathons, so Walsh has dedicated her competitive athletic activities to cycling, and training for cycling competitions.

During the winter months, her typical schedule consists of two days a week of swimming for an hour and an hour of strength-training and conditioning with her fitness coach, Ed Ten Eyck in Dewitt. The other four days she cycles for an hour on the stationary bike in her basement. In the summer, she prefers to cycle outdoors.

Ed Ten Eyck has known Walsh since she competed in triathlons, and said her modesty is what differentiates her from other high-caliber athletes he knows.

Walsh rides a regular bike with the back wheel removed and a horizontal axel put in its place with two wheels on either side. The bike is designed so her right hand can work all of the controls.

She also wears braces that are specially customized for each of her feet — one is a men’s shoe and one is a women’s shoe.

She spent over $1,000 on the braces over the past year to find something that works for her. Athletic gear for people with disabilities and injuries is not covered by health insurance, she said.

Walsh’s determination to get braces that worked for her attest to her personality. Her husband Greg attributes her athletic success to grit, stubbornness and mental strength.

He said she exemplified these traits in her persistence trying to continue running with MS. She fought to find the right equipment to accommodate her needs, even trying to use an electric simulator that lifted her foot when she ran.

Though Walsh was unable to keep running long distances, she refuses to stop moving in her preparation for the 2016 Paralympics for this summer.

“I don’t care who you are or how old you are. If you have a USA uniform on and you’re standing on the top of the podium, and the U.S. flag goes up and they start playing our national anthem, I was crying up there,” Walsh said. “I couldn’t help it. ”

Published on March 29, 2016 at 8:56 pm

Contact Alex: aerdekia@syr.edu