When Kim “Rooster” and Lori Rossiter’s daughter, Ainsley, was diagnosed with infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy (INAD) at the age of four, their lives were thrown into uncertainty. A year after the diagnosis, the Rossiter family accompanied Ainsley, by then using a wheelchair, in a local road race and were blown away by the happiness Ainsley found in taking part. A realization dawned: the freedom of running that brought great joy to their daughter should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their physical needs. With that, a campaign advocating for inclusivity in endurance activities began. Ainsley died in 2016 but, as Kim explains, her passion for life continues through the work of her family. 

I remember the day we first saw Ainsley’s face light up through running. It was summer 2008, and I had taken Ainsley, who was four, to a local road race in Virginia Beach where we lived. That day, I could see pure exhilaration as she experienced this movement that she hadn’t experienced before. When you use a wheelchair, you are often moving at around three miles per hour. While racing in a wheelchair, you’re a little faster, perhaps five or six miles per hour. It was a beautiful thing to witness. When she crossed the finishing line, we knew we needed to learn more about running. 

Ainsley was just three when we received her diagnosis in 2007. We didn’t know how long we would have with her. But our daughter’s energy was unique. She was just joyful. We decided to share her with the world. That became our philosophy – let’s go out and educate people along the way, we thought. Let’s teach them that staring doesn’t achieve anything, but saying hello or smiling can really help the world evolve.

In 2008, when Ainsley was six years old, and her older sister Briley was nine, they did a 5K run together. They happened to be participating with Dick and Rick Hoyt – a father-and-son team who had accomplished over 1,100 road races (including 255 triathlons and 32 Boston Marathons) since 1981. Ainsley and Briley crossed the line with Dick and Rick that day. We stayed in touch and with Dick’s encouragement, Ainsley’s Angels of America was founded in 2011. Over the next five years, the organization evolved - and since [Ainsley passed away, aged 12, in 2016], it has continued to do so. 

Today, there are 35,000 Ainsley’s Angels riders, runners and guardians. Riders use wheelchairs designed for running during the race, and runners accompany the riders during each race. The guardians, meanwhile, are the volunteers who bring Ainsley’s Angels’ events to life. We match able-bodied runners with those living with disabilities, and have ambassadors in different locations across the US representing hundreds of communities – meaning thousands of people have the chance to run. In addition to the hundreds of chairs we maintain for race day in local communities, we have also granted over 1,300 chairs to be used by riders in locations where we might not yet be present – including recent shipments to Paris, so a mother and son could run the Paris marathon together – to help families access endurance activities around the world.  

It’s so much more than just the running. A human wants to be included, accepted, and have a sense of belonging. Most of us can relate to the idea of going somewhere and not feeling welcomed or accepted. For people with physical disabilities, running provides a moment where they can do something they may have not imagined. Now all people can feel that sense of belonging and the feeling associated with running. 

When you feel you belong, you develop meaningful relationships and start living a life of confidence and impact. I hear stories of parents meeting and building lifelong friendships they would never have had without uniting on a race day. We know dads who now talk to each other about what it means to have a child who they may be taking care of for the rest of their life, to have a child who they will outlive. They feel and grieve together. These are the things that go well beyond the clock on the finish line. Find out more about Ainsley’s Angels.