ONEONTA, NY — After years of cheering on his parents and friends from the sidelines, Nick Mykytyn, 18, participated in his first Pit Run on Sunday.

The New York resident, sports enthusiast and senior at Oneonta High School said Sunday that it was “great” to finally feel the wind against his face as he rolled across the finish line just a few feet ahead of his mother, Barb Mykytyn.

Nick has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, Barb Mykytyn explained Sunday, so the teen is used to watching sporting events and races from afar.

But not this time.

Nick was able to traverse the race’s 5K course while riding in a custom “freedom chair,” a wheelchair-like push chair developed by Adaptive Star, which is a Washington-based company that manufactures “mobility products.” 

Mykytyn received the running chair last month from the Evans family of Galway, whose 9-year-old son, Shamus, also has cerebral palsy.

“People with disabilities don’t get cheered for a lot,” said Kirt Mykytyn, Nick’s father. “For Nick to be able to cross the finish line this year was amazing. He couldn’t stop smiling.”

Shaun Evans and his son Shamus presented the chair to Mykytyn on Sept. 1 in New York City, Barb Mykytyn said. This was the last stop on the Evans’ “Power to Push” Journey, a 15-state, 3,205-mile, 60-day trip across the country to donate 20 racing wheelchairs, or “running chariots,” to children such as Nick who cannot get around easily.

The effort — which made headlines and was featured on news channels across the country — was on behalf of Ainsley’s Angels, a national nonprofit that aims “to build awareness about America’s special needs community through inclusion in all aspects of life,” according to its website.

The Mykytyn family had met the Evans at a past Ainsley’s Angels marathon event, where Nick Mykytyn was riding in a small, uncomfortable chair, Barb Mykytyn said.

“They saw the chair we had and wanted to help us,” Mykytyn said. “They had a custom chair made for Nick. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

Barb Mykytyn has participated in the Pit Run many times before, but, she said, this year was “unbelievable” because she got to push Nick’s chair.

“It was a real emotional experience,” she said Sunday. “Nick has always cheered us on. To have him finally be able to participate, it was very inspiring. After crossing the finish line, he told me it made him feel alive.”