by Michael Mills
On March 9th, I became the first ever paralyzed person to complete a Spartan race. On that day, history was made by Team Pushharder. Without my team, this would have been extremely difficult. I received a lot of feedback from people both positive and negative on the accomplishment. The positive was reassurance that something amazing happened on that day and that it proved that anyone could do anything as long as you put your mind to it. The negative was that people felt that my team carried me the entire way and that I did not put forth real effort. It troubled me to think that people felt I did not do the work to earn the title of being the first paralyzed Spartan athlete. So, I thought to myself, “what more do I need to do to prove myself in OCR?’ Then it hit me.. I would do something most able-bodied people wouldn’t even think of doing in their wildest dreams. I needed to prove myself once again and this time I want to go all out. So, that leads me to today.
I am pleased to announce that I am now officially going to be part of the 2013 Summer Spartan Death Race. I am the first ever paralyzed athlete to enter this event and I am going in it to be the first ever paralyzed person to complete a Death Race. This will be the hardest test of my life, but I will say this, I will leave every inch of my heart and soul out there to prove yet again, I am worthy of this title. Expect nothing less of me!
About Michael Mills:
Michael Mills Adventure/Endurance Athlete.
At the age of 16, I was hit by a drunk driver which left me paralyzed from the waist down. I was 16 and did not know what 
to expect out of my life. Not long after my injury I realized that this was a gift. It was a gift to be different and make Life worth Living. I am now 36 years old, married with three lovely children, work a fulltime job and an athlete in two sports. I have raced in over 150 road and track races in my career. I have traveled all over the world and have had the opportunity to represent my country in three events.
Competitive Bio Highlights:
Nationally and World Ranked in the 200/400/800 and 1500 meter events
2005 Selected as Most improved Athlete Lakeshore Foundation, Birmingham, AL
2005 Selected to Represent Team USA World Wheelchair Games, Rio Brazil
2007 Selected to Represent Team USA World Wheelchair Games, Taipei, Taiwan
2005 to current Team Captain, Shepherd Rehabilitation Center Wheelchair Racing Team, Atlanta, GA
2010 Selected to Represent Team USA Oita ½ Marathon, Oita Japan
2013 First Paralyzed Athlete to climb Stone Mountain, Stone Mountain, GA
2013 First Paralyzed person in History to compete/ complete a Spartan Sprint Race
Upcoming Events:
2013 First ever Paralyzed person to sign up and compete in a GoRuck Challenge (12 hour navy seal type event on 05/25/2013
2013 first Paralyzed Person to attempt to climb Curahee Hill, Tocca, GA on 06/01/2013
2013 First official ever Paralyzed Person to sign up for a Spartan Death Race to be held on 06/21/2013
2013 First Paralyzed Person to compete in the R3OPS Obstacle Course race on 07/20/2013
2013 First Paralyzed person to compete in the 2013 Mid Atlantic Spartan Beast on 08/24/2013
2013 First paralyzed person to compete in the 2013 Gulf Coast Spartan Beast on 10/19/2013
2013 Marine Corp Marathon while carrying 100lbs for 26.2 miles
2013 First Paralyzed person to compete in the 2013 Spartan Carolina on 11/19/13
How it Began
obstacle with an aggressive nature and we didn’t look back. Shortly after the first obstacle we made the trek into the woods where there was the crooked creek about shin deep. Most people saw the creek as just part of the course, I saw it as obstacle number two. I dove right into water that was chest deep and started to crawl. Shortly after reaching the end the creek, I realized I had a flat tire on my wheelchair. Not even a mile into the course we had a problem.
Next up, the spear throw. Well, let’s just say, I wasn’t the only one doing a burpee. I had to do a “murpee,” which I call a Mike burpee or a modified burpee. I put my 30 in as fast as possible and we were off to the rope climb. I got up about a 1/4 of the way and went down into the cold water. Needless to say I hit 30 more murpees in the nasty thick mud. Then we went to the mud and barbed wire. We came out fast and muddy. Last obstacle was the gladiators. I looked up and to my surprise was Andi Hardy an Elite female Spartan Athlete. Andi took a spot just for us. We as a team decided that we were going to attack instead of them attacking us. The next thing I knew we were crossing the finish line, as a team just like we had started. Team Pushharder were now all Spartans!
Reebok Spartan Racing is heading to Georgia. This weekend Spartan racing action will be in Conyers at the Georgia International Horse Park. This will be the first Sprint of the season on the East Coast. Look for some fast times from the top racers. They should rip through this course in a little over 30 minutes.
It seems like yesterday I started my journey to Sparta. Last August I made the decision to sign up and compete in my first ever 
long when he decided to get out of it and continued the long journey on his hands and knees. I have climbed Stone Mountain and have seen what it can do to people that are in relative good shape, but I could not imagine trying to climb the hole thing in your hands and knees. It was a slow, but steady climb, Michael, was like the energizer bunny, he just keep going and going. By 11:30 we had made it over half way up and we were facing the most difficult part of the climb. This part of the climb is so steep that they have to put in two hand rails to help people climb up this part of the trail. For me this is a very scary part of the trail. The first time I climbed Stone Mountain, back in 2011, I fell twice trying to climb up this part of the trail. I know a lot has changed since then, but I keep having visions of me falling, and getting crushed by my backpack. Let be honest, steel plates to not have a lot of give in them. 
