Utah runner with cerebral palsy attempting half-marathon world record

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Emily Fairbanks said her mother told her she didn’t learn to walk, she learned to run, despite being diagnosed at six months old with cerebral palsy.

Now the 46-year-old woman—mother, wife, and avid runner—will try to set a record half-marathon time for a woman with her condition.

“Are you in the best shape of your life right now?“ 2News asked Fairbanks.

“I’m feeling it, yeah,“ she said. “I think so.”

The Sandy woman will run the Nebo Loop half-marathon on Saturday, a mostly downhill course, and her time to beat is 1 hour 50 minutes.

She’ll be tracked by “independent witnesses,” a requirement of the Guinness World Records organization, and a person will follow her with a video camera.

Fairbanks said there is no half-marathon record time for a woman with cerebral palsy—or ‘hemiplegia’ as described in the Guinness guidelines, which is paralysis on one side of the body—so she’s trying to set one.

"When I applied I set it as a possible time, and they said, ‘yeah we accept that',” Fairbanks said.

Roughly eight years ago, concerned about her health and future mobility, Fairbanks said she started training—first on a treadmill in her in-laws’ nearby home, then she ran a 5K, then a 10K, then half-marathons, and even a full marathon.

Before her first "half", a person where she worked told her it was okay to walk.

“I remember thinking no it’s not,” she said. “And I didn’t. That first run, I did not walk. I ran the whole thing," she said.

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A full marathon, which she ran with her 64-year-old father, was difficult on her left side, which is weakened by cerebral palsy—but she finished.

“There were about six people who were after me,“ Fairbanks said. “As a person with a disability, you know that means a lot. I wasn’t last.”

2News asked what she hopes her running says to people with or without disabilities, she had a short, direct and powerful reply—“Anything’s possible.”

The Nebo Loop half-marathon was bright and early Saturday morning. After the race, the family of Fairbanks said she finished the half marathon and must submit documentation, including photos and video, to Guinness World Records, which will later make a determination if her name goes in the record book.

"It was a great race; I felt good the whole time," Fairbanks said. "I was going so fast down the mountain; I thought I was going to wear myself out."

She added that she had a "personal record on every mile," including part of the course that has rolling hills.

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