In 2012, Andrea Leber and her son, Marc, who had just been accepted as a Georgia Tech student, were taking part in the Wicked 10K race in Virginia Beach as part of Team Hoyt, a group of runners who push disabled participants in three-wheeled “strollers.” Thanks to a stiff breeze, though, they found themselves struggling to keep their balance and finish the race. So Andrea and Marc, along with local engineer Tom Meree, NE 79, set out to improve the design.
The two major challenges were building a lightweight vehicle and a runner-controlled steering system. Andrea and Marc (now a first-year biomedical engineering major) used physics to determine what length and thickness of aluminum tubing would be strong enough to hold the rider, yet light enough to push easily. Andrea and a volunteer welder built the frame in one day.
The attachment for the rider’s chair is a special sliding bracket forged out of aluminum repurposed from a wheelchair. This enables the chair to be adjusted to the weight of the rider; the back wheels and seat bottom are also adjustable. A mesh seat sewn out of a material used to build hand cycle seat covers was strapped to the frame.
Steering is controlled by two hand-brake-style fixtures mounted on the pushing bar. Squeezing one handle or the other shortens a cable and moves the wheel.
Seat belts like those used in sand buggies, wheel covers made out of plastic chicken wire, and foot rests recycled from a wheelchair were attached.
The new stroller—painted white and gold and dubbed “Yellow Jacket”—entered its first race, the Shamrock 8K, in March. Pushed by Andrea, Yellow Jacket was the first stroller to finish. The time was a full minute faster per mile than the previous stroller design. The new stroller has now been run in more than 10 races, and Andrea, Marc and their riders have won their age groups and even some races.
With the help of donations, more strollers are expected to give more riders the same speedy experience. Two additional “Yellow Jackets” are under construction.
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