LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Chris Koch is a Canadian who has been inspiring those around him for all of his 45 years of life. He says that despite being born without a full set of arms or legs, life has been normal, and his family did all that they could to make sure of that.
“My grandma set the tone for how everything was gonna be approached,” Chris says. “When she heard that I was born missing arms and legs, her reaction was that my dad never finished anything that he started. And that was perfect. I wasn’t gonna be this tragic thing. It is what it is. Everything going to be fine and we’re gonna have some good laughs!”
That attitude set him on his “can do” path. There’s almost nothing Chris hasn’t done, including competing in marathons. And that’s what brings him to Lexington this week as part of Saturday’s Horse Capital Marathon at Kentucky Horse Park.
“There’s a young girl in Calgary. She’ll be 10 later this month and she’s wanting to go to a sports camp later this year in Missouri, actually Illinois. I’ve used these marathons as an opportunity to raise money and fundraise and help out charities and different causes,” Chris says.
Race organizer Bob Baney was in awe when Chris reached out to him and is waiving the entrance fee, saying he’s thrilled that Chris has chosen Lexington as the next stop to do his outreach as he raises money for charity.
“It’s 26.2 miles that he’s gonna take in,” says Baney. “Granted, he gets to go downhill on those little wheels, but he also has to go up the big hills as well. So I can only imagine. I can’t wait to see how he does it because I’ve seen pictures and some video. But to see it live will be something special.”
Chris is fully aware that wherever he goes, he’s uplifting others just by being himself.
“I’ve had people stop me in the streets in my travels or people on marathon course for whatever. ‘I was thinking about packing it in at such and such a mile at whatever marathon’ or ‘I’ve been going through a rough patch and then I saw you on your board with a big smile on your face and was like, hey, life’s good’. And I think everybody has that opportunity. Something just as simple as a smile and a ‘have a great day’ or whatever can really turn somebody’s day around and we all have that opportunity.”
Chris has competed in marathons on three continents and hopes to make Australia his fourth when he flies there for a public appearance next month.
