Achilles International
Achilles International is a nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities participate in mainstream athletics through training, volunteer support, and inclusive racing programs.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Achilles International is a disability-inclusion and adaptive-athletics organization founded in New York City in 1983 by Dick Traum. Originally established as the Achilles Track Club, it was created to encourage people with disabilities to take part in mainstream athletic activities rather than treating competitive sport as inaccessible or exclusively specialized. The organization provides coaching, training opportunities, technical assistance, volunteer guides, and community support for athletes with a wide range of physical, sensory, neurological, developmental, and medical conditions. Its participants include people with visual impairments, stroke-related disabilities, cerebral palsy, paraplegia, quadriplegia, arthritis, amputations, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, cancer, traumatic head injuries, autism, and other conditions. Depending on their needs and preferences, athletes may run independently or use crutches, wheelchairs, handcycles, prostheses, or other adaptive equipment. Volunteer guides frequently accompany athletes during workouts and races, helping with navigation, pacing, communication, and safety. Achilles began as a New York-based track club and expanded into a chapter-based international network. Reference material describes approximately 40 chapters in the United States and more than 110 chapters across six continents, with chapters or affiliated activity in countries including Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Mongolia, the Dominican Republic, Russia, South Africa, Vietnam, and Japan. Membership is free, making the organization’s model dependent on volunteers, donations, partnerships, and event-based participation rather than conventional commercial sales. The organization’s work extends beyond adult road racing. In 1995, it created Achilles Kids, a youth program that provides weekend athletic activities for children in New York City and school-based programming elsewhere in the United States. The program serves children with disabilities as well as their nondisabled siblings, using guided running and related physical activities to promote fitness, confidence, communication, and social participation. Reference material indicates that school and community programming reaches approximately 3,500 children with disabilities and their siblings across the United States. In 2004, Achilles began working with wounded members of the United States military through the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans. The program uses athletic training and race participation as tools for rebuilding physical strength, endurance, motivation, and social connection after military injuries or disabilities. It has become one of the organization’s principal public-facing initiatives. Achilles is closely associated with major running events, particularly the New York City Marathon, where it sponsors and supports substantial numbers of disabled runners from the United States and other countries. The 2009 New York City Marathon included more than 300 Achilles runners representing more than 50 types of disability, according to the cited reference material. The organization has also entered athletes in the Mayor’s Cup Kayak Race in New York City, demonstrating that its programming is not limited to road running or track competition. Achilles International’s positioning is centered on participation, independence, and integration. Rather than defining athletes primarily by disability or limiting them to segregated competitions, it connects them with mainstream races and athletic communities while providing individualized adaptations. Its principal offering is therefore a coordinated service ecosystem: local chapters, volunteer guides, coaching, adaptive-sport expertise, youth programming, veteran support, and assistance with participation in public sporting events.
History
Achilles International was founded in New York City in 1983 by Dick Traum under the name Achilles Track Club. Its founding purpose was to help people with disabilities participate in mainstream athletics. From the beginning, the organization’s model combined athletic training with practical assistance: athletes could train and compete using adaptive equipment or with the help of volunteer guides, while still taking part in ordinary community races and sporting events. The organization serves people with many types of disabilities, including visual impairment, neurological conditions, spinal-cord injuries, cerebral palsy, amputations, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, cancer, cystic fibrosis, autism, and traumatic head injuries. Its programs are designed to accommodate different levels of mobility and athletic experience. Some participants run without equipment, while others use wheelchairs, handcycles, crutches, prostheses, or other aids. Volunteer guides can provide route guidance, pacing, encouragement, and race-day assistance. Achilles expanded beyond its original New York base through a chapter structure. The cited Wikipedia material describes roughly 40 chapters in the United States and more than 110 chapters on six continents. International activity has included countries such as Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Mongolia, the Dominican Republic, Russia, South Africa, Vietnam, and Japan. Participation is free, reinforcing the organization’s role as a nonprofit access and inclusion initiative rather than a commercial fitness service. A significant expansion came in 1995 with the creation of Achilles Kids. The program introduced athletic opportunities for children with disabilities and their nondisabled siblings. It operates through weekend activities in New York City and school-based programs in other parts of the United States. The cited material indicates that these programs reach approximately 3,500 children with disabilities and their siblings. Research associated with Achilles Kids has examined guided running, fitness, self-concept, communication, and social behavior among young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including children with autism. In 2004, Achilles added a program for wounded United States military veterans, known as the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans. This initiative uses structured exercise, training, and competition to help veterans rebuild strength and endurance and to provide motivation and peer connection following disabling injuries. The program broadened Achilles’ constituency while retaining the organization’s core emphasis on participation in public athletic life. Road racing has remained central to Achilles’ public activity. The organization supports disabled runners at events throughout the United States and internationally and has a particularly visible presence at the New York City Marathon. In 2009, more than 300 Achilles runners from around the world took part in that race, with more than 50 different disabilities represented among participants. Achilles has also entered athletes in New York’s Mayor’s Cup Kayak Race, a 28-mile course beginning and ending at North Cove Marina, showing that the organization’s adaptive-sport activities can extend beyond running. Today, Achilles International is best understood as an international nonprofit platform for inclusive sport. Its work combines local chapter communities, free participation, volunteers, coaches, adaptive-sport knowledge, youth programming, veteran services, and access to mainstream competitions. The organization’s historical development has been characterized by geographic expansion and by extending the same participation-centered model to children, wounded veterans, and athletes using varied forms of adaptive equipment.
- 2009
Large Achilles contingent runs the New York City Marathon
[1]More than 300 Achilles runners reportedly participate, representing athletes with more than 50 different disabilities.
- 2004
Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans begins
[1]Achilles starts a dedicated program supporting wounded United States military veterans through training and athletic participation.
- 1995
Achilles Kids is established
[1]The organization creates a youth initiative offering weekend athletic programs in New York City and school-based activities elsewhere in the United States.
- 1983
Achilles Track Club is founded in New York City
[1]Dick Traum establishes the organization to encourage people with disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics.
Products and positioning
A nonprofit adaptive-athletics network focused on enabling people with disabilities to train, compete, and participate in mainstream sporting communities with support from volunteers, coaches, and technical specialists.
Adaptive athletics and community support · 1983
Achilles International chapter programs
Local chapter programs provide workouts, training, volunteer assistance, technical guidance, and opportunities to enter mainstream races. Athletes with different disabilities can participate at varied ability levels and may run independently or use wheelchairs, handcycles, crutches, prostheses, or other adaptive equipment. Membership is described as free, allowing the chapters to function as accessible community-based entry points into athletic participation.
Youth adaptive athletics · 1995
Achilles Kids
Achilles Kids offers weekend athletic activities for children in New York City and school-based programming across the United States. The program includes children with disabilities and their nondisabled siblings and uses guided running and related physical activity to support fitness, confidence, communication, and social engagement. The cited material reports participation by approximately 3,500 children with disabilities and siblings across the country.
Veteran adaptive athletics · 2004
Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans
The Freedom Team supports wounded United States military veterans through motivation, structured athletic training, endurance development, and opportunities to compete. It applies Achilles’ broader participation model to veterans living with service-related disabilities and uses sport as a means of rebuilding strength, confidence, and community connection.
Brand decisions
2004
Create a dedicated wounded-veteran programStrategyBackground
The organization identified a need to support wounded members of the United States military through its established athletic-inclusion model.
Action taken
It launched the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans, providing training, motivation, and race opportunities.
Aftermath
The initiative broadened Achilles’ work into veteran rehabilitation and adaptive competition.
1995
Expand into youth programming through Achilles KidsStrategyBackground
Achilles sought to extend inclusive athletics beyond adult road racing and reach children with disabilities and their nondisabled siblings.
Action taken
It created Achilles Kids, combining weekend activities in New York City with school-based programs elsewhere in the United States.
Aftermath
The program became a major youth initiative and was reported to serve approximately 3,500 children with disabilities and siblings.
Recent events
- 2009
More than 300 Achilles athletes participate in the 2009 New York City Marathon[1]
Other
The cited reference reports that more than 300 Achilles runners from around the world competed in the 2009 New York City Marathon, representing more than 50 disabilities.
- 2004
Achilles launches the Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans[1]
Other
The organization began a dedicated program for wounded United States military veterans, combining motivation, athletic training, and race participation.
- 1995
Achilles Kids provides inclusive athletic programming for children[1]
Other
Achilles International launched Achilles Kids to provide weekend programs in New York City and school-based physical-activity programs for children with disabilities and their nondisabled siblings.
Achilles International expands from a New York track club into an international adaptive-athletics network[1]
Other
The organization developed from its 1983 New York founding into a chapter-based network serving athletes with disabilities in the United States and on six continents.
Sources2 sources
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