Taunton's Mary MacDonald participates in fashion show, track nationals on same day
Mary MacDonald has always had a passion for athletics and the arts.
The 15-year-old Taunton resident and Bristol-Plymouth sophomore, who was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenital, a condition which affects the joints in her lower body, has kept herself quite busy over the years. From pageants and performances to taking on a wide array of sports and competing at The Hartford Nationals last summer, MacDonald has put her all into whatever she does.
But one thing she hadn't done was modeling. That is, until this past Sunday, when MacDonald was able to combine both of her passions as she took part in the inaugural Adaptive Sports & Fashion Show, hosted by Achilles International and HumanKind Casting at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.
"It was actually a lot of fun," MacDonald, who modeled athleisure, sportswear and formalwear, said. "It was a lot of preparation work and just going with what (poses) I felt best fit the outfits."
MacDonald, who's been able to learn and participate in numerous sports through Achilles International, was joined by other adaptive athletes involved in the organization in modeling different outfits as part of the group's mission to "celebrate strength, style and inclusion."
"I definitely enjoyed it," MacDonald said, adding she looked for the best ways to showcase the main parts of each outfit she modeled.
The show however was far from the only thing MacDonald did Sunday, as she came to the event fresh off of winning the Girls 800 Meter Wheelchair Championship heat at the New Balance Nationals Indoors across town at The TRACK at New Balance.
"Just going from a race to a fashion show, I never expected to be doing that in one day," MacDonald said with a laugh.
MacDonald competed as an independent athlete, as B-P doesn't offer indoor track, on the invitation of Brighton High track coach Tony Halliday, who coaches friend and fellow adaptive athlete Delmace Mayo. She finished with a personal best time of 3:49.89, an 8.65 second improvement on her outdoor personal record.
"It was definitely a lot of fun to compete," MacDonald said, thanking Halliday as well as her Achilles International coach and 1992 Paralympic gold medalist Joe LeMar, who also invited her to participate in the Adaptive Sports & Fashion Show, Hospital for Special Care Cruisers coach Bill Wilkie and Craftsmen girls track coach Alyssa Ekstrom.
As the winter turns to spring, MacDonald is eagerly awaiting her second track and field season with B-P, where she'll take part in multiple track events as well as add in all three field events: shot put, javelin and discus.
"I'm really excited to be going into the season and looking forward to competing in basically every event I can, especially the field events," MacDonald said.
MacDonald hopes to improve her times and distances in all events to qualify for The Hartford Nationals once again, set to be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from July 11-17. Outside of school, she'll also be participating in longer distance road races to improve her time, strength and endurance as she seeks one of her ultimate goals: becoming a Paralympian.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton resident Mary MacDonald does fashion show, track on same day
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