AFM: Air Force Marathon 2026 Handcycle division

Where to start……
According to the official results site 2026, 16 handcyclists finished safely. (I saw one pushrim (racing wheelchair) athlete at starting line. I’m sure he was the athlete who competed Flying Pig Marathon this year.  I do hope he is okay since official site doesn’t show his actual result yet.)
Congratulations to all of them on their achievement.
My husband knows 9 of them (9 out of 16!) since they have raced together before (at least twice). I wrote about some of them before as well.
We cannot check full list of handcyclists beforehand. Usually we would find out at starting line on the race day. It is an exciting moment to see each other’s faces and to get ready for counting down to start.  
This was my husband’s 4th AFM (his very first full marathon in his life was 2023 AFM).    
I need to report this. “I didn’t freak out in the morning right before the race this year!”  I was good. That means “my husband’s racer handcycle had no issue.”  Both of rear tires look okay. No sealant leaking. No holes. Good air pressure. Do you remember last year? I was totally a mess. Wheeew, I was comfortable to assist/help him to get ready at starting point.  
I was good and it was supposed to feel like “our familiar favorite race” = familiar settings, familiar course, familiar finishing area…..
However the organizer changed two big things this year.
1. Start time
6:20AM (used to be 7:20AM). 

2. Whole setting around the finish line
There was 30th anniversary race celebration festivities, that’s why they had whole new fancy settings (I guess).

So…… I was good. However I was feeling a bit uneasy. My mind was not so comfortable because of the darkness.
I even couldn’t take any good photos to document “how it looks like”.  It was that much darker than past years….
You can compare 2026 vs 2025 to check this page. 

Handcyclists tried to do warmup pedaling. Actually they couldn't see anything.... their visibility was very poor, bad, scary...

At the starting area.

Here are 2 videos. See the obvious differences between 2026 and 2025.

Usually, after all handcyclists take off at the start line, I can wait for them to finish looking at live-tracking app. I could estimate my husband's finishing time.  However this year was different. I was worried more than ever about their safety until sun was rising. I guess all spouses, families of handcyclists felt the same. It was not comfortable waiting time. 

My husband always does image-training for any races, estimates his pace, uphills, downhills, elevation gain and so on.  
Setting his goal time is always good for motivating himself. It’s good to me as well. So that I could see his pace, movement, condition through a tracking app, compared with his goal time.
However most of plans he prepared beforehand didn’t work that way just because of darkness, this year 2026.
Usually he has a headlight and a taillight on his handcycle to signal to cars on public roads. But those lights are not for darkness, not for night rides. They are for different purposes.
So he had to add an actual headlight for night on his handcycle.  Until last year, handcyclists didn’t need to worry about darkness for the race, didn’t need to prepare night-headlights at all. One of them had to go to purchase a headlight at a store the day before the race day. He taped it on his handcycle.
I even wasn’t sure every handcyclists (all of them) had night-headlights on their bikes on the race day.  

Imagine…. there is a long uphill climb at the beginning of the course. Once top handcyclists hit a top of a hill, they go downhill with the speed 30-35 m/h(!). Yes, 30-35 m/h!  What if it’s pitch dark without any road-lights because the course is in the Air Force base property…..
That is what happened this year to Handcycle athletes.
As my understanding, the top fastest handcyclist had to stop and wait for the 2nd and 3rd athletes after he felt dangerous on the downhill section. He couldn’t keep his race-pace at all. It was not worth the risk for this race. Even not worth thinking about aiming PR.

Well, it's always exciting when athletes cross the finish line, of course. Once again, I was glad that they finished 26.2 mi "safely". It was a bit different emotion than past races. 

1st place, 2nd and 3rd.

4th, Half marathon 1st male and 5th. (Yes, my husband!)

As usual, after-race chatting time at the wheeled-athlete-parking lot was the highlight of the day indeed.  
Their smiles say it all. I love our time together there very much. It is worth gathering together really. 
Believe it or not, most of handcycle participants are coming out of Ohio, Michigan, Montana, Maryland, Arizona, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts.  In fact, my husband was only one male handcyclist from Ohio! 

I want to write about each individuals more later. My husband and I made new friends, too. It was exciting. 

I'm thinking back now and consuming my thoughts and feelings about 2026 AFM. 
Don’t get me wrong though. I understand AFM officials’ thoughts. They always think about runners the most. Their safety, their health, their fitness and goals. “Runner-first” spirit (just like “customer-first”).
In these years, heat (high temperatures) is a problem for runners even in September. They shifted the start time to 6:30am from 7:30am. I believe Officials and runners were satisfied with the change this year. But. But it is hard to say “we, handcycle community/ families, are okay with 6:20am starting time at AFM course.”  

AFM was always my favorite since 2023. One year was terribly freezing cold. AFM atmosphere is wonderful.
There was a young handcyclist who came to compete from Michigan this year. It was his FIRST full marathon and his FIRST away race ever. I was excited for him. I even told him “This AFM is my very favorite. You would love it. It is a beautiful course.”  I told that to him.
It turned out that he was not able to see “beautiful course” part because Sun was not up yet. It was supposed to be beautiful with sunshine. (Daylight was a key after all.)
I feel bad for him, this young handcyclist. Wonder what his first impression of full marathon was……

I would love to gather up together with other handcycle athletes and their families, of course. Let's see how AFM 2027 settings show up. Hmmm.

I am grateful for bike escorts (DCC plus other members). Without them, handcyclists couldn't ride safely. That is true. Thank you.