Corre Conmigo Hosts Eleventh Annual Race With ARSOBO
By Drew Milne
On October 6, 2024, ARSOBO (Arizona Sonoran Border Projects for Inclusion) collaborated with Corre Conmigo (Run With Me) to host the eleventh annual Corre Conmigo Race in Hermosillo, Mexico. The 5k race is an opportunity for athletes using wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, and other mobility aids to have fun in the fall weather while spreading awareness about the disability community.
This year there were over 1000 participants total, including racers, parents and caregivers, community members, and even the mayor of Hermosillo. There were no prizes for top scorers, but racers received a medal as well as t-shirts, water bottles, and other items.
The event is an opportunity to raise awareness of disability in more rural areas. It is a space to build connections to create a deeper, stronger disability community.
“One of the main objectives of the race is to raise awareness of disabilities in Mexico. For example, there is an elementary school that sent kids to participate and let them know what disability is all about and show them their potential regardless of disability,” said ‘Kiko’ Trujillo, Co-Director of ARSOBO.
Not only does the event bring the disability community together, many of the kids in need can take the wheelchairs home with them after the race.
“Every year at the end of the race, through sponsors, they give wheelchairs to kids with neuromuscular disabilities from the community,” Kiko said. “We make those chairs.”
ARSOBO specializes in providing affordable, high-quality wheelchairs and prosthetics to the disability community along the Arizona-Sonora border, making them an ideal partner for the race. ARSOBO has worked with Corre Conmigo since the second year of the race.
“The first year they tried to buy the chairs, but only managed to purchase two,” Kiko said. “The following year they found us, came to Nogales, and invited us to be part of the organization and provide those chairs. They were able to sponsor. That year there were 13 kids, and this race was almost 20 - for the same amount of money.”
Kiko said that the reactions from the community are what makes the Race truly a special event.
“It’s a festivity!” he said. “One [racer] participated for the first time. Their mother said it was very moving to see all these kids, some in walkers, some in crutches, participating in this race.”
Looking ahead, Kiko said that Corre Conmigo and ARSOBO are open to holding similar events in Nogales.
“The mayor said is it possible to organize something like this in Nogales! They said they had their hands full, but did not rule out the possibility in the next few years.”
To put on successful events like this one, and to continue providing excellent products, ARSOBO is raising funds. ARSOBO’s upcoming projects include launching new products like an electric version of their Rough Rider all-terrain wheelchair and digitally-connected hearing aids.
“One of the problems we have here is people with disabilities in Mexico are very low income. Over 40 percent of people live in extreme poverty in Mexico. People come to us needing equipment and we can’t charge them! It leaves us with a deficit. With this new project, the investment can offer products to people who aren't able to pay.”
You can donate to ARSOBO’s gofundme here.