Sherry Ramsey Schulz
2010
Sherry started her racing career at 17 years old while an inpatient at Craig Hospital. The recreational therapists there immediately recognized her potential as an athlete. She participated in her first competition—the Rocky Mountain Wheelchair Games in 1978—where she excelled in track and field, qualifying for Nationals that same year in Fishersville, Virginia. That same year, she was selected to represent the U.S. at her first international competition, the Stoke Mandeville Games in England. Sherry went on to compete in the National Wheelchair Games for the next nine years and was honored with the Jack Gearheart Award in 1983 for her outstanding athletic achievements.
Balancing sport and education, Sherry completed her teaching degree and taught school full time while continuing to compete. During this time, she expanded into road racing and marathoning, winning the women’s wheelchair division at the Boston Marathon in both 1983 and 1984. She was a pioneer in helping to establish official wheelchair divisions in major races, including successfully advocating for the addition of a division in the Bolder Boulder in the late 1980s.
Sherry’s dedication extended beyond her own racing—she coached junior athletes from Colorado alongside her friends Mary Carpenter and Pam Wilson, helping bring young athletes to Junior Nationals for many years. She also coached a Special Olympics team at her school, continuing her lifelong commitment to inclusive sport.
In 1985, at the encouragement of her friend Marty Morse, Sherry attended the University of Illinois, where she earned her master’s degree and trained under Marty’s mentorship. Recruited by Brad and Sharon Hedrick for the U of I women’s wheelchair basketball team, she quickly developed her skills and played on the Illini national championship team in 1986. She also made the USA Women’s Basketball Team that competed at Stoke Mandeville in 1985.
Though she enjoyed basketball, Sherry’s true passions were track and road racing. Over the course of her career, she completed more than 30 marathons and hundreds of 5Ks and 10Ks across the U.S. and abroad. She made the Paralympic teams in 1984 and 1988 for track—choosing to sit out the 1984 Games but competing in 1988 in Seoul, where she earned five medals: silver in the marathon, 1,500 meters, and 800 meters; bronze in the 200 meters; and gold in the 4×400 relay.
After the 1989 Boston Marathon, Sherry retired from wheelchair racing—but not from competition altogether. Over her career, she made seven USA teams in three different sports, medaling in all of them.
Sherry later discovered handcycling, which reignited her competitive drive. When the sport was still in its infancy, she made the USA Handcycling Team in 1998 and continued through 2001, competing internationally and earning silver medals in road racing and time trials. In 2007, she won the Alaskan Sadler’s Ultra Challenge, a grueling seven-day stage race.
Even after retiring from elite competition, Sherry remained active—skiing both downhill and cross-country, and developing a passion for off-road handcycling. Her life motto reflected her enduring spirit and love for movement:
“Never give up what you love doing.”