RICHARD WHITEHEAD’S preparations for the New York marathon this afternoon will be a little different from the other runners’. Off will come his prosthetic legs, on will go his specially adapted running legs, £12,000 of high-technology aluminium and carbon fibre that could open up new horizons for disabled athletes.

Whitehead was born 30 years ago with no legs below the knees, but his disability has been an inspiration, not an excuse for self-pity, taking him to New York for his first marathon two years ago, to Cape Town for the Ultra Marathon — 34.8 miles in 28C heat — and last year to Wales, where he did a marathon over the 1,200ft climbs of the Snowdonia mountains. To appreciate that achievement, try running up the stairs without bending your knees.

Today he joins Paul Tergat, last year’s winner, Olympic champion Stefano Baldini and 37,000 others for his second New York marathon, aiming to better his 2004 time by an hour and to raise funds for Sarcoma UK in memory of his friend Simon Mellows, who died from cancer at 32 a year ago.

Whitehead’s C-shaped Flex-Run feet were pioneered by Ossur, an Icelandic company founded by Ossur Kristinsson, also an artificial limb-wearer, more than 30 years ago. Whitehead was put in touch with the company, a specialist in high-performance prosthetic technology, by the NHS two years ago. After two weeks running in a straight-legged style, the Nottingham sports teacher had his first test in New York. “

It’s like wearing in a new pair of trainers, you just have to get used to them,” he says. “Running straight-legged is different from my normal movement. I have to use my shoulders, arms and trunk a lot, so it takes 45 minutes to get momentum and rhythm going. The problem with New York is the bridges and crosswinds.”

To help him in 2004, Whitehead was assigned two able-bodied “buddies”. One was injured before halfway,

the other was left behind as

Whiehead finished in 5hr 18min.

His matter-of-fact approach to his disability is refreshing, even without his impressive list of sporting achievements. He has benefited from the shifting perception of disability as a whole and the understanding

of the widening potential of disabled athletes.

He was drawn into marathon running after watching a documentary about the Canadian single amputee athlete Terry Fox.

“It was just being naive and not realising the technology was out there,” Whitehead says. “As soon as I discovered what was possible, running became a passion. There are obstacles to overcome. I run late at night when nobody can see me, because you can be a bit self-conscious. That’s where the mental strength comes in.

“People are astonished I can run a marathon, but it’s simply ignorance and people being a bit judgmental. ‘How can a guy with no legs run a marathon faster than me?’ — that sort of thing. I hope people think of me as just another athlete, not as a person who has no legs who runs marathons.

“What’s the symbol of a disabled person on a toilet door? A wheelchair. But of 9m disabled people in the UK, only 500,000 use a wheelchair. The perception of disabled sport is based on athletes in wheelchairs. I’d like to help change that.”

The Comrades Marathon in Durban and the London Marathon are among his targets for next year. In the meantime he has another rendezvous with the roads and bridges of New York, a city that knows all about being different.

Donations welcome to Sarcoma UK, PO Box 128, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1YL.

New York Marathon, today, British Eurosport, 2.30pm