“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13
The verse that has anchored Professor Augustina Naami’s academic career echoed through her mind as she approached the starting line of the inaugural ABSA Marathon in Accra.
Thirty minutes early, as always, the Head of the Department of Social Work at the University of Ghana sat in her racing wheelchair among dozens of other determined athletes, her hands gripping the push rims with the same precision she brings to crafting groundbreaking research on disability inclusion.
This wasn’t just another academic attending a sporting event. This was a scholar about to transform years of theoretical advocacy into visceral, visible demonstration.
As one of Ghana’s most prominent disability rights advocates, Professor Naami’s presence in the 10-kilometer wheelchair division carried significance far beyond personal athletic ambition.
She was about to become a living embodiment of the very principles she teaches and researches.
For someone who has spent her career insisting that society must “rethink disability” because “it is not the problem,” racing alongside able-bodied athletes represented the purest form of inclusion she had long advocated for in lecture halls and academic conferences.
From Academic Theory to Athletic Practice
Professor Naami’s journey to this starting line began long before her months of dawn training sessions through Legon’s streets.
It started in the lecture halls of prestigious universities, the University of Ghana, University of Chicago, and University of Utah. Where she developed the theoretical framework that would later guide both her research and her athletic pursuits.
Her groundbreaking work on the “triple disadvantage of sexism, ableism, and poverty” that women with disabilities face had always been deeply personal, informed by her own experiences navigating society as a woman with a disability in academia.
But sitting in her racing wheelchair, surrounded by athletes who saw her simply as a competitor, she was about to transform years of academic discourse into something more immediate and powerful.
The decision to participate hadn’t come lightly. As someone who regularly leads campaigns involving over 200 University of Ghana students raising awareness about disability challenges, Professor Naami understood the symbolic weight her participation would carry.
Her students walk through communities with placards, engaging market vendors and taxi drivers in conversations about inclusion. Now, their professor would become a mobile advocate herself, demonstrating through athletic performance rather than academic argument.
Every wheel rotation through the upcoming 10 kilometers would serve as a moving testament to the “power in disability inclusion” that she had written about in countless papers and discussed in international conferences.
The question was whether she would be seen as Professor Naami the advocate making a political point, or simply as another athlete pursuing personal excellence.
The Scholar-Athlete Prepares
Training for the marathon had required Professor Naami to step outside the comfortable confines of university life and into the demanding world of endurance athletics.
Dawn became her companion as she rolled through Legon’s quiet streets, building not just physical endurance but a different kind of confidence than what she had developed through decades of academic achievement.
Those solitary morning training sessions provided time for reflection on the intersection of her professional advocacy and personal experience.
Every time she navigated a poorly maintained road surface or dealt with curious stares from early morning commuters, she was reminded of the daily obstacles that persons with disabilities face.
Obstacles that become invisible to society precisely because the disability community has learned to navigate them so efficiently.
Her academic work had always emphasized that disability challenges are primarily social rather than individual.
The barriers that persons with disabilities encounter from inaccessible buildings to low expectations to outright discrimination are created by society and can therefore be dismantled by society.
Each training session became a practical exploration of this theory, as she discovered which environmental factors enhanced or hindered her performance.
The biblical verse that had sustained her through graduate school challenges, through the process of establishing herself in a competitive academic field, and through years of research confronting difficult truths about social exclusion, would now carry her through 10 kilometers of Accra’s diverse and demanding streets.
Race Day: Where Advocacy Meets Asphalt
The morning of the ABSA Marathon dawned clear and promising, with Accra’s characteristic coastal breeze providing ideal conditions for athletic performance.
Standing at Independence Square, Professor Naami found herself surrounded by hundreds of fellow racers in an environment that embodied the inclusion she had long advocated for athletes of all abilities preparing together for the same challenge.
The iconic square, with its towering Independence Arch commemorating Ghana’s freedom from colonial rule, seemed an appropriately symbolic starting point.
Just as Ghana’s independence had required vision, persistence, and courage to believe that change was possible against seemingly insurmountable odds, Professor Naami’s academic work on disability rights followed a similar trajectory. The slow, steady work of changing minds and systems until what once seemed impossible becomes inevitable.
The atmosphere buzzed with nervous excitement and genuine camaraderie that transcended the typical boundaries between disabled and non-disabled athletes.
Volunteers moved efficiently through the crowd, checking registration numbers and offering encouragement that felt authentic rather than patronizing.
For someone who had spent years advocating against the tendency to either ignore persons with disabilities or treat them as objects of inspiration, being seen simply as an athlete represented the kind of normalized inclusion she worked toward in all her advocacy.
Observers noted the quiet confidence with which Professor Naami prepared for the race. Her equipment checks were thorough but efficient, her warm-up routine methodical, and her demeanor focused yet calm.
This was clearly someone who approached challenges whether academic, professional, or athletic with careful preparation and unwavering determination.
The Deceptive Promise of Independence Square
The race began with the kind of smooth perfection that characterizes ceremonial spaces. The pristine asphalt of Independence Square allowed Professor Naami’s wheels to find their rhythm immediately, and she settled into the sustainable pace that months of training had taught her to maintain.
Around her, the field began to spread naturally as athletes found their individual racing strategies.
But Professor Naami knew, both from her research and her training experience, that this initial ease would be temporary. Her academic work had taught her that accessibility is often superficial impressive in controlled environments like government squares, but inconsistent in the real-world spaces where people actually live and work.
As the race moved away from the manicured starting area into authentic urban Accra, she prepared mentally for the kinds of obstacles that would test not just her physical preparation but her philosophical commitment to perseverance.
The early spectators created a tunnel of encouragement, their cheers providing validation for her decision to step outside her academic comfort zone and into the public arena of athletic competition. For someone accustomed to university lecture halls and conference rooms, racing through the streets of Accra represented a dramatically different kind of public engagement.
When Theory Meets Rough Reality
The transformation from smooth asphalt to challenging terrain came abruptly at Labone Junction, where the road surface deteriorated into the rough, chipped conditions that characterize much of Accra’s expanding infrastructure.
What had been predictable contact between wheel and pavement became a constant negotiation with loose stones and uneven patches that threatened to disrupt both pace and concentration.
Professor Naami’s wheels caught and stuck repeatedly, each obstacle requiring immediate problem-solving and increased physical effort. For someone whose academic work focuses on identifying and analyzing barriers that persons with disabilities face in society, this section of the race became a visceral reminder of how seemingly minor environmental obstacles can accumulate into major impediments.
Observers noted the determination with which she approached each challenge. Rather than allowing frustration to dictate her response, she maintained the methodical problem-solving approach that had served her well in academic research.
Each time her wheels found purchase and she moved forward, it represented the same kind of persistent progress that characterizes her professional work—slow, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately effective.
The rough terrain of Labone Junction tested not just her physical preparation but her mental resilience. Other wheelchair racers around her were experiencing similar difficulties, creating a shared experience of challenge and determination that embodied the community spirit Professor Naami advocates for in her disability inclusion work.
The Community That Understands
As Professor Naami navigated the challenging section through Labone Junction, something remarkable occurred that validated years of her advocacy work.
Local residents emerged from their homes and businesses to line the route, offering exactly the kind of authentic support that her research suggests is possible when communities are given opportunities to engage with persons with disabilities in positive contexts.
Instead of the uncomfortable stares or excessive pity that persons with disabilities sometimes encounter in daily life, the spontaneous crowd offered genuine encouragement.
They clapped, called out support in both English and Twi, and treated Professor Naami exactly as they treated every other athlete passing by.
This organic community response embodied precisely what Professor Naami advocates for in her academic work a society where inclusion happens naturally, where differences are celebrated rather than pitied, and where every person’s efforts are recognized and valued.
Every cheer from the sidelines served as real-world validation of her research conclusions about Ghanaians’ readiness for genuine disability inclusion.
The natural, uncoached quality of this support demonstrated that the barriers to inclusion often exist more in institutional structures than in individual hearts.
Through the Heart of Urban Ghana
From Labone Junction toward Danquah Circle and the Police Headquarters, the course continued testing Professor Naami’s resilience while showcasing the vibrant complexity of Accra.
This section took the race through neighborhoods where daily life was in full swing market women beginning their day, commuters waiting for transport, and the general energy of a city awakening to possibilities and challenges.
The constantly varying road surface demanded continuous adaptation and focus, requiring the same kind of sustained concentration that characterizes Professor Naami’s academic work.
Smooth patches allowed for brief recovery and momentum-building, while rougher sections required careful navigation and increased physical effort.
Her racing technique evolved throughout this section, as she learned to read the road surface ahead and adjust her approach accordingly.
Racing through these authentic neighborhoods, past the sounds and energy of real urban life, Professor Naami was traveling through the actual communities where persons with disabilities live, work, and pursue their dreams daily.
Every meter completed served as a mobile demonstration that capability comes in many forms and deserves recognition in every context.
The mental aspect of this section proved as challenging as the physical demands. Maintaining concentration, staying positive when facing obstacles, and keeping sight of the larger goal despite immediate difficulties—these requirements mirrored the intellectual and emotional demands of her advocacy work, where progress often feels slow and barriers seem entrenched.
The Mountain That Tests Everything
The Ako-Adjei Interchange (the Sankara overpass) rose before the athletes like a concrete mountain, representing exactly the kind of architectural barrier that Professor Naami’s research identifies as a primary obstacle to full social participation.
Looking up from the bottom, the incline seemed to stretch endlessly upward, challenging every aspect of the physical and mental preparation she had invested in this moment.
For wheelchair athletes, every incline is magnified exponentially. What appears manageable to walking competitors becomes, for those who rely entirely on arm strength, a test that demands everything they have to offer.
As Professor Naami approached the base of the overpass, observers could see her heart rate and breathing change, not just from physical anticipation but from the certain knowledge that the next several minutes would determine whether months of training would culminate in triumph or teach her about the limits of determination.
The ascent began deceptively, allowing her to maintain something close to her established rhythm for the first few meters. But as the grade increased, so did the demand on her cardiovascular system and the muscles in her shoulders, arms, and core.
Her breathing shifted from controlled to labored, each push of the wheels moving her forward only slightly while the summit seemed to recede rather than approach.
Spectators watching from various points along the interchange could observe the internal battle taking place.
Professor Naami’s vision narrowed to focus entirely on the patch of road immediately ahead, her entire body entering that zone familiar to endurance athletes where the line between determination and desperation becomes beautifully, terrifyingly thin.
But those who knew her academic work recognized something familiar in her approach to this physical challenge.
The same methodical persistence that had carried her through doctoral studies, through the establishment of her academic career, and through years of advocacy work was now applied to this concrete mountain.
Each revolution of her wheels represented the same kind of incremental progress that characterizes meaningful social change, difficult, demanding, but ultimately achievable through sustained effort.
Reaching the top of that interchange represented more than athletic achievement. For someone whose life’s work focuses on identifying and overcoming barriers, conquering this literal obstacle served as powerful metaphor for the possibility of overcoming the social obstacles that her research addresses.
The Sweet Validation of Expertise
From the Ridge Roundabout through to Parliament House, the road finally became an ally rather than an adversary. The smooth, well-maintained surface allowed Professor Naami’s wheels to sing against the asphalt, and for the first time since leaving Independence Square, observers could see her relax slightly into the rhythm that months of training had developed.
This section of the course took the race past some of Ghana’s most significant landmarks, government buildings, cultural institutions, and architectural symbols of national achievement.
Racing past Parliament House, Professor Naami was traveling past the very institutions whose policies and practices her academic work seeks to influence.
The symbolic resonance was unmistakable: a scholar whose research advocates for disability inclusion moving powerfully past the seat of national governance.
The spectators along this stretch seemed to understand they were witnessing something significant. Their cheers carried a quality of genuine excitement and pride that transcended the usual pleasantries offered to passing athletes.
Children waved enthusiastically, adults called out encouragement with real emotion in their voices, and the energy suggested that Professor Naami’s journey was resonating with people who might never have considered the athletic capabilities of persons with disabilities.
The descent from the challenging interchange provided welcome opportunity for her heart rate to normalize and her arms to recover from the epic effort of the climb.
But more than physical recovery, this section offered psychological validation and proof that the most challenging obstacles could indeed be overcome through preparation, persistence, and faith.
Crossing Into Achievement
The final approach to the finish line carried all the emotional weight that months of preparation and hours of effort deserved.
The crowds were thicker here, the energy more intense, and the realization that Professor Naami was going to complete the race struck observers with the same surprise and satisfaction that was evident on her own face.
Eleventh place out of all the wheelchair racers who had taken on this inaugural course.
The number represented concrete measurement of capability in a society where persons with disabilities are too often assumed incapable, but those watching understood that the ranking was less important than the completion itself.
As Professor Naami crossed that finish line with what could only be described as an expression of pure fulfillment, spectators recognized they had witnessed something that transcended individual athletic achievement.
By competing alongside able-bodied athletes, being cheered by diverse communities, and demonstrating the athletic capabilities that exist within the disability community, she had provided a living argument for the inclusion she advocates in academic settings.
The Scholar’s Marathon Continues
Professor Naami embodied the successful integration of academic advocacy and personal demonstration. Those who knew her work understood that this race had been about far more than individual athletic achievement. It had been a 10-kilometer rolling advertisement for the potential that exists when barriers are removed and opportunities are genuinely created.
The rough roads of Labone Junction, the challenging incline of the Sankara interchange, and the community support along the route had all become data points in her ongoing research into what genuine inclusion looks like in practice.
For her students who regularly participate in disability awareness campaigns, Professor Naami’s marathon achievement provides a powerful example of advocacy through action.
While they walk through communities with placards and engage in conversations about disability rights, their professor has demonstrated that the most compelling arguments often require no words at all—just the courage to show up, prepare thoroughly, and persist through whatever challenges arise.
A Living Dissertation
The biblical verse that anchored Professor Naami’s preparation, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” had been transformed through this experience from philosophical comfort to practical truth.
Those who observed her journey from academic theory to athletic practice had witnessed the power of faith-driven determination, but also the validation of research-based optimism about human potential.
Professor Naami’s completion of the ABSA Marathon serves as her most compelling argument for disability inclusion not because it was documented in academic journals or presented at conferences, but because it was lived openly, publicly, and successfully on the streets of Ghana’s capital city.
Every wheel rotation through those 10 kilometers was a statement about capability, every challenge overcome was a refutation of low expectations, and every cheer from the sidelines was evidence that inclusion is not just theoretically possible but practically achievable.
As both established scholar and accomplished athlete, Professor Naami now carries forward a deeper integration of theory and practice that will undoubtedly inform her future work.
Her research on disability inclusion has been validated not just through academic peer review, but through the more demanding evaluation of personal experience successfully completed.
The race is over, but the marathon continues in her classroom, in her research, in her ongoing advocacy work, and in the example she has provided for both her students and her community.
Professor Augustina Naami has proven that the most powerful academic arguments are sometimes those that require no words at all, just the courage to transform theoretical possibility into practical achievement, one faithful push of the wheels at a time.
Professor Augustina Naami, Head of the Department of Social Work at the University of Ghana, completed the inaugural ABSA Marathon 10K wheelchair race, finishing 11th in the division.
Her participation represents the intersection of her groundbreaking academic research on disability inclusion and her personal commitment to demonstrating the capabilities of persons with disabilities in every sphere of Ghanaian society.
She regularly leads advocacy campaigns involving over 200 university students working to change societal perceptions about disability and promote genuine inclusion throughout Ghana.
