A spinal problem at birth makes it difficult for thirteen-year-old Casey Adams to walk. But, that didn't keep him from winning his division in this fall's St. Louis Marathon.

Last year, the eighth grader was the youngest entrant to finish in the wheelchair division of the 26.2 mile marathon. This year, he not only finished but won the division.

That victory and other athletic accomplishments earned Casey the 2001 Junior Athlete of the Year award by the Saint Louis Wheelchair Athletic Assn.

Concerning his physical problems, Casey said, "I figure it's part of life and I've got to deal with it. I'm going to live life as much as I can."

Casey attends Selvidge Middle School in the Rockwood School District. He's a regular on the school honor roll (with at least a 3.5 grade point average.) He also takes piano lessons and plays the viola in the school orchestra.

Besides participating in track, he also plays basketball and tennis. He also takes part in both snow and water skiing.

He helps coach youth sports teams his brother Dan plays on. "My brother doesn't listen to me but the other kids do," Casey said.

Casey started practicing sports when he was four. Then, he started competing in wheelchair races when he was six. He's a member of the Rolling Rams athletic teams.

His first races were short, from 60 to 400 meters. "When I got older, I started in longer races. At 9 or 10, I competed at 800 meters. Then, at 11, I did the 1,500 meters," he said.

His first marathon was last year. "I wanted to be the youngest to ever finish the St. Louis Marathon," he said. About that first race, he said, "The weather was terrible. It was raining, windy and cold. It was awful."

But, he did finish and got second in the wheelchair division.

This year, the weather was not only much better but so was his first place finish. He said his time of 2 hours, 45.42 minutes was the ninth best among all entrants.

His next goal is to qualify to compete in the Boston Marathon. He has five years in order to get his qualifying time down to the 2 hour, 15 minute standard.

After that, he has his eye on the 2012 Paralympics.

"The Paralympics are run right after the regular Olympic Games and in the same city," he said. "It looks like those games might be in America. I would like that."

His win in the St. Louis Marathon earned him $500. That goes into a savings fund to buy himself a new racing wheelchair. "They can be anything from $2,000 to $3,000. I think I've got about $1,200 saved," he said.

But, he's getting additional help from family and neighbors. "My school and my neighbors are saving aluminum cans to help raise money," he said. "Maybe we'll get the fund-raising done by this winter," he said.

Casey has three different wheelchairs. One is "big, tall and wide" for use in basketball. The other sports chair is for racing. It has an set of small wheels in the front that give the chair balance and allow him to make turns on the track.

He also has a chair for everyday activities, such as getting to and from school. "I push to school and around the halls. Then, I use canes to get around in the classroom," he said.

"I'm pretty independent. I do what I have to do. Nothing's going to stop me," he said.

He said he trained for about 3 1/2 months getting ready for the St. Louis Marathon. "I'd train about three times a week. I'd also lift weights," he said.

Concerning his road training, he said he would go from six to 15 miles at a time. "I'd push until I couldn't push anymore," he said.

However, he never tried to go the whole 26.2 miles in any training session. "I figured if I could do a half a marathon in training, I could do the other half at the time of the race," he said.

Casey said he's going to try out for the Marquette High School track team when he goes there in another year.

Concerning his future, Casey said he'd like to go into sports broadcasting in some capacity.

Casey is the son of Mike and Pat Adams of Ballwin. In addition to his brother, Dan, he has a younger sister, Kayla, 9.