The sun beats down on the rough, rigid rubber track of Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala.
Though school is in session, no students are on the track today. The clear skies can only identify one runner, a student of the game. He trots back and forth, mentally preparing himself for the sprint of his life. He sets his stance, gathers his balance and explodes off the line.
Regas Woods leaves all his imagined competitors in the shadows, shouting as he reaches top speed. It takes almost everything out of Woods to sprint like that just once. But he does it again. And again. And again.
“Long as I’m breathing," he says, "we working.”
As he lies on his back in the shadows on the hot track after a rigorous day of training, Woods closes his eyes and rests. The 39-year-old can see his future this summer in Tokyo, representing the United States again as a Paralympian. He can see his 13-year-old son, LJ, watching and cheering him on.
As his body begins to cool, Woods gathers himself, sits up from the floor and takes off his legs. Another day of training is complete.
Woods is not your average athlete. The Dunnellon native was born with a congenital anomaly that didn’t allow his tibia and fibula to properly develop. His mother, Deborah, was given the option to either amputate both his legs at age two or six, and she opted for the earlier age so he wouldn’t know anything else.
“A lot of people don't do things because they don't know that they can do it, they think it’s impossible,” the U.S. Paralympian said. “But being an amputee, it's a fight every day. I get dressed twice every day.”
The everyday struggles that come with being an above-the-knee bilateral amputee were challenging to Regas growing up. He avoided crowds so as to not be picked on. He would shy away from attention because he felt all eyes were staring below his waist rather than at him.
“The worst feeling for a human being, especially a child, is to not be accepted by their peers,” Woods said. “So it was one of those things where — now, we have the term bullying — I experienced bullying before it was bullying.”
You’d never know it from the way the 5-foot-10-inch Paralympian carries himself. His infectious smile is often overshadowed by his bubbly personality. One second, Woods locks in at the line. The next, he laughs with a stranger.
He hasn’t allowed a lack of legs to stop him from doing what he desires. Woods used to do stunts on ATVs, can play four instruments with a good set of pipes and is a World Champion Paralympic athlete. When he first attempted to race in track and field, he was told it’d be impossible for him to run. No sanctioned race had ever been held with above-the-knee bilateral amputees, other than in wheelchairs. He laughed.
“For so many years of hearing, you can't do this, you can't do that, you can't run, you can't jump, can't drive a car, you can't play this, you're not gonna be able to walk, you're not gonna be able to do this,” Woods said. “And to be able to say, ‘You know what, I can. I don't care what you say. I can do it.’”
This attitude has always driven Woods, but it's been especially apparent the past two years. In 2018, the International Paralympic Committee implemented a new formula to better measure double-amputees Measurable Assessment of Standing Height (MASH). Unfortunately for Woods, his long wingspan and small trunk didn’t mesh well with the novel formula. Despite racing at close to 5-foot-10-inches his whole professional career, including the 2016 Games in Rio, Woods was shortened down to 5-foot-4.
“I've always been a fighter. I've always overcome adversity. And you're just not going to get rid of Regas Woods like that,” Woods said. “What I'm going to do is I'm going to beat this formula. And the way I'm going to beat this formula is I'm going to get bigger, better, faster, stronger, and I'm going to be the fastest 5-foot-4 joker on the planet.”
Overcoming adversity isn’t new to Woods. He believes this curveball thrown at him is just another step to overcome. His ‘Never Say Never’ mantra he’s carried with him his whole life isn’t just another phrase he likes to repeat. Woods wants to prove to those out there that making excuses isn’t acceptable.
In 2010, Woods and his friend Nick Stillwell, another double-leg amputee, created the Never Say Never Foundation, a non-profit which reassures kids there’s life after amputation. The foundation teaches kids and young adults to overcome adversity with a positive attitude, encouraging them to try a multitude of sports, like track and field, and even some extreme sports like ATVs. Because insurance doesn’t deem prosthetics such as running blades as “essential,” it doesn’t cover the costs, which sometimes run into the thousands of dollars.
In the 10 years since its creation, Woods and Stillwell have given over 100 prosthetics to children in need.
“We're just about helping,” Woods said. “We want to be those guys that step in and say, ‘Hey, you can do it. Never say never.’”
Nearing his 40th birthday, Woods will be one of the older competitors attempting to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics come this summer. He loves it, though. The “old man on the track” still has a lot left to give to the sport, according to him.
“Long as I’m breathing," he says, "we working.”
With his training session complete, Woods looks to the sky in his restful stance. As clouds begin to move in to cover the shining sun, he stands up, begins to walk and leaves the empty track behind him.
Another day completed, but the work isn’t finished. It’s just started.