It was raining last weekend when Graham Lewis crossed the finish line of Adelaide’s 2025 City to Bay.
He told Link he was pleased to finish despite the rain, and to see the team around him: the team from Enable Fitness Centre.
“Both staff and clients did it and it was just nice to be a part of that, albeit that we did it at our own pace,” he said. “[It’s] just that sense of being in it together, having accomplished it in our own way, at our own pace.”
Enable Fitness is a network of gyms in Adelaide designed exclusively for people with disability to allow them to train and develop strength and fitness in a supportive, accessible facility.
CEO and co-founder Zoe Darling told Link the gym’s mission is “to support South Australians living with a disability to improve their health and wellbeing through high quality, holistic and innovative allied health services, while also building a genuine, supportive community where everyone feels safe and included”.
Lewis said that was evident in the City to Bay team – and being part of the Enable entry was a big motivator for him to complete the race this year.
“You just feel like you are part of something bigger. I’m just one insignificant story of many others of people who have got to do things and live and have quality of life because of Enable.”
Lewis lives with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following a stem-cell transplant a decade ago to treat blood cancer. The condition left him with a disability, and he now uses a wheelchair. Training at Enable, especially on the Alinker walking bike, helped him in the lead up to the big day.
“My focus… is really around building mobility, building strength,” he said.
Completing the race, for him, shows what’s possible. But he admits it would have been “unthinkable” without a walking bike like the one he’s been training on at Enable.
He credits Enable with helping him regain his body strength since acquiring his disability. But the gym also provides a social outlet, hosting a community of people with a variety of disabilities, all there to achieve their own goals.
“I don’t think any one of us feels like we are disabled [in there],” Lewis said.
He also credits his family with motivating him to be “the best I possibly could”.
“I don’t want to see myself as any sort of wonderful role mode. That’s just a personal thing. You can sit around and feel sorry and complain… or you can… make the most of what [you’ve] got. So that’s my primary driver,” he said.
Now that the City of Bay is out of the way, Lewis said he’ll focus on his other goals, like maximising his mobility and strength.