lives to run with his wife, Lynn.

And despite a car wreck that left her disabled, and nearly took her life, the couple has survived to push each other

further than ever.

In May 1987, five months before their planned wedding, Lynn and her brother were on their way to pick up Jamie for a White Sox game at Comiskey Park. En route, their car was broadsided on the passenger side, where Lynn was sitting.

She suffered a fractured pelvis, severe head injuries, a broken collar
bone and clavicle, and broken ribs. Lynn was comatose for 17 days, after which she remained unresponsive for seven months.

But as Lynn's health improved, she said she wanted to wait to marry Jamie until she could walk down the aisle on her father's arm.

In 1994, seven years after the accident with her father on one side and her brother on the other, Lynn walked down the aisle and became Mrs. Jamie Parks.

Now, a decade later, she is still unable to walk without help, and must use a wheelchair for mobility. It is a big change from the days when Lynn would run side by side with Jamie, who trains daily as a competitive runner.

"I had been racing and competing in races since 1982 but, after the accident, Lynn could only be a spectator on the sidelines until six years ago when we decided to race together," Jamie said. After the accident she had to rely on someone to take her and wait with her at the end of the race until Jamie reached the finish line.

"I didn't want our parents to get up so early in the morning to be with me at the race," Lynn said.

Now Jamie, 35, and Lynn, 34, are partners in local races.

"Now, we're together. I push Lynn in her wheelchair, which is standard except it has two water bottles added for me to use during a race," Jamie said.

After walking his postal route, he returns home, gets Lynn ready in her wheelchair and they go for their daily two- to six-mile run before he fixes dinner.

"Now she's my coach and encourages me to pace myself. When I don't feel good and I'm slowing down, she tells me I'm hitting the wall, which means I'm slowing down," Jamie said.

The couple has been in 26 races, but has never seen another runner pushing someone in a wheelchair.

"I always call first to make sure it's OK for us to enter," Jamie said. Their next race is 2.5 miles in Orland Square on May 18.

"Last year we finished third. Actually we were first in our age group," he said.

And as the two continue to run, both feel that they have a third partner next to them who continues to make it happen.

"I admit there were questions about my faith at first, but not for long. We are both religious, attend church regularly, and twice a month we attend Bible classes together," he said.

"I feel there was divine intervention because her life was saved, and subsequently, our faith in God is even stronger."