Connie Hansen

Connie Hansen grew up in a small city in Denmark as an active kid who participated in a lot of different sports.  At age 13 Connie climbed a tree from which she fell and got a spinal cord injury. The accident did however not stop Connie from what she loved, which was sports.

After rehabilitation she saw the possibility to do Wheelchair racing, and in 1978 she went to Stoke Mandeville Games and participated in every annual event until 1993.  In 1979 she participated in a Danish 4 x 100 relay wheelchair race, and it concealed her destiny as an exceptional successful Wheelchair Racer. From 1980 to 1995, she participated in all Summer Paralympics and obtained 9 gold and 5 silver for Denmark.

She became a popular athlete and got several ranking lists in duration of 1988-94, including in 1992 “Female Athlete of the Year” by Danish National Olympic Organisations, “Athlete of the Year” by the Danish Sports Organisation for Disabled and “Athlete of the Year Runner Up” voted by the largest Danish newspaper. “Female Athlete of the Year” by Danish Television in 1988 as well the “Para Sport Price 2017″ from the danish Minister of Culture Affaires for developing and promoting RaceRunning to now be a part of the future Paralympic program.

Being an athlete herself has motivated Connie to give this kind of opportunity to others. She designed  the “Petra” a Frame Running bike to give anyone who is unable to walk or run by themselves be able to say ”I may not be able to walk, but I can run!  As the company has grown Connie has added different models and types of mobility devices to improve the Frame Running sport.

Sarah Reedman

PhD, BPhty (Hons)

Research Fellow

Dr Sarah Reedman is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre group within the UQ Child Health Research Centre. Sarah is passionate about enabling participation of young people with disabilities in sports and active recreation. She is interested demonstrating how paediatric physiotherapists, occupational therapists and exercise physiologists are well-placed to deliver effective physical activity promotion interventions in young people with disabilites. Sarah is also involved in the conduct of a large, multi-site randomised controlled trial of an intensive functional goal-directed motor training intervention in children with bilateral cerebral palsy (Hand Arm Bimanual Intensive Training Including Lower Extremity [HABIT-ILE]).

Sarah is experienced in the following research methods:

• Design, conduct and administration of randomised controlled trials (including multi-site trials)
• Cross-sectional and cohort studies
• Validation of rehabilitation outcome measures
• Objective measurement of physical activity behaviours, tri-axial accelerometry

Suzy Lock

Suzy is a physiotherapist who has worked for more than 25 years in hospital, community and private practice.

She loves working with children as she gets to play every day.

Motivated to help children with special needs join in physically active play, Suzy brings the sneaky therapy activities into the Frame Running setting: all disguised as fun.

Renee Jurgielan

Renee is the mum of one of the little Frame Runners, Ashton.  Renee was inspired to be involved in the creation of Frame Running Wollongong after seeing the joy on Ashton’s face when he trialled a Frame Runner.

Renee compliments the business side of Frame Running Wollongong with a business background, particularly in marketing and events. To drive the charity, Renee has taken on operational governance responsibilities, administration and funding whilst maintaining relationships with their corporate sponsors and supporting community partners.

Renee enjoys sharing about how kids with a disability can feel the freedom to run through social media.

Frame Running Wollongong

Suzy Lock, Physiotherapist and Renee Jurgielan, Mother

Suzy and Renee are two of the three founders of Frame Running Wollongong, a (not-for-profit) charity located on the NSW South Coast.

Having a drive for early intervention, Suzy, Renee and Sian saw the sport of Frame Running as a unique opportunity to have children with mobility challenges join a community group where they could have a sense of identity and socialise with friends to gain strength and stamina.

Frame Running Wollongong was born from an idea, a concept to full implementation following corporate and community fundraising, established in April 2021.