His training is worth the weight at Gold's

BRAINTREE -- John McClay is a fixture at Gold's Gym: He is there at least four times a week, his trophies are on display in the gym's lobby, and his photograph hangs on the wall. The faded photo shows him standing onstage, smiling broadly and flexing his muscles at the 1982 Mr. America contest.

McClay, who hails from ``Bingtown" (that's local speak for Abington), will compete in the USA Wheelchair Bodybuilding Championship in Derry, N.H., Oct. 7. It will be the first such competition to be held in New England, says Dave Follansbee, chairman of the National Physique Committee's New England district. McClay will compete against men ages 35 and older in the masters division.

Three years after that photo was taken, McClay, then 27, was critically injured in a hit-and-run accident. He was in a coma for months, and he has used a wheelchair ever since. But, with painful devotion, he refuses to give up the sport he loves.

``I play to win," he said, flashing a smile and giving a quick wink.

After work (as a field auditor in Brockton), McClay drives his dark gray Honda Element to Gold's Gym in Braintree. He wheels himself into the lobby, and then takes an elevator to the lower level of the gym, a spacious area lined with mirrors and filled with weights and exercise equipment.

The elevator was installed especially for McClay, according to Andy DeMore, the owner of Gold's Gym. Before that, McClay still managed to get around, and staffers and friends would help carry him down the stairs.

DeMore said McClay is a popular guy in the weight room. ``He's here almost every day," said DeMore. ``He's persevered through so much adversity. He's tough."

McClay is a veteran bodybuilder who knows his way around the gym. Occasionally he asks someone to move a bench or two so his wheelchair has enough room to pass by. He jokes with his fellow gym members, and sometimes gives them advice and tips on weight lifting.

McClay uses a walker to lift himself out of his wheelchair and sit on the weight bench. Then he straps a belt around his waist to prevent his lower body from sliding while he lifts dumbbells.

Although it's been 20 years since his accident, McClay is still adjusting to life in a wheelchair.

``People look at you differently," he said. ``Some people treat you like a dope. It's very frustrating."

The accident that changed his life happened in February 1985. At the time, McClay, a Boston College graduate, was a newlywed living in Weymouth. On the evening of Feb. 22, after working out at a gym in Rockland, he went for a jog along nearby VFW Drive. McClay never saw the dark blue Oldsmobile that hit him. The car drove off and left him on the ground, bleeding heavily. His stomach was ripped open, part of his leg was torn off, and he'd spend the next three months in a coma.
He spent almost three years in rehab, trying to regain use of his limbs and learn how to get around with a walker. His muscular, 240-pound frame had shrunk to 130 pounds. ``Crash diet," he says jokingly.

He started doing push-ups and wrist curls with 5-pound weights, slowly rebuilding his strength.

In a 1989 interview with the Globe, McClay talked about how he was trying to get past the accident: ``I hate it. But I hate thinking about it, because you get depressed. I like to look beyond the accident. If I wanted to, I could cry all day. But I have to look beyond the problem and look to the future and see what else can happen. I just plan to do more each day and get more things done."

McClay went back to school and got his master's degree in business administration from Suffolk University in 1990. He eventually returned to bodybuilding -- this time, competing in the wheelchair division. In 1995 he won the International Wheelchair Bodybuilding Tournament, sponsored by the National Physique Committee, in Palm Beach, Fla., and he's been competing ever since.

This past spring, he placed second in the masters division at an NPC wheelchair bodybuilding event in Florida.

McClay won't have to travel far to compete in the next event.

The 2006 USA Wheelchair Bodybuilding Championship was originally scheduled to be held in New Orleans. It was canceled because of damage from Hurricane Katrina. When Follansbee learned that it had not been rescheduled, he offered to host the event in New Hampshire.

Follansbee expects to have a couple of dozen competitors in the event. The turnout is small compared to other bodybuilding competitions, which typically attract 400 competitors, said Follansbee.

``Wheelchair bodybuilding has been going on at the national level since the early '90s," he said. ``Some people have no idea it happens."

The athletes are divided into six categories: women's, novice, masters, and men's open, which has three different weight classes.

``They overcome a lot of things to better themselves athletically. It's a great inspiration for us all," said Follansbee. ``It makes us all ask ourselves what your excuse is for not being in the best possible shape, when these people have overcome all of the challenges they've had to overcome."