Michael Sayih has cerebral palsy, a brain disorder that affects his mobility and requires him to use a wheelchair, but his athletic resume exceeds that of most people.
On Sunday, Jan. 25, the 33-year-old was one of 20,000 runners from across the globe who took their place at the Life Time Miami Marathon’s start line, finishing the half-marathon in just over two hours.
Under his belt are also Ironman triathlons and paddleboarding crossings from the Bahamas to Florida.
The secret to this year’s marathon success? “Power buddy”, Claire Holt pushing him every step of the way. “
All I keep hearing in my head over and over since the race is (Michael) laughing … (our team) laughing and singing and cheering, and everyone supporting and giving high-fives and clearing the way,” said the 37-year-old Australian actress. “And I still have goosebumps thinking about what that experience was like.”
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Holt and Sayih were one of 15 “duo teams” that ran the marathon with Special Compass, the Pembroke Pines nonprofit that’s in its 10th year of pairing volunteer athletes with those of limited abilities to enhance “their confidence, self-esteem, and purpose.”
Since 2015, founders Sayih and his father, Jim, have used Special Compass to transform sectors such as education, housing, and sports into inclusive spaces.
Their goal is simple: Help those with disabilities live out experiences otherwise inaccessible to them.
“The adrenaline of the excitement of crossing the finish line, being surrounded by people that are moving, running, walking … that excitement is worlds apart from sitting at home all day,” Jim Sayih said.
‘When we realized we had something’
For Jim Sayih, the nonprofit’s acting executive director, Special Compass’ mission dates back 33 years, to the moment Michael was born.
A veteran Air Force sergeant, retired Miami police lieutenant, and former gym owner, Jim Sayih raised the young Sayih and his siblings with an appetite for adventure without limits.
“He did his first race at the age of 5, and that’s when we realized we had something,” he told the Pembroke Pines News.
The nonprofit started with Sayih informally recruiting his police friends to push those in wheelchairs at local weekend races, but has since flourished into a multi-program organization with dozens of sponsors, collaborations with local leaders, and hundreds of beneficiaries.
Over 400 “buddies,” beneficiaries, and those pushed in race chairs, have been helped by Small Compass’ resources. The organization’s team has also expanded to roughly 300 volunteers — including the “power buddies” who push racers — and a 13-member board of directors.
Among the nonprofit’s sponsors and partners are the Miami Dolphins, Florida Panthers, and disabilities charity giant Best Buddies.
All team members — including board members and the Sayih father and son — give their time and effort without pay, Jim Sayih emphasized, so that all proceeds go toward operations and programs.
Off the track, Small Compass offers scholarship opportunities, medical and adaptive sports equipment, and is working on an affordable housing program where those with disabilities can “live in a barrier-free environment” and work toward independence.
“Being out in the community, making friends, interacting, and engaging brought so much fulfillment for (the buddies) that we started to reach out to other nonprofits to collaborate and see how we can all work together and recruit volunteers who had a genuine love for our population,” Jim Sayih said.
“It just started to grow on its own.”
Power buddy preparations
So, what does it take to become a “power buddy?”
Volunteer Ricky Arriola — a power buddy since 2020 and Special Compass sponsor through his company, Inktel — explains that while it’s more involved than your typical marathon training, anyone can and should.
Aside from staying in shape to finish the course, power buddies must factor in the added weight and needs of those they’re pushing. That can include bathroom and hydration breaks, accounting for how weather might affect equipment or dress, and ensuring riders are comfortably positioned while racing.
But the payoff, Arriola adds, is well worth the challenge.
“You also get to experience the race through somebody else’s eyes. That’s always fun. You get to make a new friend,” he told the Pembroke Pines News. “I really enjoy doing it, selfishly, because I get to meet some extraordinary people that I probably otherwise wouldn’t.”
His previous racing buddy, Jasmine Sanchez, agrees. “I think that Jim and Michael did a wonderful thing making Special Compass,” she told the Pembroke Pines News. “You’ll make friends that last a lifetime.”
For Special Compass’s more physically demanding events — such as the Key Largo Triathlon or Dolphin Cancer Challenge 50-mile bike ride — clinics are available to guide power buddies through the race’s specific demands.
To prepare for her first races as a pusher, Holt received tips from veteran volunteer Max Fink, a Miami real estate executive and Michael Sayih’s usual buddy, and made her own unique training regimen.
“I was practicing with my kids, trying to load them up in the running stroller,” she said. “It was not a smooth ride for (Michael), but he was so incredible and amazing. … It was my favorite race I’ve ever experienced.”
Affordable housing, world records up next
This year, Special Compass plans to keep championing “duos” at South Florida races, lining up a first-time collaboration with Best Buddies for the Dolphins Cancer Challenge on Feb. 28 and its annual charity golf tournament on May 30 at the Davie Golf Club.
But the nonprofit has also got its sights on loftier feats.
The search for funding sources to kickstart a subsidized apartment complex for those with disabilities is underway, with the land — three acres located near University Drive and Pines Boulevard — donated by the City of Pembroke Pines last year.
“It’s already hard enough for the general population to afford housing,” Jim Sayih said. “It’s 10 times more challenging for people who are differently abled to have housing.”
Also in the nonprofit’s future is a world record.
In November, Michael Sayih and Fink will compete in The Great World Race — a multi-event challenge where runners attempt seven marathons on seven continents in seven consecutive days — in hopes of becoming the first duo team to do so.
Sound hard? Both were awarded a Guinness World Record for being the youngest duo team to complete all six World Marathon Majors in March 2025.
Together, they hope to achieve the unimaginable.
Originally Published at: Pembroke Pines News