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Chesterfieldian To Compete in Walk, Run 'n Roll

Omer Rosenblith will represent Pathways to Independence in the annual race.

This week, Patch introduces you to Omer Rosenblith, a 26-year-old long-distance runner with high-functioning autism. Rosenblith will participate in Walk, Run 'n Roll in Creve Coeur Park. Proceeds from the event benefit St. Louis-area residents with cognitive and developmental disabilities.

When the starting gun fires at the beginning of the seventh annual Walk Run 'n Roll on May 7, the field of participants will be full of people with inspiring stories. One such story is Omer Rosenblith's.

Rosenblith has high-functioning autism, an informal term applied to people with less severe symptoms than others on the autistic spectrum. Usually, people with high-functioning autism have average or above average intelligence, but struggle with social relationships or experience a delay in motor skills.

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Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Rosenblith now resides in Chesterfield. Although Rosenblith is high-functioning, he still has symptoms of autism. When he was younger, those symptoms were more apparent. He didn't start talking till he was 5 years old. He was prone to tantrums and engaged in repetitive behavior, a common symptom of autism.

“With Omer, he was always running back and forth,” Betty Berger, Rosenblith's mother, said. “He's always been a runner.”

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Rosenblith has said that running back and forth helped him organize his brain. Eventually Rosenblith began running around the neighborhood for longer and longer distances, an activity he does daily.

“Jogging is more acceptable,” Berger said. “All the neighbors know him. He stops and talks to them.”

At , Rosenblith began running for the track team. That didn't come without some advocacy by Berger.

“The first year, the school said Omer wasn't right for the team, and I let it slide,” Berger said. “The second year I wanted some reasons, so we held a meeting. Omer is fascinated by baldness, and the coach was bald. At the first meeting the previous year, Omer had walked up to the coach and began rubbing his head. The coach didn't know Omer was autistic and misunderstood the gesture.”

The school let Rosenblith run with the track team and hired an assistant to watch out for him. The first challenge was getting Rosenblith to finish a race, something he had no concept of. He tended to stop in the middle whenever he started to feel runner's pains.

“When he completed his first race, he was so proud,” Berger said. “He hugged the coach.”

The next goal was to get Rosenblith to run faster. He explained that he ran for fun, not for competition. His father, Zohar Rosenblith, began standing at the top of the final stretch and yelling encouragements, telling Rosenblith that now was the time to go all out. Rosenblith's race times began improving.

The next step was to get Rosenblith on the cross country team, but Berger faced the same challenges she had faced with the track team. “They acted like I had some ulterior motive for wanting him to run,” Berger said. “Like I was going to win something if I got him on the team. But I was just fighting for him to learn life skills. I was fighting for inclusion.”

Today, Rosenblith is doing very well. He has worked as a busser at in Chesterfield Valley since 2005. He drives and pays bills. How does Rosenblith like his job? “It pays,” Rosenblith said. “I like my co-workers. There's a new cute girl.”

He continues to run but will only run competitive races if they are for charity. In 2010, Rosenblith competed in the Grand Island Trail 10K run next to Lake Superior, and won his age group (21 to 25 years old). During the race he ran up a long, steep hill backwards. When asked why, he said it firms the glutes. But the real explanation may lie elsewhere. “He was chatting up a girl,” Berger said.

Rosenblith doesn't feel any nervousness when he has a race to run. “It's just another jog,” Rosenblith said. “It keeps my legs and feet moving. But the scenery at Grand Island was beautiful. We even dipped in Lake Superior water after the race.”

Rosenblith said he is excited to run in this year's Walk Run 'n Roll. The race will benefit 10 local charities, including Pathways to Independence, which Rosenblith participates in. “We go on field trips and all kinds of things,” Rosenblith said. “I love the opportunity to run for Pathways.”

In Walk Run 'n Roll, contributors pledge money for each mile participants walk, run, or roll in a wheelchair, stroller, skates or wagons. In addition to the race, there will be live music, face painting, a bounce house, a resource and health fair, and more. The event is at 9 a.m. on May 7 at the Tremayne Shelter in .

When Rosenblith was asked if he had anything he wanted to add to the story, he had one addition: “Yes,” he said. “I'm looking for a girlfriend.”

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