Not Done Yet: Philly Resident Finishes Marathon After Knee Injury, Vision Loss

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Mike Zampella is not done yet. Not by half.

The Blue Bell resident took a long flight to the west coast last Friday to do something that frustratingly eluded him in 2018 after years of training — finish a marathon.

He crossed the finish line at the San Francisco Marathon on Sunday, completing a goal he's had for more than 10 years.

Zampella, who began to lose his vision in his early teens, was one of three runners on Degree Deodorant's Not Done Yet Marathon Team.

"I’m so excited to be partnered and connected with Degree. They pump up their disabled athletes and are on a mission to keep everyone moving," said Zampella, 47, who was brimming with enthusiasm Friday as he talked to Patch about the race.

Degree is working with Achilles International, a global organization that helps transform the lives of people with disabilities through athletic programs and social connection. The company said it is donating $50,000 to Achilles to help athletes with disabilities prepare for a race.

"This is part of the Degree’s larger mission to inspire the confidence in people to move beyond their limits – including self-doubt, which is a key reason that runners do not complete their marathons," the company said in a news release.

Degree also partnered with model and "The Bachelorette" alumnus Tyler Cameron, who served as "team trainer," and a host of professional athletes to amplify the cause.

Zampella is a Long Island native who now lives in Philadelphia, and is a member of the Achilles International running club there.

Zampella was eight when doctors told his parents he had a rare, degenerative eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa.

"My parents had to tell me, 'you're going to go blind and we have to prepare for it.' And I'm a happy kid, right?" he said. "My whole life got flipped upside down."

Zampella began losing his vision in his teen years, and eventually had to stop playing the sports he'd loved his entire life. He stayed involved in athletics into his adult life, working for a men's basketball team in college and becoming a physical education teacher in 1997.

Zampella could still see well enough to study textbooks and take notes, so he took night classes to become a teacher and later get an administration certification. He retired as an assistant principal of a public school in New York City in 2012, as his vision continued to deteriorate.

He stayed active as best he could, and took up running as a hobby. His first race was the Philadelphia Half Marathon, and he was training for a full one. But in 2018, Zampella crushed his knee after falling off a ladder, while cleaning up storm damage on Long Island.

A competitor by nature, he still tried to finish the race.

"Between mile 8 and 9, I couldn't move. My knee was just finished," Zampella remembered. "I was so disappointed, and then COVID came. I tried to get into other adaptive sports and it took a toll on my body so I really couldn't train right away."

But finishing a marathon was still on his mind. Zampella had been training for another one, and preparing to go to a triathlon training camp. Then, Achilles International began looking for athletes to be part of Degree's Not Done Yet team (and an ad campaign) earlier this year.

Zampella filled out the application, waited, and then learned he would begin a series of interviews to see if he was the right fit for a campaign giving runners a second chance at their first marathon. He certainly was.

Two other athletes were on the team with him: Sagirah Ahmed Norris of Houston, who lives with Multiple Sclerosis and could not finish her first marathon; and Ashley Zirkle of Seattle, who donated a kidney and was recovering from surgery when her marathon came around.

All three finished the race.

The three teammates talked during training, and Zampella said they helped motivate him when he struggled.

"It's amazing, right? It inspired me," he said. "When I’m going through rough times, in my head I think of them and I keep pushing."

He said he hopes kids who saw him running the marathon will realize they can overcome their obstacles, too.

"People think that because you've got a disability, you can't do things," he said. "That's not true."

His next big challenge will be that triathlon — and after that, the sky is the limit.

"I do things to keep me motivated and challenge me, that’s what helps me," Zampella said. "I'm going to see how hard I can do it and how far I can push it. The Paralympics are back in the States in 2028, Los Angeles, and they just opened a master's division for the triathlon in Paralympics. That'd be a great goal."