Wheelchair racer Michelle Stilwell is a great talker and a terrific advocate for herself and her sport.

Women's wheelchair division winner Michelle Stilwell

So it's no surprise that when the Nanoose Bay resident wound up on the "right seat" on a flight out of Ottawa a while back, she made it pay.

A conversation with a guy who works for Menkes, an Ontario-based real estate investment firm, led to an offer of support. The money went towards construction of a new lightweight, aerodynamic racing wheelchair that was built by Rob Mulder, a carbon composite sailboard builder from North Vancouver.

Tucked into that low-slung carbon-fibre chair on Sunday, Stilwell, a Paralympic gold medalist who races in the quad division, took more than two minutes off her previous best time in the 10K Vancouver Sun Run.

Told shortly after she crossed the finish line that her time was 33 minutes, 27 seconds, she was incredulous.

"Shut up! Really! Are you kidding!"

"My goal was under 35 minutes, so that's pretty amazing. Rob Mulder is my hero. He took two minutes off my time in this baby. Rob came up with the most beautiful design and it's working fabulously."

The guys at Menkes also deserve a big thank you, too, she said.

"They do a charity auction fund-raiser every year for kids with cancer, a poker night. The people who attend usually get a nice parting gift, but instead of putting up money for cuff links or wrist watches or whatever, it went for my chair."

"They're the only people in all my years of racing who've come forward and done that. I mean I've had some amazing people in town who help me out with equipment and parts at cost, change my tires, put air in my tires."

"But Menkes has been great to me. Rob and them. When I'm on that podium in 2011 (at the world championships for athletes with a disability) and 2012 Paralympics, it belongs to them, too."

Stilwell was one of just five wheelchair athletes to contest the Sun Run, one of the lowest turnouts in the last few years.

Simon Harrington, 44, of Courtenay, won the men's open division in 29:48, easily outdistancing Bob Hamilton of Vancouver (40:32) and Alvin Lee of Vancouver (48:18).

Harrington, who was third in 2006 and first in 2007, had missed the last two years because of injuries suffered while ski racing.

"Broken collarbone, torn rotator cuff on the other side. But it's great to be back. Felt good. Slower than I was the year I won in '07, but I'm getting older."

Harrington, President of the Wheelchair Race Series Society, said it was a little disappointing to see so few racers.

"But it's an unusual day, there's a lot of other stuff going on. There's a track meet over in Victoria and there was a Mother's Day Run in Calgary, which is part of our series, so athletes might be getting spread out a bit."

Stilwell raced in Victoria on Saturday, competing in the 100, 400 and 1,500-metre races.

"Yeah, I've been busy. I'm going to be sore tomorrow."

Not as sore as she might have been without the sleek new racing chair, however.

"It's the greatest thing. I'm just so comfortable. I'm not awkward in it. I can sit in it for a long time. With my old one, I was always adjusting."

Stilwell, who holds world records for her class at 100 and 200 metres, says her next goal is to break the world mark of 1:08.71 at 400 metres. Her best at that distance is 1:11.00.

"I definitely peak out at 200 metres just kind of die. But I'm heading to Switzerland at the end of June and that's a really fast track over there."

Stilwell was plenty fast on Mother's Day, though her husband and young son, Kai, were not in Vancouver to watch.

"They were in Victoria at the track meet Saturday and it's a lot of travelling. Hopefully there's a big dinner on the table when I get home."(The End)