In 1992, Amy Winters ran the Boston Marathon in a personal-best 3 hours, 16 minutes.

Last month, Winters ran the Cleveland Marathon in 3:26.19 and placed 20th overall among 3,399 female finishers.

The biggest difference between these bookend races was not a gap of 14 years or roughly 10 minutes in race time. The stark contrast: Winters raced in Boston as an able-bodied entrant, in Cleveland as a below-knee amputee.

"I was just hoping to finish [in Cleveland]; it was my first as an amputee," said Winters, 33, a welder who lives in Meadville, Crawford County.

Winters grew up playing softball, running track, swimming, racing bikes: "When I was 8 years old, my dad took me to a track meet and from there I wanted to run."

She was an athlete at Meadville High School and ran track and cross country for a year at Youngstown State before transferring to Edinboro University.

In 1994, Winters was riding a motorcycle when a woman driving a car pulled out in front of her. The accident resulted in a crushed left foot for Winters, who endured 25 surgeries over the next three years.

"It just kept getting worse," she said.

"I was told in 1994 I wouldn't run again. That lit a spark in me. I got a second chance in life with this special prosthesis."

Winters had a walking prosthesis until three months ago, which she wore to compete in a triathlon. Although she did remarkably well with it, it is not built with the balance of a true running prosthesis.

Her running prosthesis -- made from carbon graphite -- is much lighter and more aerodynamic than a walking version. It has properties that store and return energy and mimic a running gait, although it does not resemble the cosmetics of human anatomy. Her leg fits into the sleeve-like inner socket of the prosthetic and is held in place mostly by suction.

Phil Kreuter is a physical therapist who acts as a consultant for A Step Ahead Prosthetics, a Hicksville, N.Y., company that specializes in the treatment of younger, athletic amputee athletes.

"Amy is coming in to work on a cycling prosthetic," he said. "It's a very different alignment [than for running]; the foot clips right onto the bike [pedal]."

A Step Ahead owner Erik Schaffer surprised Winters with more than a new leg; he surprised her with a triathlon bike as well. Winters competes for Team A Step Ahead, whose motto is "Live life without limitations."

"I don't really like being in the limelight, I'd rather be in the background. But, if I can help one person realize there's a goal they can accomplish, it's all worth it," Winters said.

Winters has some big goals. Her time in Cleveland was a world record for female amputees, but she said that's just a start. She is going to compete in the Med Express triathlon in Morgantown, W.Va., June 25, an event featuring a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike race and 13.1-mile run. While there, she plans to visit a camp for children with disabilities.

Other events on her schedule include the July 16 New York City triathlon and the world triathlon championships in Switzerland. She also is trying to line up sponsorships. Power Bar has signed on, and she is applying for a grant from the Challenged Athletes Foundation of Del Mar, Calif.

Winters does much of her training at lunchtime and right after work at Leech Carbide Incorporated, taking her cues from A Step Ahead's Dave Balsley, who has coached amputee athletes for more than 20 years. She considers swimming her weak link -- "I'm a bad swimmer" -- and is grateful to Allegheny College swim coach Tom Erdos for use of the Gators' pool.

The logistics of competing in a triathlon are crazy, compared to running a road race. There is little use for a prosthetic leg in swimming, so, when Winters emerges from the water, she hurries over to the transition area, where her new cycling leg is waiting with the bike equipment.

At the end of the biking portion, she needs to change to the running leg. All this, in the heat of competition and while trying to gulp down nutrients.

"I need to figure everything out by the next race," she said.