Double amputee jogs with Bush.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

WASHINGTON - President Bush has a new running mate.

Making good on a six-month-old pledge, the president on Tuesday joined Staff Sgt. Christian Bagge, a double-amputee soldier from Eugene, for a half-mile jog around a spongy track that circles the White House's South Lawn.

Bush claimed that Bagge, 24, ran him into the ground. But Bagge later dared to contradict the president.

"That's a fallacy," he said in a telephone interview. "I was the only one sweating."

Two years ago, Bagge was playing in a Christian rock band and holding down jobs at two Hiron's drug stores and a Safeway in south Eugene. He decided to enlist in the Army, and was nearly killed when roadside bombs struck his convoy last June in the remote Iraq desert south of Kirkuk.

His left leg was amputated just above the ankle, his right leg just above the knee.

He was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, which is where he and the president first met on New Year's Day. Almost immediately, Bagge told the president he would like to join him for a jog.

"Mr. Bush went on a jog awhile back with a single amputee, but Christian reminded him that he had never been on a run with a double amputee," Bagge's wife, Melissa, later recounted on the family's Web site. "Mr. Bush said he doesn't run much because of his knees these days, but he said for Christian, he'd make an exception."

The president on Tuesday admitted that, during their meeting in January, he wasn't sure Bagge would ever get out of bed again, much less go for a run.

"I looked at him, like, you know, there's an optimistic person," the president said. "But I could tell in his eyes that he meant it. There was no doubt in his mind that he would."

Bagge trained for months, running on a special set of prosthetic legs designed for jogging. The legs, resembling lightweight sickles, are designed to propel an amputee forward - which is why several of the photos taken Tuesday show him leaning up against his jogging partner.

"To stand, I had to put my arm around the president," he said. "I was constantly moving."

The long-awaited run was almost scrubbed because of a downpour. But by the time Bagge had changed into his special legs, the weather had improved to a slight drizzle.

Midway through their run, the two stopped to speak with reporters and gripped hands in an emotional, lengthy shake. "I'm proud of you," Bush told Bagge. "I'm proud of your strength, proud of your character."

Bagge said he was especially pleased that his mother, Pam Bagge of The Dalles, was able to attend. He said he hoped his run with the president might prove inspirational to wounded soldiers or others with disabilities, as a way of showing that "if there's something you want to do, it's an attainable goal."

Bagge said the best part of the day was spending time with the president in the Oval Office "and getting to know his candid side."

"We didn't talk about anything political," Bagge said, "but I did give him some encouragement, told him to keep up the good work. He's a regular guy doing public service. He's facing a very difficult situation, facing people who are put into combat, and that weighs heavily on his heart.

"He believes in what he's doing, and I believe in what he's doing."

Tuesday's run was the latest adventure in what's been a busy year for Bagge and his wife. They returned to Oregon in March for a big-splash wedding, even though they were legally married in a small ceremony the previous year.

Melissa Bagge has landed a job at Brooke Army Medical Center, and the couple is thinking of buying a home in San Antonio so that Christian can remain close to the center's prosthesis experts. He is also toying with going back to college, perhaps to study political science.

Just last month, he spent a week with other amputees on a whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon.

"I'm livin' the dream," Bagge said Tuesday, embracing what's become his trademark phrase. "And you can quote me on that."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

Eugene's Christian Bagge, 24, who lost both legs in Iraq, jogs on the South Lawn of the White House with President Bush.