The air is frigid and nippy. The buildings lined up on each side of North Fourth Street have created a wind tunnel that peppers the starting line with constant harsh gusts of wind. It’s cold enough for you to see your own breath. The State Capitol building acts as a marvelous backdrop, towering behind the starting line.

It’s the second day of the 14th annual Louisiana Marathon weekend in Baton Rouge.

But through the dark, gray, wintry morning and the January blues, one color stands alone: pink.

There’s just something about that pink. It’s almost like its pure vibrancy was perfectly crafted to stand out to the human eye.

A pickup truck towing a trailer parks a few blocks from the starting line. A crew unloads 15 elaborate pink running chariots and straps the athletes into them.  As the clock creeps closer to 6:58 a.m., the riders and their respective runners make their way to the starting line, with their pink shirts, sweatshirts and hats uniting them as one collective unit: Ainsley’s Angels.

But who exactly is Ainsley?

She was born in 2003 and is the second of three children of Kim, ‘Rooster,’ and Lori Rossiter.

At only four years of age, Ainsley was diagnosed with Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy. This extremely rare disorder causes toxic substances to build up in the nerves, eventually leading to a complete loss of muscle function throughout the body.

In 2008, Ainsley’s physical therapist informed the Rossiters about Team Hoyt, an organization starting up an ambassadorship locally at Virginia Beach. Rooster, a former Marine, saw it as an opportunity for him to numb his daughter’s grueling pain.

“So he decided one time to take Ainsley,” her cousin Tad McDaniel said.

Once they reached the shoreline, Rooster strapped his daughter into a running chair, and off they went. As they rode through the wet sand, Rooster leaned over to check in on his daughter and was met with a pleasant surprise.

“She hasn’t smiled for the past two to three days, never smiled,” McDaniel said.

But Ainsley finally smiled, and it was infectious, therapeutic, even. Rooster knew he had found something he needed to share with others.

Little did Rooster know that his daughter’s smile would change his life forever. In the living room of his sister’s house in Lake Charles, LA, Rooster founded the first Ainsley’s Angels ambassadorship in 2011. He partnered with Team Hoyt to supply the running chariots and other equipment, a partnership that lasts to this day.

Ainsley passed away only two months after she turned 12 in Feb. of 2016, but her legend lives on through Ainsley’s Angels.

Since its inception in 2011, Ainsley’s Angels has grown from Lake Charles to over 35 states, with 62 locations covering over 100 cities. Over 35,000 differently abled runners have competed in races, marathons and community gatherings with Ainsley’s Angels.

“It’s more than just a cold morning on a race course. It is absolutely family,” Couvillion said. “These people, these folks, they travel together, they find support in each other. Everything they do, they do together as a family.”

That word kept coming up: family.

“Once you’re part of the family, it never goes away,” Couvillion said.

Couvillion and Daniel Manchester refer to themselves as Team Pack-a-Lunch, a name they got because they prefer to run slower, allowing them to extend the runner’s experience for as long as possible. At Ainsley’s Angels, it’s not about running fast and finishing first but about rolling with the wind and running together as a family.

The inclusive family is the secret ingredient that sets this organization apart from the rest of the pack, along with that eye-grabbing pink. It’s how members of this family recognize each other at races across the country. When they see a fellow bearer of the pink, that’s their family.

“This is like another family to me,” Lisa Rodgers said. “I just love the way everybody’s accepted, the inclusion, the hugs, the laughs, the smiles.”

For riders from all different walks of life, Ainsley’s Angels offers an escape from society’s confinements.

“I think it’s a chance for them just to be a part of the broader community,” Rodgers said. “[They] have that chance to do something they won’t normally be able to do otherwise.”

At the end of every race, for those who are able, the runner helps remove their rider from the chariot, allowing them to cross the finish line themselves. It’s a touching moment and the highlight of nearly every athlete’s race day.

“These riders would otherwise be stuck on the sidelines, and this allows them to be a part of normalcy,” Amber Geiser said. “It gives them something to look forward to.”

At Ainsley’s Angels, these riders aren’t viewed as disabled. They’re seen as regular people capable of anything once they are sat in their chariot.