What a difference a year can make.

Then again, Dave Convery has experienced a few differences in his lifetime.

The lone wheelchair entrant in the Butler Road Race for the second consecutive year, the 58-year-old Butler resident completed the 5-mile course in 36 minutes, 32 seconds Saturday.

Convery finished 49th overall in a field of approximately 200 runners. He finished near the back of the pack last year with a time of 59:40.

“I did last year’s race in just a regular wheelchair and it was grueling,” Convery recalled. “This time, I got a racing wheelchair. I went out and got it shortly after last year’s race.

“I knew I’d be back.”

Convery has been using a wheelchair for the past couple of years. He had been using a cane or a walker to get around for 30 years prior to that.

“What strength I had in my legs simply deteriorated over time,” Convery said.

He was struck by lightning while in the mountains of North Carolina in 1983 at age 25.

“We were at the top of a mountain and a storm just swept in,” Convery said. “I didn’t know what hit me.

“The bolt struck me in the top of the head and the current went down through my ankles. I wobbled and fell over. Smoke was coming out of the top of my head.”

When Convery was rushed to a hospital, friends who witnessed the strike called his wife, Mame. She was nine days away from delivering the couple’s daughter at the time.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Mrs. Convery said. “The doctors didn’t know what to expect.”

But after spending time in the burn unit at West Penn Hospital and a few months rehabbing in Harmarville, Convery went on with his life.

He worked as a machinist at A-K Steel before retiring in 2011. His daughter, Erin Stewart, grew up to be a runner and ran track and field for Butler.

And she convinced her father to do the Butler Road Race in a wheelchair.

“She pointed out to me that once I was in a wheelchair, it was the first time in years I was capable of speed,” Convery said. “She convinced me to use that.”

Stewart usually does the Butler Road Race herself, but missed this year’s event because of injury.

Convery hasn’t limited his road racing to Butler. He’s done roughly 12 events over the past year-plus, including the Cleveland Marathon. He will race in the Erie Marathon in September.

“I won’t be the only wheelchair on that course,” he said. “This (Butler) racer is the only one that I’ve been on the course by myself that way.

“I’d like to see a few more wheelchairs here with me next year.”

His wife hopes for the same.

“We would love that,” she said. “We’re hopeful that Dave has started something here. People can learn from him. If something bad or unfortunate happens to you in life, fight back.

“We’ve been married for 37 years. Nothing he does surprises me.”

Convery was given a five-minute head-start Saturday before the rest of the 5-mile field was released from the starting line. Doug Frost, a bicyclist, rode alongside him during the race as a safety precaution.

“Anybody who complains about a toothache or a hangnail needs to come out and watch Dave ride,” Frost said. “It’s impressive.

“All the man can do is use his hands on those wheels to generate speed. It was amazing watching him. He wants to get better at this. Believe me, he will.”