I decided I wanted to run the London Marathon for VICTA after the son of a good friend was born with Septo-Optic Dysplasia. Fortunately, he has been very lucky and his condition has improved greatly but, for many children, fate is not always so kind. This is why I knew I had to help.
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London Marathon 2010London Marathon 2010 A big thank you to all the VICTA runners who ran for us in the London Marathon…
One our our marathon runners, Sean Murphy recently decided to see what it would be like to run a race as a blind person. He's written a short piece about his expereince for us which you can read here:
They say that before you can really understand someone, you need to walk a mile in their shoes. This was my aim, to appreciate what it’s like to be visually impaired, when I decided to take on a Good Friday challenge. I really wanted to understand what life is like for someone less fortunate than myself - and raise some much needed funds in the process. My challenge was to run the 10km run, which is the curtain-raiser for the Guernsey Easter runs festival, without sight, in an attempt to understand the true significance of a charity like VICTA.
With the marathon only a few weeks away, one of my main concerns was not tripping or twisting an ankle. That worry helped me to focus on the sort of basic concerns that many visually impaired people face all day - every day.
To be able to complete this challenge, I’d obviously need someone to guide me round, but not just anyone; someone I could completely trust and also be sufficiently aware to consider where I was running as well their own physical state. It showed me just how much I take the independence I have for granted.
When we were about to start, fastened at the wrist in a chilly drizzle, I put a blindfold on and about five seconds later we were called up to the start. I began to feel scared and alone. All of a sudden, even though I knew exactly where I was, I didn’t; without the familiar visual references.
As we started moving, I suddenly became aware of my other senses. Something touched my arm - was I running into someone? Footsteps close by - how big is the crowd are we running in? Then something really put me on edge; a car driving past, probably a very safe distance away, but without seeing it, it felt and sounded close enough to be a real threat.
After all the training for the marathon, I’d become accustomed to having a reasonable idea how long and far I’d run, but this also became irrelevant. I seemed to lose all sense of time, distance and direction. I was warned of a corner but then could not actually feel myself turning. I was amazed at just how much my judgment was affected by my lack of sight.
Two other thoughts occurred to me during the race. As challenging as it was, I still had the advantage of knowing the course and what certain corners were like when I was told I was there. Someone who had never seen where they are going would not have had the benefit of memory as I did, proving how much more visually impaired people actually achieve. The other thought was for visually impaired marathon runners. I thought about what I was doing that morning and all the marathon training that I had done over the last four months and realised that visually impaired runners would have to do just as much training; all with the same level of assistance I needed that morning - even down to taking a drink whilst running - every task requires that much more concentration and self-belief.
It was a very profound and worthwhile experience that has shown me just how much some brave and determined people can achieve, no matter what impairment they may have. For a few hours, I had an inkling of what it actually takes to overcome visual impairment and compete as an athlete in open competition. It’s something that I’ll never forget.
To see my VICTA fundraising efforts, visit:
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