A Matter of Trust: The Guide-Blind Runner Bond
WHAT IT’S LIKE TO GUIDE A VISUALLY IMPAIRED RUNNER, AND WHAT IT’S LIKE FOR THAT RUNNER TO BE ABLE TO RUN ON THE ROADS
Maria de Guzman is totally blind. She lost her sight at the age of two due to retinoblastoma, a rare childhood illness that affects the retina. In college, Maria started treadmill running off and on, but never did get out onto the road. In March 2013, as a mom of two energetic young boys, Maria decided she wanted to run outside. This is what it’s like to guide a visually impaired runner, and what it’s like for that runner to be able to run on the roads.
That’s what you’ll hear from your running guide if you’re a visually impaired or blind (VI/B) runner during a road race. You’ll be tethered together the morning and for all of the hundreds of kilometres you’ve run together to get ready for it. And even though you may not be able to see the finish line, the victory is just as sweet.
Maria de Guzman experienced just that in the 2015 Boston Marathon. The 34 year old is totally blind. She lost her sight at the age of two due to retinoblastoma, a rare childhood illness that affects the retina. In college, Maria started treadmill running off and on, but never did get out onto the road. In March 2013, as a mom of two energetic young boys, Maria decided she wanted to try road running. Not one to wait around for things to happen for her, Maria got in touch with the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association, a local organization that provides servies to those with disabilities, and they told her about VI/B running with a guide. Maria says this about her initial experience with running outside: “At first, it felt very difficult to just be aware that I was running on the street, but Doug, my very first running guide, helped me ease into it.”
Doug Dortch has guided for the past five years and has logged thousands of guiding kilometres. “Every visual impairment and individual is unique,” he says of his experience with 10 different VI/B running partners. He has guided runners from ages 18– 60 over distances ranging from 100m on the track to 42.2k on the streets and indoors. “The elements, the open road, and the sense of freedom that all tie into running outside,” Maria says of the revelation she felt on her first run with Doug outdoors.
In 2014, Carolyn Moore, a 48-year-old accomplished marathoner with a 3:30 PB and numerous successful Boston Marathon finishes, is looking for a new challenge. Carolyn happens to meet up with Doug and Maria at a track workout. Doug and Maria are sweating it out on the track and they look like an effective pair of athletes. Carolyn thinks it looks like fun, so she asks more about it. The next thing she knows, she’s involved as a VI/B guide. Carolyn begins running with Maria a few times a week and soon they’re a team – setting goals and crushing them – including Maria’s personal best and re-qualifying time of 4:46:44 at the Boston Marathon in 2015 (the VI/B qualifying time for the Boston Marathon is five hours).
Transportation at races and planning out workouts can be complicated. Most VI/B runners are dependent on others for transportation or use public transit, while at the same time, of course, having responsibilities just like those of us with full vision. Doug points to the challenge of being able to get the athlete to and from training runs and races. Arranging a meet up before a race with a VI/B runner entails a lot more than just standing around waving your arm in the air at a designated porta-potty line. Organizing rides in both directions and finding transportation is not always easy. Carolyn agrees. After the Boston Marathon, she and Maria spent over an hour navigating Boston’s complicated public transit system with tens of thousands of people swarming about in order to get back to Maria’s billet location.
The start of a race presents another real challenge. In her very first 5k with Maria, Carolyn got tongue-tied and forgot the all-important verbal cues. A transition from pavement to limestone path, a slight turn and an incline were all within the first kilometre. She and Maria weathered through it, but it was dicey for a few moments. A sighted
“Speed bump in 5,4, 3, 2, 1.” “Corner on the right in 5,4, 3, 2, 1.” “Finish line in 5,4, 3, 2, now!”
runner likely doesn’t even notice these terrain shifts, but as a guide, it’s Carolyn’s job to know. Fortunately, there was no mishap and their races have gone smoothly despite the steep learning curve for both of them.
Doug recalls his struggle “trying to navigate a 5k start with 100+ kids, all running in strange patterns and slamming on the breaks after a short distance.” He also notes that when racing, big pacing groups present a challenge as he tries to navigate around them with his VI/B runner attached with a tether and the group so involved in their own pacing that they don’t notice them trying to make their way through.
For Maria, daily challenges primarily revolve around co-ordination and scheduling. She is, after all, a young mom juggling many responsibilities. She credits her guides with being very accommodating and understanding in helping her surmount these challenges. But Maria and other VI/B runners are up against even more serious challenges out on the road. Carolyn attests to the struggle to find safe training routes for VI/B runners as Maria faces the very real risk of tripping and falling while out on the road – even with a guide.
Maria recounts a serious running fall early in her outdoor running experience. She ended up in the hospital with facial injuries and broken teeth. Fortunately, Maria’s father was a dentist. He repaired her teeth and helped her smile again and Doug got her out running on the road and reassured her that all would be well. Maria says “the words of encouragement that I got from my father and from Doug after this trial was to stay strong, and to keep on going.” This is a lesson many people have learned through running and guiding VI/ B athletes.
Maria is philosophical about her running experience. For her, the intangible benefits are most important. “The mental stimulation and clarity I get,” she says is why she is drawn to going for a run on the roads. “The comfort and company of new and familiar friends, the release of energy with physical relief and strength in return, and the sense of freedom are why I run.”
Doug says that his favourite aspect of guiding is the friendship that develops from the very first step and the specific nature of their communicative bond. “The amount of trust your athlete places in you is huge,” he points out. “Getting them through their event, being their eyes, helping talk them through their barriers, cheerleading and verbally painting a picture of what you are running by are all extremely rewarding. But seeing their expression at the finish is by far the most rewarding.”
For Carolyn, the ability to help someone achieve their goal who may not otherwise have been able to do so without the help of a guide is what keeps her going. Carolyn has less than perfect vision. She’s been wearing corrective eyeglasses since
“Getting them through their event, being their eyes, helping talk them through their barriers, cheerleading and verbally painting a picture of what you are running by are all extremely rewarding. But seeing their expression at the finish is by far the most rewarding.”
she was two years old and she says she gets great satisfaction from helping someone with no vision at all achieve so much. For Carolyn, the shared accomplishments she and Maria have also stand out. Carolyn recalls the two of them setting the Boston Marathon as an eventual target race for their team and together, they achieved it.
So, what does it take to be a successful VI/B runner or guide? All three of these athletes agree that there are two important keys to success: communication and trust. When it comes to communication, the basics involve the guide verbally alerting the athlete to curbs, potholes, paper cups and slippery conditions at water stations, changes in running surfaces, sharp turns and narrow passages. This sounds easy enough, but if you think about doing this for an entire marathon, while exerting yourself, trying to hydrate and attempting to achieve a goal, the challenge becomes obvious.
It is recommended that a guide run with a VI/B runner who has a slightly slower pace than their own. Think about the conversational tone you want to be able to achieve in a long slow run. Guiding also requires you to be mentally alert so that you can keep your focus on the safety of your athlete. If you are pushing your own physical limits, that can be difficult to do. You will need the extra pace margin to do this job well and keep the communication coming for your athlete partner. In addition, a guide must be prepared to stand up for their athlete in all cases. Words are not the only communication that’s needed sometimes. When an unexpected event comes up on the course, it’s understood that the guide always has permission to physically grab the athlete’s arm at the last moment to ensure their safety.
Communication is also required for scheduling training runs and co-ordinating race starts. Maria points to the need for mutual respect in the scheduling aspect of training and is extremely grateful to her guides for their f lexibility. Doug and Carolyn note that the race start is especially challenging for VI/B runners and guides. Every runner knows that a race start is a loud and chaotic environment. With little opportunity for verbal communication, the guide needs to make people aware that there is a VI/B athlete there and make some space for themselves. Carolyn and Maria often begin a race holding hands or with Carolyn guiding Maria’s elbow, moving to the tether once they get a little space around them.
In addition to communication, trust is the other important factor in VI/B running and guiding. Doug recalls his most memorable moment as a running guide. “I met an athlete that was going to run for the first time.” She was blind and had never had a guide or left her cane before. “We went to leave her house for a short run-walk, and she was going to bring her cane with her,” Doug remembers. “I told her she could leave it behind. The freedom she felt when she got out and was running while only holding a string brought her to tears. It required her to have a great deal of trust in a complete stranger to do something she had never done before.”
If you’re interested in VI/B running or becoming a guide, there are many ways to get involved. Achilles Canada is a long standing non-profit organization that supports people with disabilities to participate in running. They are always looking for volunteers and sponsors to support their efforts. There is also new organization called United in Stride. It was established in 2015 by the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired ( mabvi) and it has international reach. Their website has a tool uniting runners who are blind or visually impaired with sighted guides in Canada and the U.S. There are also many local adaptive sport groups that have programs for VI/B runners, such as the Whistler Adaptive Sports program in B.C. and Blind Sports Nova Scotia.
Several larger marathons have added VI/B divisions in recent years. These inclusions enable VI/B athletes to compete with others in an environment that recognizes their abilities. Simply contact your local race director to find out if your favourite race has a division and ask well in advance how you can participate. Many races need running guides close to the race date, but it is encouraged to do some training with the VI/B runner in advance so that you can work on the communication, cues and trust that are so integral to this unique and rewarding experience.