A couple of months ago, I wrote about an opportunity to run a race blindfolded. It was too late for me to join up, but I might look into running it next year. The Vision 5k went off and was a great success last month, with over 500 finishers, 10% of whom were blind or blind folded. The race raised over $285,000 for various vision-related charities, and was won by a blind runner, Gonzalo Moises Berista. His winning time was 17:08. The women’s race was won by Molly Taber in 17:53.
A few race facts show just how remarkable the day was:
- 28 blind runners competed
- 28 sighted runners and walkers took the Blindfold Challenge
- 3 blind men finished in the top 5 overall, including the winner
- 5 blind men finished the 3.1 mile course in under 20 minutes
- More than 800 runners and walkers participated
- Over 1,000 people came out to enjoy the day
I look forward to seeing whether or not I can fit the race into my schedule next year; the tough part will be fitting into my schedule the mandatory training sessions for those who opt to run blind folded. I am not sure that I would travel there just to run; I would want to see whether I could race without my eyes or not. I have done it before, but not quickly. With a guide, I wager that I could do it quickly.
(Vision 5k – Results – Photos)
That sounds like are really cool way to broaden your perspective! I’m sure you would be quick too 🙂
I don’t know. The last time that I raced blind I was pretty slow; then again, it was right after 9/11, it was in NYC, I was having a migraine, and I wasn’t in that great of shape to begin with. Heheh. I think that I’d do well blind folded since I have run with limited vision before, especially having a guide.
My biggest problem would be committing to getting down to Boston 3 or 4 times in one month for the mandatory training sessions and for the race. The fund raising wouldn’t be a big issue, nor would it really be an issue paying to get down there each time. Finding the time, though -- that could be an issue!
What a very cool concept, way to raise awareness and get people into other people’s shoes for a few minutes.
Gosh.. I’ve always tried to jog closing my eyes and I can’t even get past a few steps! I’m very short sighted from young and have helped in visually handicapped society. I realised then that they are so independent and a great majority of the society still feel that the blind can’t get outside of their homes and this jog truly shows how mobile visually handicapped are!