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| Photo: Guide Running with a Tether at the 2015 DOD Warrior Games |
Photo Credit: Tim Hipps via www.army.mil
Visually
impaired Spc. Anthony Atemon (right) of Decatur, Ala., wins his
division of the 100 meters in 13.42 seconds at the 2015 Department of
Defense Warrior Games track competition at Marine Corps Base Quantico,
Va. Paralympic hopeful Sgt. Ryan McIntosh (center) of the U.S. Army
World Class Athlete Program is guide-running for Atemon. Cpl. Matthew
Mueller (left) of Fort Morgan, Colo., finishes second in 13.45 seconds.
If you are a runner, or would like to be, and have a visual impairment you may find that running with a guide enhances your comfort and safety while participating in the sport. There are several common ways this is done, depending on your personal preferences, for example with guidance provided by using a running 'Tether'.
In the 'Tether' method the runner and guide use a tether, typically a rope or strap about 30 inches long, to provide information to the runner with vision impairment. With this technique, the guide runs slightly ahead of the runner and to one side and each partner holds one end of the tether. The guide gives verbal directions, but the runner is also able to detect bends in the road and other slight changes in direction much more easily with the tether.
WBRC recently became aware of www.unitedinstride.com, an online resource that matches up runners with visual impairments with guides. United
in Stride was founded in 2015 by the Massachusetts Association for the Blind
and Visually Impaired (MABVI) as a tool to unite runners who are blind or
visually impaired with running guides across North America. Users [both runners and guides] can create free accounts, search for runners/guides in their geographical areas, and learn more about running with visual impairment. Since it's launch in 2015 over 575 runners and guides have created accounts.
CLICK HERE for Tips for Runners with Visual Impairments through AFB
CLICK HERE to read the Full Army.mil article on the 2015 Department of Defense Warrior Games
