[Nfbmo] Fw: Very Cool article

[DanFlasar at aol.com]

Fred, yes, *really cool!*!
   Okay I give in, I've got to get one fo these  things!
Dan
 
 
 
In a message dated 6/12/2012 9:11:08 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
goodfolks at charter.net writes:


-----  Original Message ----- 
From: Peggy Fleischer 
To: Theiphone 
Sent:  Tuesday, June 12, 2012 6:10 PM
Subject: Very Cool article


Chosen  to be a torchbearer at the 2012 Summer Games, blind ultra-runner 
Simon  Wheatcroft will carry the Olympic Flame running solo -- with only the 
guidance  of his iPhone.
“If you had asked me three years ago if training alone was  possible while 
being blind I would have said no," Wheatcroft told FoxNews.com.  "Now I do 
it and ... I realize perhaps a lot of things are possible.”
The  RunKeeper app uses the GPS tracker in the iPhone to track your runs, 
including  duration, distance, pace, calories burned, and path traveled on a 
map. The app  reads your current stats over your headphones as you run, and 
the virtual  coach warns if you are ahead or behind pace.
“This allowed me to match  distances with markers on my route. So I would 
pair a dip before a turn with a  distance marker from RunKeeper," Wheatcroft 
explained.


'He's truly  an inspiration -- we're huge fans.'
- Jason Jacobs, RunKeeper  developer


Blind by the age of 17, the 30-year-old from the UK  undertook the 
challenge of learning to run outdoors alone after he lost his  guide runner to a 
distant college.
Only able to make out shadows, running  on an open road and blindness seem 
like a pretty dangerous mix. But luckily  Wheatcroft hasn’t hit or been hit 
by any colossal hardfalls, saying there were  only “a few accidents along 
the way including running into posts that  RunKeeper just couldn’t help me 
with.”
“We had no idea when we built the  app that it could be used by a blind 
person," Jason Jacobs, RunKeeper  developer told FoxNews.com. "He's truly an 
inspiration -- we're huge fans of  him and what he has been able to accomplish.
”
Wheatcroft primarily sticks  to the same six-mile loop he has memorized, 
running always with a gait that  keeps his feet very close to the ground. But 
he has no worries about  navigating the Olympic path on June 26, 2012.
“It's a very simple road  route, so I could easily learn this route by 
running it once,” he  said.
Family, friends, and supporters will be there to cheer Wheatcroft on  as he 
makes the inspiring journey through the small English village—and thanks  
to the RunKeeper app, anyone can join  in the excitement by tracking his  run 
using the “watch live” function. This real-time map locater also lets his  
wife and friends keep tabs while he is out running alone.
The torchbearer  is currently earning a psychology degree at Sheffield 
University, and says it  was his belief in himself and confidence achieved 
through running on his own  that prompted him to begin competing professionally 
in ultra distance  running.
“Belief in yourself gets you a long way. Don’t achieve what  someone 
believes you are capable of, achieve what you believe you are capable  of,” he 
said.



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