[Sportsandrec] Road Racing

[James Fetter]

I would tend to agree. Besides, in any sport with a guide, you can only 
go as fast as your guide is capable of going. So unless your guide 
happens to be an Olympic gold medalist, it is going to be very difficult 
for a totally blind runner to compete at that level. The same goes for 
swimming, unless your tapper is 100% accurate all the time. However, 
there is no reason for a totally blind rummer/swimmer not to compete 
against sighted athletes at the collegiate or masters level.
James


On 4/17/2009 12:28 PM, Lori M. Miller wrote:
> Kelly,
>
> The difference comes within the division. B1 or totally blind athletes 
> are generally not as fast or may not have the same training 
> oppportunities, or abilities to learn the same techniques as B3 or S13 
> athletes. Some B3/S13 athletes can drive a car, train regularly on a 
> bike, etc. A guide can provide opportunities, but it doesn't always 
> level the field.
>
> My over all feeling though is to just go and race, and grow the sport 
> and promote awareness, even if it is one step at a time.
>
> Lori
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thornbury, Kelly" 
> <kthornbury at bresnan.net>
> To: <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 8:32 AM
> Subject: [Sportsandrec] Road Racing
>
>
>> While I probably stand in a minority in my thinking, and might 
>> receive some flack for it, I wonder if it is really necessary to 
>> create a separate "blind classification" at running events. Unlike 
>> cycling where tandem teammates both contribute to the speed of the 
>> bike, running with a guide shouldn't help you run beyond your 
>> physical capabilities, and a blind runner should be able to compete 
>> with sighted peers based on their own merits. In a society where we 
>> are trying to compete as equals with sighted counterparts in so many 
>> aspects of sports and life, does it send the wrong message to seek 
>> out the use of a segregated category for blind runners? In a venue 
>> where I could compete equally with sighted runners, I personally 
>> would rather accept a 100th place certificate over a 1st place 
>> "blind" trophy. To me it would be like asking for a separate blind 
>> category in a cycling event simply because the stoker of a tandem was 
>> blind. I guess if I were in your running shoes I would see this as an 
>> opportunity to demonstrate the equality of blind athletes by 
>> competing in the open events (the prohibiting of the use of a guide 
>> not withstanding). Take inspiration from the fact that there are 
>> Olympic-level blind runners competing with sighted peers. This might 
>> be a case where a little extra adaptation on our parts may go farther 
>> towards proving we are capable of more than many expect of us.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Sportsandrec mailing list
>> Sportsandrec at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/sportsandrec_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> Sportsandrec:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/sportsandrec_nfbnet.org/lori%40asmodean.net 
>>
>>
>> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus 
>> signature database 4016 (20090417) __________
>>
>> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>>
>> http://www.eset.com
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sportsandrec mailing list
> Sportsandrec at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/sportsandrec_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Sportsandrec:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/sportsandrec_nfbnet.org/jfetter%40nd.edu 
>