Podcast #76: Visually-impaired runner who dreams of the London Marathon
Mohammed Riaz Sabir is a visually impaired athlete from Rotherham who has less than 5% of his sight. He trains with gym equipment at home, but got in touch with England Athletics because he wants to pursue his dream of running outside with the support of a guide runner, and perhaps one day running the London Marathon.
In the latest episode of the England Athletics Podcast, the father of four tells host Alex Seftel the personal story of losing his sight later in life, how he has adapted, and his hopes for the future.
"I do not have any peripheral vision, a tiny bit of central vision. I run a lot at home on my treadmill, but what I want to do more is run outside," he says.
"I was diagnosed with the eye condition, which I believe most people haven't heard of, in 2011. It's called retinitis pigmentosa and from that time, my life has changed drastically."
Mohammed used to work in engineering, but is now retired. A doctor told him that he was pre-diabetic and that doing exercise would help to combat the development of diabetes. It helped to spark motivation.
"I wanted to prove to people that there was more to me. I find a lot of people make stereotypical views that If you're registered blind, then you can't see anything, which couldn't be further from the truth. Most people are on that sliding scale where they have some usable vision. I believe that I've still got so much more life to live."
"We need more people to come forward and be guide runners. I believe those guide runners will get the same pleasure as the individual they are supporting because they will get the satisfaction that they are running themselves but also enabling another individual to run."
- Find out how to become a guide runner
- Find out about our Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running Workshop.
- Existing guide runners can join our national database - Find a Guide.
The episode can be listened to in full on Spotify, as well as Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts.
Find out more about visually impaired sport
Further guidance is available on the British Blind Sport (BBS) site. BBS is a registered charity and a leading voice in sport for blind and partially sighted people in the UK. The organisation encourages and supports blind and partially sighted children and adults to participate in sport at all levels, from ‘grassroots’ to Paralympic representation.