Rachael’s inspirational journey from sight loss to running victory
Inspirational Newbury AC athlete and paracycling champion Rachael Elliott raced to outright victory in the Windsor Women’s 10k race in September 2024. Rachael, who lost her sight in 2018 and had not raced the distance since 2010, beat around 1000 other sighted runners in a time of 38 minutes 43 seconds.
However, arguably Rachael’s greatest triumph came six years earlier in the face of all adversity. Already a very good runner, Rachael doubled-up as a cyclist, and it was on the eve of her fortieth birthday in 2018 that her world changed. Training at home on her bike on the turbo trainer, she felt faint, before quickly realising it was something more serious than light-headedness when her sight began to degrade, and rang for help.
Rachael was suffering a haemorrhagic stroke in her brainstem, from which she was ultimately given a 10-15% chance of survival after being blue-lighted to hospital and later regaining consciousness.
But having been close to what could have been the end, Rachael turned her disability into a superpower and learnt to walk, and later ride, once again.
Now 46, she refuses to let age or sight loss stop her further pushing the boundaries. Deciding to return to road racing she picked the Windsor 10k to make her comeback, having not raced – or even run - the distance for fourteen years and having to contend with 1,000 other pairs of feet around her.
What made it even more remarkable was the way she went on to win it. She only reached out to find a guide runner via the national Find a Guide database four days before the race, after her intended guide withdrew, and she was fortunate there was one quick enough – Neal Jeffs – who could step in. Neal, a regular runner who at 49 years of age is still clocking 37 minutes for 10k, only met Rachael one hour before the start of the race and their only practice was a one kilometre warm-up.
To top it all, this was Neal’s first outing as a guide runner having only qualified one month earlier.
But their connection was instantaneous, tethered together at the wrist and running side-by-side in perfect unison from the start. They were always in touch with the frontrunners and Rachael called on her cycling strength to overtake the leader on the final climb to the six kilometre mark. Now she led the race, but the second-placed woman was still in touch. The final three kilometres were run at a blistering pace, which Neal is just about capable of running outright on his own. Thankfully, Rachael and Neal were so in-sync through movement that no verbal cues were needed, which enabled Rachael to sprint to the finish to secure a memorable victory.
Rachael considers it one of her best ever moments in sport, despite all of her tandem cycling records and titles, whereas Neal felt it was his proudest experience to be alongside such an inspiring athlete.
During the post-race interviews, Rachael thanked the crowd and the organisers for contributing to a wonderful event, whilst Neal took the opportunity to remind them that more guides are needed to allow runners like Rachael to fulfil their running goals.
“It doesn’t matter how quick you are, it just matters that you can give your time to another blind or visually impaired runner, jogger, or even walker to help them do something they would not otherwise be able to do,” said Neal. “For me it was just an added privilege and honour to help Rachael out, who is truly inspirational.”
Rachael added “I haven’t been back running long, and have done a couple of parkruns with local athletes acting as guides. However, finding a qualified guide for such an important race proved to be difficult, so I turned to the Find a Guide website to see if anyone could help. Neal, with his running prowess and locality to the course, stuck out as the perfect match and I tentatively contacted him. I was overjoyed when he returned his reply immediately!
“This proved to be a lifechanging moment – Neal was perfect; guiding me through the chaos of the race village, pointing out obstacles, and being a huge support – as well as an infallible guide – through the race. As a result, we’ve created a huge bond, something very important for a guide/athlete relationship, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve from here.”
Rachael now has the taste for road running once again. The pair raced together again in the Fleet 10k in October beating their time by over a minute. But she has a bigger goal, and that is the Los Angeles Paralympics in 2028. A swimmer as a child, she is now also back in the pool with the dream of representing Great Britain’s para triathlon squad.