Become a Guide Runner

How you can become a Guide Runner

Anyone can become a guide runner and support blind and partially sighted people by guiding them whilst running.

Play Video

Watch our England Athletics Guide Running video on YouTube.

There are also some guidance documents available to support people to act as guide runners, these are available further down this page.

To become a licensed guide you need to:

• Attend a Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running workshop
• Undertake a DBS check
• Undertake the mandatory Safeguarding (Educare Safeguarding Adults in Sport) and First Aid training– details of how to book these courses are provided as part of the Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running workshop booking.

Licensed guide runners can join our national database Find a Guide at FindaGuide.co.uk

Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running Workshop

The England Athletics Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running Workshop has been developed in conjunction with British Blind Sport. The workshop provides runners, leaders, coaches and volunteers with information and experience about supporting blind and partially sighted people to run. The workshop covers a number of areas including; types of visual impairment, top tips and safety for guide running and how to make running sessions inclusive for blind and partially sighted people. The two-hour workshop also includes a practical element where attendees get the chance to experience guiding and being guided by each other.

Here’s what previous attendees said about the workshop:

“I really enjoyed the workshop and now feel better informed as a guide. It’s also great that at my running club we now have this expertise to offer. Personally, being guided with a blindfold made me appreciate how much trust visually impaired people have to place in us!” — Mike.

“I have run with my guide for over two years now. It was very much find our own way on how to do things so to actually go along to a workshop and gather other information and experiences was extremely useful” — Keith.

• Find out more about the Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running workshop.
• Book onto a Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running workshop

More about British Blind Sport

British Blind Sport (BBS) is a registered charity and the leading voice in sport for blind and partially sighted people in the UK. BBS believe in the many benefits that sport can offer people who are blind and partially sighted, including; improved health and mobility, broadening horizons, making new friends, and becoming more independent.

BBS encourage blind and partially sighted children and adults to participate in sport at all levels, from ‘grassroots’ to Paralympic representation. In addition BBS provide help and support to the many professionals working with people with a visual impairment, particularly within leisure and recreation, sports development, education and social services.

• Find out more about British Blind Sport at www.britishblindsport.org.uk

Interest in attending a Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running course?

Our Expression of Interest form will reopen in September 2024 for our Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running courses in 2025.

Thank you for your interest in our 2024 Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running courses. We have received all the expressions of interest and are now in the process of organising these courses. We hope to make them available in April or as soon as possible. Please keep an eye on Athletics Hub for the courses going live. We appreciate your patience with this.

Please note that we organise Sight Loss Awareness and Guide Running courses in areas where there is a demand for more guide runners on the Find a Guide database, and where there is interest from visually impaired runners. Unfortunately, due to limited resources, we cannot organise workshops on demand. This means that in some areas where workshops have already taken place, and there are lots of people on the Find a Guide Database, we may not organise any further workshops until there is more demand from visually impaired runners.