William Greer, one of our very own Texans, ran in his first
Boston Marathon last week on Monday, April 15th, despite being legally blind.
Greer ran with sighted guide, Peter Sagal, host of the NPR show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, finishing the
marathon in 4 hours and 4 minutes, just 5 minutes before the explosions.
Greer, now 43 years old, overcame the adversity that life
threw at him, making this accomplishment that much more inspiring. After losing
most of his sight and his short-term memory in a bicycle accident when he was
17, Greer had to re-learn how to do almost everything, and now has run in seven
marathons, including the Boston Marathon.
“You’d be amazed how well a lot of people who are even totally
blind can navigate,” said Greer.
Despite this, Sagal guided Greer through the marathon,
running slightly ahead and to the left of Greer and alerting him of anything
that might be in his way including potholes and other runners.
 |
| Peter Sagal waves to the crowd while guiding William Greer during the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 |
In addition to training for the marathon, the pair raised
about $10,000 for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually
Impaired.
“There are some people who finish a marathon and say ‘I’m
never going to do this again.’ There are others who finish and can’t wait until
the next one," Greer said. "And I’m one of the people who just wants
to keep going – wants to hit the next one.”
After hearing Greer’s story, it was hard to not be inspired
to face my own challenges in life. We dedicate this post to everyone affected
by the Boston marathon bombings, as well as the explosion in West, Texas, and
hope that this one man’s story inspires and motivates you to overcome and grow
from all of life’s challenges.
To read more about Greer and his story, read
the articles in the Dallas
News and the Austin
KUT News.
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