SOCIAL MOVEMENT
How VI Runners Bristol has flourished into one of the UK’s biggest running networks
IT ALL STARTED with a race in Budapest. Visually impaired (VI) runner Chris Blackabee gained entry to a marathon in Hungary’s capital city with just six weeks’ notice.
None of his usual guides were available, so Blackabee hit social media to find an alternative. He soon found Colin Johnson, an experienced runner, and the pair travelled from Bristol to Budapest to complete the race.
The experience planted a seed, and Johnson noticed there was a gap that needed filling. So he trained as a guide runner and, in 2017, set up the Facebook group ‘VI Runners Bristol’.
The aim of the group was to get people active and to provide a social hub for both VI and sighted runners. With the help of the Royal National Institute of Blind People, Johnson encouraged other VI runners to join and gradually began to build up a pool of running guides.
The ethos of the group is ‘a bunch of mates meeting for a run, and some of them happen to be able to see better than others’, explains member Paul Bowden. The group now has over 500 members, making it one of the biggest running networks of its kind in the UK.
VI Runners Bristol now organises a training session every Wednesday, using pedestrianised pathways and cycleways. This always ends with a natter and a drink afterwards. Guides also take VI runners to parkruns across the city and the group organises regular day trips, such as waterskiing.
Its members have completed everything from sprint triathlons to 100K trail ultras. And, thanks to Johnson’s work with The Great Run Company, the Great Bristol 10K now has the country’s first VI category. ‘They hope to have something similar at their other events around the UK, which is brilliant news,’ says Johnson.
But it’s not all about racing. VI runners can also post ad hoc on the Facebook group if they’re looking for a guide for a social run outside of their organised sessions.
‘New guides are offered training, which includes getting to run blindfolded to get a sense of how it feels to run with a tether,’ says Bowden’s guide, Alice Dalrymple. ‘We a
