'Being blind, running is my form of freedom'

A blind runner in East Sussex has praised his local Parkrun for its accessibility, saying it has helped transform his life.

Keith Turner, 58, from Brighton, went fully blind at 19 from congenital glaucoma – a rare condition that impacts a person's eye drainage system, gradually causing sight loss.

Assisted by an award-winning community of volunteer guide runners at Hove Promenade Parkrun, Keith says running has become "a form of freedom" for him.

Now on the verge of his 200th Parkrun – a volunteer-organised weekly event where people run or walk 3.1miles (5km) – Keith told BBC Radio Sussex it makes him "feel alive".

Keith said he loved running casually at school, but "didn't think about doing it" once his sight was gone.

When his friend, the veterinarian of his guide dog, asked him to run the London Marathon together, his love for it reignited.

"I've been running again for 23 years. I still love it just the same," he said.

"Once [blind and visually-impaired people] find it, they'll never let it go."

Keith regularly runs with an experienced guide runner, Katy Elias, and they took on the Austrian Alps together in May this year.

Guide runners, like Katy, run with blind and visually impaired people, offering verbal cues and physical instructions to navigate runs safely, often attached by a tether or cord.

However, Keith set the benchmark half-marathon time for an untethered blind athlete at the Great North Run in 2023, relying on sound and trust alone.

After joining Arena 80 athletics club in Brighton, he set up a WhatsApp group with his friends to encourage and support others to train and become guide runners.

In a 2024 health and wellbeing survey from Sheffield Hallam University, 23% of 76,589 runners and volunteers at Parkrun reported having a health condition, disability or illness.

Kirsty Woodbridge, head of communications, said Parkrun was "absolutely committed to breaking down barriers".

"We're proud of our slowing average finish time from 22:16 in 2005, to 32:53 today, reflecting our ambitions to reach those who might not engage with traditional sport," she said.

Keith said: "I can run on a treadmill independently, but it's not the same as running outside.

"Thanks to my guide runners, I can run and enjoy the open air – it just feels amazing."

The visually impaired guide and running community at Hove Promenade Parkrun won two diversity and inclusion awards this year from British Blind Sport and Active Sussex.

While the course at Hove Lawns is flat, stones carried by waves during storms often litter the seafront which Keith said can make it feel "lumpy and bumpy".

He said guide runners, aided by Parkrun volunteers who sweep the course, make navigation easier.

Mark Brocklehurst, the regional event support ambassador for Sussex and Surrey, said Keith was "a complete character and adored by all at Parkrun."

Terry Westley first spotted the community along Hove's seafront and felt inspired to become a guide runner to "give back to the community".

"To start off with, it can be a bit daunting," he said.

"You're concentrating, you're thinking about the other runners around you and potential obstacles – practice makes perfect."

Looking to the future, Keith hopes more visually impaired and blind people will join.

"It's very accessible here. It's such a great community," he said.

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