Some 13-thousand runners took to the streets of Falmouth Sunday for the 45th annual Falmouth Road Race. At the starting line in Woods Hole, WCAI's Dan Tritle spoke to a blind Nashua, New Hampshire man who was running the seven-mile course for the first time.
Fifty-one year old Randy Pierce has always loved sports. And when a neurological disorder made him legally blind in his early 20s he wasn't about to slow down. He said he's run hundreds of races, including the Boston Marathon, and also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. His running guide Sunday was David Easa from Centerville, also at his first Falmouth Road Race.
Pierce said his goal is always to enjoy the experience. Easa, he said, runs at a pace of 9:30 per mile and the goal is to keep him within that pace. Meanwhile, Easa said Pierce is a far-better runner than he is. He said, "Randy could run a lot faster if I wasn't holding him back."
Pierce says it's a team sport. "That's the beauty of how I get to run. Running is so much a solo for everybody, and I love teamwork," he said. "Really, we get to lift each other up as we're going through this."
Pierce is president of 2020 Vision Quest, a non-profit company that supports blind athletes. He said just as he might inspire other runners, taking part in the Falmouth Road Race is an inspiration to him as well.