Blind Man Climbs 48 Mountains and Finishes the Boston Marathon. April 21 2015
Meet Randy Pierce. Losing his vision at the age of 22 to a neurological disease, Pierce made it a point not to loose hope. Since then he’s trained to be able to enjoy sports and general awareness despite this challenge.
He set a goal to be the first blind hiker to summit all 48 of the New Hampshire 4,000-footers. He accomplished that goal in 2013 with the help of his guide dog Quinn during the summer hiking seasons over 10 years. Unfortunately Quinn died in early 2014. Quinn had helped Pierce immensely when he first lost his sight.
After his loss Peirce was ready to set out for his next goal, this years Boston Marathon. This week he made that happen. After finishing Monday's 119th Boston Marathon, Pierce said, "There's a bunch of people out there who I like to describe as fabulous, well-meaning lunatics, I got tired on the hills, no doubt, but the crowd just lifts you up. They are awesome."
Pierce finished the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to Copley Square in a time of 3 hours, 50 minutes, 37 seconds, guided by teammates Pete Houde and Christine Houde. Pierce was running his first Boston Marathon in honor of his friend Quinn, his guide dog of seven years who died last year.
"When I got to the top of Heartbreak Hill, I never slowed," Pierce said. "I yelled out 'I love you Quinn!' and it was all downhill from there."
Pierce's goal was to finish in four hours, a mark he beat by almost 10 minutes!