Running with a different view of things

This week, I bring to you a profile on a Canadian runner who brings the perspective of someone who feels more than he sees on the runs.

Todd MacAusland

MacAusland is a married 44-year-old dad and runner from the town of Stratford, P.E.I. When not lacing up for a run, he is employed with an electrical company as the assistant manager.

MacAusland is also visually impaired. He was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa around the age of 14. The progression was slow and it was not until his early 30’s that it really started to impact his life.

By the time he was 40, he had to make a career change because of the loss of his vision.

As mid-life arrived, MacAusland also found like many that he was not in the shape he was when he was younger. In 2012 with the coaxing of a friend, he set a resolution to get into shape.

“I started running on our treadmill at home a few days a week for 15 or 20 minutes each time in an effort to get a head start on my fitness goals. I never would have imagined I would have taken so much to running, and what a big part of my life it would become. As the weeks went by, I traded in the treadmill for the great outdoors. That’s when I really started to realize the benefits of running, not just for physical fitness, but for mental fitness as well,” says MacAusland.

He began to find that his runs were an escape. It was time to himself to just turn the mind off. Treadmills running turned into running outside and eventually to signing up for a local 5K run.

Just over four years later, he has run three marathons.

MacAusland took the time to talk about his challenges and what drives him to run.

NP: What are some of the main obstacles for you as a visually impaired runner?

TM: Since I’ve started running, the main obstacles I have to deal with being visually impaired is night blindness and tunnel vision. Running has helped me talk openly about my vision loss. To make those who run around me aware of what to except when running alongside of me. I will always remember the first time I removed my jacket just before a race, to reveal “Visually Impaired Runner” across the back of my shirt. How nervous I was, my stomach was full of butterflies waiting for the race director to make the rest of the runners aware of a VI runner in the race. The nervousness and butterflies passed as I was received with smiling faces, a nod of the head and clapping hands.

NP: Do you get help to run or race?

TM: I have made some really great friends the last couple of years through running and hope to make many more in the years to come. The group that I run with is awesome. They are aware of the issues with my vision and are great for guiding me through any obstacles along our running routes and for transportation to and from our runs.

For the most part, we use verbal communication during our runs, calling out things such as potholes, curbs and anything else they feel is a hazard. At some events where the course in unfamiliar to me, or if crowds are an issue at the start, my guide runner and I will use a tether and sometime I will follow in the footsteps of a guide runner in front of me until we get clear of the pack of runners, at which time we usually go back to using verbal commands.

NP: What keeps you motivated to keep running?

My wife, Melonie, our two sons Mason and Morgan and our soon-to-arrive third son (nicknamed “Speedy” at this point) are my biggest inspiration. It is their love and support that keeps me positive about the future.

I hope to show my boys through running, that it’s not how you fall that matters, it’s how you rise. With continued support from my family, friends and fellow runners, running will be something I enjoy for many years to come. After all, it would pretty cool to someday be able to run to the finish line with my boys running alongside me.

MacAusland set a marathon PB in 2015 thanks to his friends and guides Dana Coles and Deborah Walsh. The father of two may however have slow down his running a bit as he is expecting his third at the end of January.

Contact Noel at runningwriter@hotmail.com, on Twitter @NoelPaine or on his personal blog No Paine, No Gain.