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As marathon season kicks off, guides and pacers recall working alongside blind runners
James Gibb and Maekele Asfha guide pacesetter and blind runner Hasan Tayem at the Standard Chartered Marathon in Dubai 2019
Nasar Husain thrives on challenges. When we chatted via Google Meet, he talked about how he ran the 42km race at the 2020 ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon in 3 hours and 27 minutes, his personal best . In August 2020, he stormed Jebel Jais as one of five contestants to raise funds for the Al Jalila Foundation and spread mental health awareness.
There is another memorable challenge. “Suhail Al Nashash, a blind Jordanian runner, has contacted the Dubai Creek Run Team for guidance to help him run the 10K in the 2020 Dubai Marathon,” he recalls. During races, guides help blind and low-vision runners safely navigate crowds while helping them achieve their goals. For example, Suhail is a professional athlete who wants to run a 10k in 45 minutes. It was a daunting challenge, so naturally Nassar had to accept it. Another runner, Andrea Mascolo, joined as pacer.
Guided by running
Nassar started running after moving to Dubai from Kerala in 2013 as a way to combat the boredom and loneliness that had begun to suffocate him. He bought a pair of running shoes and joined running clubs such as the Dubai Creek Striders and the Nike Run Club.
Talking about the event, Nassar recalled that the three were unable to train together because Sohail was in Jordan while he and Andrea were in Dubai. “So we created a group on WhatsApp to discuss our strategy. We decided that Suhail would hold my hand as we ran, and Andrea would run ahead of us, setting the pace for us and paving the way for us, because It can get very crowded.”
The three met on the day of the event. “Suhail was very focused, confident, polite and energetic,” Nasar said. But to their dismay, they missed an early start and got stuck in the crowd. “The first 6K was the most challenging part for us,” he said.
“I was worried that our legs might collide because we were running so close, but that never happened. His stride was a little longer than mine, so I adjusted accordingly,” he continued. While running, Nassar also gave Sohail verbal instructions by measuring the distance between the runners. “Directions like ‘two steps, turn left’ and ‘three steps, turn right’ all while maintaining our speed,” he explained.
“Besides the speed, it was more challenging to make way for the people behind me because of the crowd. I was just screaming, ‘Make way,'” Andrea recalls. “We were very concerned, but Suhail was very cool.” It took some time for the other contestants to figure out what was going on, but once they did, they were very cooperative and made way for the team.
They completed the run in 45 minutes and 7 seconds, cheered by onlookers and other runners, and even though they missed the target by a few seconds, the whole team was ecstatic. “It was such an unforgettable experience,” Nassar said.
Servee Palmans, chairman of Desert Road Runners, also trained a blind runner for the Dubai Marathon at Kite Beach. “He’s an experienced runner who was well prepared for the training session and relied heavily on the features on the Apple Watch for the visually impaired,” he said, adding that the session took place about three years ago . However, he could not recall the runner’s name, but said he lived in Jeddah. “The training session was a last-minute request for desert road runners. So, there wasn’t much time to prepare, we just had a brief instruction.”
set the rhythm
James Gibb hails from the Scottish market town of Dumfries into a family of athletes. Like his grandfather, he was a professional footballer who played for Leicester City and he also loved playing football.
James moved to Dubai in 2012. Also, football does a lot to your knees, so I started focusing on running. ” He started out in obstacle races, later joined the Dubai Creek Striders (where he also coached) and became the ASICS frontrunner.
Like Nasar, James met Hasan Tayem, a blind runner from Jordan, when he turned to Dubai Creek Striders for a guide and pacer to help him run the 10k at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon 2019. James decided to help Hassan as a pacer, joined by fellow Dubai Creek Walkers runner Maekele Asfha (now in the US) as a guide.
They created a group on WhatsApp and communicated via voice messages. “We discussed the logistics and shared some of our stories. Hasan was very humble, polite and positive. He didn’t see himself as a blind runner—he saw himself as one. What are you looking for in terms of pacing goals and watching videos, as people have different preferences on how they want to be guided – the two most common ways are verbal guidance and with a rope, or attached arms, but it’s very situation specific and individual .In the end, we decided that Maekele would run alongside Hasan, and I would be a meter ahead and set the pace, keep an eye on hydration and act as some sort of motivational coach for Hasan.”
But running is just as important as arms and legs—arm swinging helps maintain posture, strength, balance, and speed, after all. “I knew it was going to be tough,” James said. Initially, Hasan wanted to run in under 40 minutes, his personal best, but they agreed on a more realistic goal of under 45 minutes.
James and Maekele are at their best physically, but when you train and compete when you’re not all for yourself, there’s a whole range of mental challenges. “Pacers generally set and maintain a comfortable running pace. You need to be good enough to do that, or you’re letting people down. That’s when you have to let the ego sit at the door,” he says.
There were other challenges—for example, the crowds at the event. Many of the participants were not serious runners, and James and Meckler wanted to keep Hassan safe. “So I said to Maekele, ‘Look, I’m going to go a little faster than usual, even though I don’t usually do that because I want to stay out of this crowd of 10,000 people. I think we were a little nervous for the first 500 meters, but we managed to get on the road Gained space.”
“Another challenge was monitoring Hassan and the setup, controlling the tempo and tempo,” he continued. “There’s a lot of adrenaline in any race and there’s always a danger of being caught up. Halfway through, Hassan did feel a little bit of a rhythm because I could hear him breathing a little bit. So I relieved it , gave him some water and encouraged him. I had a lot of friends there, so when they ran over, I introduced Hassan to them very simply, and they also shouted words of encouragement, which was great. When he became We were able to pick up the pace at the end when we were more comfortable.”
They finished the game early with 21 seconds to spare. “I think running is a really powerful thing that brings people together with a common goal of self-improvement,” he said. “It strips away gender, race and background and makes us all part of something bigger.”
wknd@khaleejtimes.com
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