It was a very special date night for the recently appointed 2025 ACT Senior Australian of the Year recipients.
Peter and Marilyn Ralston received the honour for their work with blind or low-vision walkers and runners.
Mrs Ralston said it was nice and relaxing to be nominated but felt “more pressure” to win.
The other nominees in the category were rock climbing instructor and volunteer Armando Corvini, ACT Brumbies assistant coach Laurie Fisher and musician and community radio presenter Stuart Warner.
Mr Ralston OAM is the founder and president of Achilles Running Club Canberra, which he and Marilyn began in 2013.
Volunteer guides team up with people who live with a disability at fun runs, club training and a weekly park run.
Mr Ralston said it was a thrill and an honour to be nominated alongside his wife.
He said the couple treated the ceremony at the National Gallery of Australia as a date night.
“On a typical Achilles training morning, it’s like we are a high-performance sports team,” Mr Ralston said.
He said the thing he loved most about working with people who have low vision or live with a disability was learning about their lives and experiences.
“There is so much to admire about people with a disability who seek to improve their lives with exercise and socialising,” Mr Ralston said.
“We enjoy being able to help them.”
As a member of the Lions Club of Canberra Belconnen, Mr Ralson discovered Achilles through a man who had lost his vision.
“He’d been able to run City2Surf in Sydney because of Achilles Club in Sydney,” Mr Ralston said.
“We thought that was interesting and they emailed us saying they needed two guides in Orange, so, we drove from Canberra for four hours.
“We enjoyed it so much that in the car on the way home we decided to start up an Achilles Canberra (which trains at Lake Ginninderra).”
Mr Ralston has guided athletes more than 120 times across three years, constantly keeping his mind on the job to keep blind athletes safe.
“Putting the athlete at ease and enjoying yourselves are a given since we normally know each other,” he said.
“Inform them early about the upcoming surface, changes in slope, about other runners, turns and possible obstacles.
“I am constantly reminding myself that another human is totally relying upon you to be their eyes, so you never switch off. It requires discipline.”
In recognition of his service to sport for people who are blind or have low vision, Mr Ralston was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (an OAM) in 2020.
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