If I told you a Canberra mother of five runs half-marathons regularly, you’d be impressed. If I said she was blind, you’d probably doubt my journalistic integrity.
Liz McLarnen, 66, is nothing short of incredible. She is just one of many athletes who belong to Achilles Canberra, which helps people with disabilities engage in an active lifestyle.
Despite losing her sight 20 years ago to a genetic condition (retinitis pigmentosa), Liz has notched up four half-marathons (21.1 km), 321 Park Runs, and this weekend she’s heading to Melbourne with 111 other Achilles members from around the country for a short 10km – and 5km – run.
“I’ve been involved with Achilles for 10 years and when I started running at 56, I couldn’t even run 100 metres,” Liz says. “Every time I do one, I say I won’t do it again. I’ve now registered to do the Lake Macquarie half marathon [in August]. I’ll just do one more.”
It’s a leap of faith to run without sight. Achilles provides a safety net for that leap of faith. Volunteer Achilles guide, Tim Dawson, says the Achilles Canberra chapter boasts former (medal-winning) Paralympians in their late 70s.
“As a guide, you hold a tether in your hand, a figure of eight strap,” Tim explains. “Our hands are really close together as we run side by side. I can give little nudges to push them this way or that if necessary.”
Tim is inspired by Liz, who he guided on last year’s half-marathon in Dubbo. Liz even offers to babysit his toddler for him, when she’s not caring for her own grandkids.
On a Sunday, the Achilles Canberra team can be seen training on their home track around Lake Ginninderra.
“They do the course so often that they’re almost leading us,” Tim says. “I’ve done the course with Liz and she’ll say ‘hang on a minute, should this be coming up?’ And I’ll say ‘yes, you’ve got me, I haven’t told you yet’.”
Liz also has admiration for her Achilles guides.
“Some of them will count down the number of steps until you turn a corner, it’s quite a skill,” Liz says. “It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds: turning left in three, two, one, now. I don’t know how guides do it. For me, it’s really easy. All I have to do is hold the tether and run. I think it’s harder for a person who has sight. They have to watch my feet, my shoulders, my head.”
When Liz participates in Run Melbourne this weekend, she’ll only have a 10-minute break between finishing the 10km run and starting the 5km run. It all depends on whether she completes the 10km run within 60 minutes.
You’ll be relieved to know that last week Liz took a cruise to the Pacific Isles and put her feet up.
“Liz is so positive and that story is repeated 100 times in our club,” Tim says. “It’s a place of positivity. We’d like to get more people in, for people with any disability not just vision impaired. We have too many volunteers and not enough athletes.”
For more information, visit www.achillesaustralia.org.au/canberra or Achilles Canberra on Facebook.
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