One of our members Michael Ellis is running the London Landmark Half Marathon in 2027 for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). This is a big challenge for anyone but Michael is severely sight impaired and autistic, as well as having other conditions including mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) and Ehlers-Danlos.

Michael explains “So things can be a bit unpredictable and challenging but there is so much I can still do and get involved with. I am now 55 and my sight was fine until I was 40 and deteriorated fairly rapidly from then, so I have had full severe sight impairment registration for more than 10 years now. Advances in technology have opened things up for me, in addition to learning braille and improving my fluency. Both at the start and for ongoing support or questions, Guernsey Blind Association and the RNIB have helped enormously.”

Michael has always been active and adventurous. “As a visually impaired (IV)  athlete, I have had the opportunity of a variety of sports including horse riding, cycling, climbing and surfing. More recently, I started running – purely because the athletics club had trained up some guides, but then found I really enjoyed it. Last year, I entered a 5k race and the Santa Fun Run, and then this year a 5k, a 10k and part of the marathon relay team. I am currently training for the Butterfield Half Marathon in September.”

Michael was also part of a marathon relay team. “The marathon relay team was a fully VI team, including a blindfolded journalist, four people with different eye conditions and levels of vision and five guide runners – and it was a fantastic achievement. There are now a few VI runners who are regularly out and about which is great in so many ways and people are so encouraging and patient when they see us running. I run with a guide using a soft tether – so it is a mental workout and requires complete trust in order to do it, but it just feels like ‘freedom’. ”

“I have signed up for the London Landmarks Half Marathon 2027 as part of Team RNIB. It is on 4 April 2027 and is a 13.1 mile route through the City of London and the City of Westminster, starting at Whitehall and passing all of the major landmarks. There will be about 20,000 runners accompanied by great  celebrations on the streets (and live streamed).”

For more information on the London Landmarks Half Marathon click on the map below.

“It will be an incredible experience. One of my guides, Gus, will be accompanying me. This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I will be very excited and vocal about it closer to the time. It will be a huge personal achievement but it also shows what VI people can do and is an opportunity to raise money for RNIB. I have personally benefitted from their information, advice, help and braille library, as well as their courses on living with sight loss and so on – and there are a lot of people with an array of visual impairments who need this support and information. ”

If you would like to sponsor Michael and Gus in achieving this remarkable goal and raising money for the RNIB please click on the button below which will take you to Michael’s  fundraising page.

Michael said “I would really love to get the fundraising started, so if you were able to donate that would be fantastic and much appreciated – and going to a very worthy cause. Thank you!”