Thomas Panek began losing his eyesight in his early 20s, but was determined to keep running
Thomas Panek made history at Sunday’s 2019 New York City Half Marathon, becoming the first blind runner ever to complete the 13.1-mile course with the help of guide dogs.
The athlete, who is president and CEO of the nonprofit school Guiding Eyes for the Blind, found himself in the record books thanks to a trio of Labrador Retrievers named Westley, Waffle, and Gus. They were the first four-legged athletes ever in the race.
“It’s really a team,” Panek told CNN of the dogs, who took turns helping him make it to the finish line.
Their finishing time? 2 hours and 21 minutes, according to the marathon’s website.
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Panek told CNN he began losing his eyesight in his early 20s, but was determined to keep running.
After working with volunteer human guides, he decided to start a formal training program for running guide dogs in 2015. The Running Guides program — out Westchester County, New York — has trained 24 dogs so far, with another 12 halfway through to graduation.
Dogs are matched with interested applicants and are later trained with Panek for free.
It’s a challenging program, the dogs having to learn to navigate everything from noise, distractions, and terrain changes all at once.
Pankey previously explained to WABC, “The biggest obstacle is getting it done at a faster pace, moving with the dog and keeping our footwork together. Like everybody else, one step at a time.”
But for Panek, it’s worth having the feeling of independence.
“It never made sense to me to walk out the door and leave my guide dog behind when I love to run and they love to run,” he told CNN. “It was just a matter of bucking conventional wisdom and saying why not.”
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To prep for Sunday’s half marathon, Panek trained for months with Gus and the sister-brother duo of Waffle and Westley.
“The bond is really important,” Panek told CNN. “You can’t just pick up the harness and go for a run with these dogs. You’re training with a team no matter what kind of athlete you are, and you want to spend time together in that training camp.”
Gus was chosen to run the final 3.1 miles — an emotional choice “because he’s been there with me the whole time,” Panek said to the outlet.
In the end, Panek said he hopes others with ambulatory and visual disabilities will be inspired by his milestone.
He told WABC, “No matter what your challenge or disability is, you can do it. You can do it, one step at a time.”