Cambridge teenager to lend sight to Team With A Vision’s Diane Berberian in B.A.A. Half Marathon
Over Columbus Day weekend, 17-year-old Adriana Jacobsen of Cambridge will be running in the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) Half-Marathon, but not alone. As reported in the Cambridge Chronicle, throughout the 13.1 miles, Adriana will be acting as a “sighted guide,” lending her sight to another competitor, Diane Berberian, a nationally recognized champion para-triathlete who is visually impaired. They will run to represent Team With a Vision, a team of runners with visual impairment and sighted guides who compete to raise funds and awareness for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI).
Diane, nicknamed the “Iron Maven,” is one of the most celebrated and successful female Ironman athletes in the sport, and she and Adriana have never met before. Adriana’s opportunity to guide such a decorated athlete came about through the efforts of RunKeeper, the company behind the popular running app of the same name. Knowing RunKeeper’s commitment to inclusion in the sport, MABVI approached them to help search for a candidate to guide Diane in this race. Adriana saw a tweet from RunKeeper and knew she couldn’t miss the opportunity. Out of the many selfless runners who volunteered, MABVI selected her.
“We love her enthusiasm!” says Andrea Croak, Development Associate for MABVI and Team With A Vision Coordinator. “It’s always great when someone so young wants to give of their time to help others, and we know she’ll make a fantastic guide for Diane.”
Adriana, a senior at the Winsor School in Boston with aspirations to work in environmental engineering, competes on her school’s track team, but has only been running seriously for two or three years. She is no newcomer to athletics, though – Adriana has been a competitive rock climber for seven years, belonging to a team at MetroRock Climbing Center in Everett.
What is new to her, however, is guiding. Adriana has never been a sighted guide for a runner with visual impairment before, having only read a magazine article on the concept.
“I’m a little bit nervous, but also really excited,” she says. “I think it will be a great way to learn.”
Adriana could not have a better teacher than Diane Berberian, who relishes the opportunity to induct newcomers to guiding. In fact, when Diane began the Boston Medley – competing in the B.A.A. 5k, 10k, and Half-Marathon in the same year – she set out with a mission of introducing three people with no experience to the world of being a sighted guide.
“All I ask for,” she says, “is a willingness to be my eyes, and a love for running!”
“I have said many times in the past few years that I would have loved to have guided runners,” says Diane, who only began losing her vision to macular degeneration five years ago. “So in my way of giving to our sport, I am teaching those interested in how to guide. I find it a gift to our community.”
When she found out her guide would be a 17-year-old girl, Diane was “thrilled and impressed.”
“I feel honored that such a young person is willing to give up her own race day to spend it with me,” she says. “By her example, she is opening up the door for many more young people to step up and follow her example!”
“I can’t wait to meet her!” she adds.
Through Team With A Vision, the banner under which Diane and Adriana will be running, the Massachusetts Association the Blind and Visually Impaired supports runners who are visually impaired throughout the year, with its largest presence being at the Boston Marathon. Team With A Vision reflects one of MABVI’s core missions: to show the world that “disability” does not mean “inability,” and that with the right support, individuals who are visually impaired can accomplish anything.