A Cape Town man is about to make history as the first blind person to take part in the 100-man Antarctica Marathon.
|||Cape Town - Blind adventurer and daredevil Hein Wagner from Cape Town has never been able to see, but that has not stopped him from following his vision.
Wagner, 40, suffers from Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a condition in which there is no communication between his eyes and brain.
Despite this, Wagner is about to make history as the first blind person to take part in the 100-man Antarctica Marathon.
His vision? To complete seven marathons on seven continents.
“I wanted to complete the most difficult of the seven races and according to Mike [Bailey, his fellow athlete], it was the one in Antarctica. Luckily, I have already participated in New York, Hong Kong and Cape Town marathons and am excited to tick this one off my bucket list in March,” he said, adding that the idea was the brainchild of Bailey.
The pair aim to complete the full Antarctica 42.4km marathon.
Wagner said the biggest challenge would be the unpredictable weather.
“On a nice day, it could be minus 10 Centigrade with little wind, while the next could be minus 35 degrees with icy gale-force winds. The harder the wind blows, the less I can hear what’s going on around me, especially instructions from my running partner.”
To prepare themselves for the race, the pair run about 50km a week.
And to get used to the cold, they plan to set up a treadmill in a cold storage room.
When not sailing from Cape Town to Rio or breaking the world land-speed record for a blind driver at 322.52km/h, Wagner enjoys listening to audio books.
His future adventures include a triathlon in December where he will complete a 2.2km swim, a 90km cycle (on a tandem with Bailey) and a 25km run.
“If you give a little bit of what you’ve got, you’ll get back more than you’ve ever imagined,” he said.
lauren.isaacs@inl.co.za
Cape Times