12/09/2026
And here is the amazing Keira’s run report from this morning:
My name is Keira. I'm blind and I'm a regular parkrunner. Today I ran Wi******er parkrun. It was a special day to do so. My run club, Wi******er Fit Club RC, did a takeover. Most of the volunteers today were members of the club and several of us ran. Everyone did a great job and helped make the run both possible and enjoyable. The focus of the takeover was supporting runners with sight loss. This included 5 blind runners running with guides and others being blindfolded and guided. A guide runner called Joe and our running coach, James, agreed to be blindfolded, which was both helpful and quite fun.
Speaking of the club, there are a few things about Wi******er Fit Club RC that makes them special. Firstly, the club is inclusive. Whether you want to smash your personal best and run marathons or just have a gentle, chatty run, the club will support you. As a club, we help people achieve what they want. If you think you're too slow, you're not. We are all friendly and we make sure everyone feels included. We do a mixture of track sessions, social runs and formal races such as Stubbington and Eastleigh 10k. We also do very important training sessions sometimes, including cake eating, chatting, eating fish and chips on the club's birthday and our Christmas party. We run but we also have fun.
That is just the start. Another way we as a club make sure people are included is through our team of guide runners. In and around Wi******er, we have a lovely community of blind and visually impared people that Wi******er Fit Club RC are able to support. Sadly, only about 60 to 80 of the many blind people in the UK do parkrun each week. We had more people than that today at Wi******er parkrun alone. When you compare the number of sighted people to blind people parkrunning, you realise the difference is huge. Luckily, thanks to funding from Wi******er City Council, 20 local runners were able to go on a training course. This course trained them on how to guide and gave them the qualification they need to be able to guide. Now, we have 28 guide runners in Wi******er. Not being able to find a guide is one of the reasons blind people feel they can't run and Fit Club have noticed this, especially with more people reaching out to the team. That's why so many amazing people have joined that team of guide runners. Think about how parkrun is impossible without volunteers. For most blind people, running without a guide is also impossible. But thanks to Fit Club, it no longer is.
As a blind runner myself, Fit Club have not only taught me that enjoying myself is more important than worrying about my pace but they have given me so much more. The team of guide runners have given me people to chat to. Every Saturday, I get up knowing that I can have a great time at parkrun catching up with one of the lovely guide runners. At the takeover, I ran with Sarah. We sang and chatted through the whole run and it made my Saturday. Some guide runners think they're too slow. At Wi******er parkrun, we have a mix of speeds among the blind runners and we don't mind having a slower run sometimes. For me, it's great that I get to go out, exercise and socialise. That's what I love about Fit Club and parkrun above anything else. Some guide runners worry about not knowing what to do. This is why you can get trained up to become a guide. If you would like to guide, you will also find that the person you're running with will be open about what they need you to do for them. Some blind people worry about running too. But with a guide, an inclusive running club and a positive mindset, there is nothing to stop anyone from running or guiding.
In summary, Wi******er parkrun and Wi******er Fit Club RC are amazing, making everything inclusive and supporting blind runners like me. If you want to run or be a guide, just reach out and give it a try. Thank you everyone involved today for an amazing run.
