SHARING AN OPPORTUNITY FROM HAL WOLFE, DXA2 RACE DIRECTOR

Hello fellow runners – as some of you may know, I have been working for the past 11 years as a volunteer with the Michigan Blind Athletic Association (MBAA) as their track & field director and track coach at a developmental sports camp help every May in Kalamazoo. I have also organized a number of trips taking promising young track and field athletes to Colorado to a camp sponsored by the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA). Since resigning as the race director of the Dexter - Ann Arbor Run last fall, volunteer work with the MBAA has been keeping me pretty busy.

As I have been ramping up this volunteer work, I am planning to form my own non-profit called “Running Blind”. My immediate goal is to raise some money to help send a very talented visually impaired athlete named Ahmed to the USABA camp in Colorado in late July. Ahmed is from Africa and now lives in Grand Rapids. He is visually impaired but not totally blind and he can see well enough that he does not need a guide runner. (In fact he’s not allowed one.) He’s on his H.S. track team and can run a 52 second 400, 23 second 200, and can high jump 6’ 2”. In short, he’s a great athlete and I really want the USABA staff to meet him as I think he has Paralympic potential.

I am asking for support from up to 20 people who are able to donate $30 each to help cover for Ahmed’s expenses for this trip. If you choose to donate I will send you a note about the trip with details, and a note afterwards with a message from Ahmed so that you can share in this opportunity for him to travel, complete, meet other visually impaired athletes, and have a great time.

I am also looking for volunteer guide running partners for a middle school student in Ann Arbor who hopes to run cross country this fall. She is blind and needs some partners to get out and run with her this summer and fall. No experience is necessary – I can train people quickly in the basics of guide running. This is a great opportunity to directly interact with a young runner who truly needs help. (Women are preferred for this role – and I will definitely need more than one person.)

Please consider supporting these worthy causes. Both of these young people are in need of assistance. Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have about Running Blind or either of these two assistance projects. Thanks.

Hal Wolfe (runlikehal@yahoo.com)
2045 McKinley, Ypsilanti, Mi 48197
DxA2 Race Director Emeritus
MBAA Track & Field Director
Running Blind (future) Founder