RUNNERS WITH VISION

Guided by volunteers, visually impaired athletes tackle marathon tasks to prove that it is not the winning but the taking part that counts both in a race and in life as they inspire with a determination to overcome the odds.

Running a marathon takes determination, courage, perseverance. It is an arduous undertaking that requires months of dedicated training. But for some of the runners on the Beijing marathon on Sept 16, they had to overcome challenges far greater than the majority of those they competed against. For 21 of the runners pounding the capital's roads were visually impaired and had to compete "tied" to another runner for guidance.

"I feel relieved after all of them completed the race safely, and the 87 volunteer guides who gave up their own participation to help our visually impaired runners did an incredible job," a volunteer guide and trainer Li Yubao said.