Blind Behind the Wheel.... everyone’s a winner!
The race cars at Edmonton International Raceway are incredibly fast, high-powered machines. Watching from the sidelines, you just know it takes nerves of steel, quick reactions and a good eye to handle one of these cars.... and then again, maybe not!
It was the 3rd annual Blind Behind the Wheel on June 20th at the Wetaskiwin raceway, just outside Edmonton, and blind and visually impaired competitors proved that you could do pretty much anything if you put your mind to it!
While the first event in 2006 drew only a handful of spectators, this year the stands were filled to capacity and the fans were pumped! Loretta Thiering, who organized the event, was thrilled with the results. "This year we had two blind races," she said. "One was for people with no vision at all; the following heat was for those who have some vision." In each case the driver was paired with a sighted navigator to help with those all important decisions like when to go fast, when to slow down and of course left and right. A few cars touched each other briefly; there were a few spins and a couple of blown tires but no major damage!
Rick Munroe sat quietly at the picnic table before the race began. "I’m actually quite scared," he commented to one of the people near him. He shouldn’t have been concerned. Paired with navigator Dana Wick, Rick, just 18, drove like a pro.... even though it was his first time ever behind the wheel of a vehicle. He won the totally blind category, narrowly beating out competitor, Amber Thomas, who drove into second place, sitting beside Alar Aksberg. Third place in this category went to Jason Schmidt and his navigator, Joel Bowtell.
In the race for those who could see just a little bit more, the winner was Viviane Forest, partnered with Sheldon Neilsen. She smiled broadly as she held up her trophy afterwards. Second place in this race was last year’s overall winner, Tamara Cable, driving with Doug Thomson and third went to George Earl and his navigator, Mac MacIntyre.
Ryan Kucy, a fiercely determined racer who won Blind Behind the Wheel in 2006 laughed afterwards about his bad luck. He and partner Alar Aksberg, both speed demons, gave it their all but their path to victory was marred by a flat tire and they just had to sit at the sidelines until the race was over. Ryan will definitely be back next year to try again. And for Ryan, the week’s excitement was not yet over. He talked excitedly about his coming trip to Vancouver, just two days after the race, to start training with Kazam, his new guide dog! Toots, his first guide dog, retired just after Christmas.
Everyone who participated in Blind Behind the Wheel was a winner. The drivers proved that people with vision problems could pretty much do anything, with a bit of help. The navigators and owners of the cars were incredibly generous with both their time and their enthusiasm, and they helped make the race a success. Alberta Guide Dog Services was also a big winner, not only with the money raised....several thousand dollars… but with the incredible awareness that the race brought about. Many of the drivers raised money through gathering pledges; others brought out family members to cheer them on and donate money. Strangers dipped into their wallets to contribute to the 50/50 draw, with the charity getting half of that.
Watching all the excitement was the little black Murphy, a four-month old Alberta Guide Dog Puppy in training who attended the race with his puppyraiser Lana Cicko. He took the whole experience in stride. He was a bit apprehensive about the noise when he first arrived at the track, looking out at everything with wide puppy eyes. By the end of the day, though, he was sitting side by side with the many working guide dogs in the stands, wowing everyone with his good behavior and happily greeting his many admirers. He eventually yawned and fell asleep on his blanket.
A huge thanks to the management at Edmonton International Raceway for giving so much to help make a difference for Alberta Guide Dog Services and the people who receive our guide dogs!
Bring on year four!
