Blind Endurance Athlete Breaking Perceptions In 7th Boston Marathon
Dan Berlin has been putting his best foot forward to break the perceptions of himself and others since he lost his sight from cone rod dystrophy. After losing his sight in his early 30s, Berlin, now 50, has become an endurance athlete and is running in his 7th Boston Marathon.
BROOKLINE, Mass., Oct. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Dan Berlin has been putting his best foot forward to break the perceptions of himself and others since he lost his sight from cone rod dystrophy. After losing his sight in his early 30s, Berlin, now 50, has become an endurance athlete and is running in his 7th Boston Marathon. He has once again joined the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired's (MABVI) Team With A Vision (TWAV) for this year's race.
Co-Founder and President of Team See Possibilities, Berlin has been raising money and awareness for his nonprofit organization to help empower young people who have suffered from vision loss. He takes on epic challenges and adventures around the world, including summiting Mount Kilimanjaro in just 2 and a half days, climbing Machu Picchu in one day, running the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim and back non-stop, and completing major marathons like New York and Boston. Berlin, and fellow blind cyclist Jack Chen, also put together the first ever blind tandem cycling team to complete the Race Across America.
"Our mission is to help children who are blind all over the world," Berlin explains. "And it's really to do things that break the perception of limitation - to put it out there to say, all of us can do more than we think we can do."
Berlin is the recipient of the 2021 Kara MacDonald Aspire Award, given by the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI). The Kara MacDonald Aspire Award is presented annually to an athlete that exemplifies the life and work of the late Kara MacDonald, and her dedication to athletes with disabilities. The award will be presented at MABVI's annual pre-marathon dinner.
Tethered to a guide during his runs and adventures, Berlin will be joined in this year's Boston Marathon by triathlete Miss New Hampshire USA 2021, Taylor Fogg, for the first half of the race, and his daughter Talia for the second half of the race. Talia has been volunteering with TWAV over Marathon weekend since she was 11 years old.
"I'm honored to be running with my father in the Boston Marathon," Talia said. "I've been volunteering with TWAV at the Marathon since I was a kid but to be able to join in the race with him this year brings a whole new level of excitement and focus. He and all of the visually impaired athletes are incredibly motivating and inspiring. I'm thrilled to run to Boston with my dad."
With no intention of easing up, Berlin travels the world to visit students who are visually impaired or disabled. He has also created the TSP Scholarship to alleviate part of the financial burden for students who are blind, and serves as chairman of the board for Success Beyond Sight, a nonprofit corporation that helps individuals who are blind or have low vision to advance professionally and fully engage with the community.
About Team With A Vision
Team With A Vision has been raising visibility and critical funds for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired for over 25 years. Their international team of runners is Boston Qualified athletes in the Para Athletic Division, the Adaptive Programs, and charity runners. All funds raised support MABVI's statewide network of vision rehabilitation services, low vision support groups, access technology training, and 400+ volunteers matched 1:1 with individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
About Massachusetts Association For The Blind And Visually Impaired
The Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI), is committed to supporting individuals living with vision loss and blindness and is the oldest social service organization serving adults and seniors. We teach strategies for doing all the activities you may have previously relied on vision to accomplish. There is no one right way to live with vision loss. Our goal is to help you find ways that work for you and to provide you with the support you need. Over 1,400 residents in Massachusetts use one of our services while over 400 volunteers offer support in reading, shopping, running, and walking. For more information, please visit MABVI.org.
About Team See Possibilities
Officially founded in 2015 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Team See Possibilities pursues the mission of inspiring and empowering young people with vision loss to thrive and excel. Our vision is to demonstrate to the world what a person with a visual impairment is capable of achieving, to inspire children with visual impairments and their communities around the world, and to create the next generation of vision impaired role models through education and mentorship. For more information, please visit teamseepossibilities.com/.
Media Contact
Paul Twitchell, MABVI, (617) 732-0264, [email protected]
SOURCE MABVI
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