Greater Manchester runner on why exercising on the city’s roads and pavements with sight loss is a challenge

A Greater Manchester man who has a progressive sight loss condition has spoken about the challenges he faces keeping up his favourite hobby on the city’s roads and pavements.

Gareth Smith, from Irlam, was diagnosed with a genetic condition seven years ago but took up running during lockdown for both his mental and physical health. He is currently in training for his first marathon later this year but says the condition of the transport and active travel network around his home in Salford present major problems for keeping fit.

Gareth is also an active presence on social media which he uses both to raise awareness about problems people with disabilities in Greater Manchester face and share advice and tips on how to keep active and run with sight loss.

How did Gareth realise he had a sight loss condition and how did he start running?

Gareth, who is 43 and works as a risk manager, spoke about realising there was something wrong with his sight when he was in his mid-30s and the process which led to a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa. The condition means he has tunnel vision and diminished night vision, leaving him with almost no sight when it is dark.

He said: “It was something I noticed grasually over the course of maybe six months, and then all of a sudden I walked into a cinema with my wife. The film had started so it was completely black and I couldn’t see anything.

“I thought I needed to go and get an eye test, and that led to a referral to the eye hospital, tests and scans and then a diagnosis of being legally blind.”

Gareth admits that the process of coming to terms with what had happened to him took longer than realising there was a problem with his vision. The father-of-three had a white cane shortly after being diagnosed but was concerned about it making him stand out when he was in public, so didn’t use it straight away.

He said: “I didn’t accept it all at first, I was in denial for a long period of time. It took a couple of years to get to the point where I accepted I had a visual impairment and this label of disability would be attached to me. Since then I have accepted it and it is fine.

“I do a lot of talks in schools and in my workplace on disability inclusion and how we can make things more accessible.

“My condition is progressive and there’s no cure for it, it can’t be reversed or halted. It’s just going to get worse. The difficulty is I don’t know how quickly my vision will decline. It has got worse over the last seven and a half years but not to the point where I can’t see anything. I do have some useful vision and luckily what I do have is 20-20 and crystal clear.”

Gareth had enjoyed sport for years before his diagnosis, playing football and American football as a tight end for the Manchester Titans team. He was also a regular gym goer and while this was something he is still able to continue with now he was looking for another outlet to keep fit when the first lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic came along.

He said: “It was a way to keep my mental health as much as my physical. One concern for me is that a lot of eye conditions have links to diabetes and I don’t want that to happen to me because it could affect my vision.

“Towards the back of last year I needed something to focus on. I had a lack of motivation and there was a dip in my mental health.”

Gareth started running using the Couch to 5k programme but it escalated relatively quickly, with 5k being followed by 10k then by 10 miles and then a half marathon, a distance he completed at the Great Manchester Run, his first official event. Gareth completed the 13.1 miles with his brother in law David Wise running next to him acting as a guide and helper.

What has Gareth said about running in Greater Manchester while having sight loss?

Gareth says that running with a visual impairment in Greater Manchester is not as easy as it could be due to the state of the city-region’s roads and pavements. He tends to run around his home town of Irlam and says his favourite method of training is to walk using a cane to the local park and then completing a circuit around there.

He shares his experiences as a runner with sight loss on his Instagram profile You Don’t Look Blind , which includes video segments comparing how people with visual impairments run compared to someone who is fully sighted.

Gareth said: “Pavements are a big obstacle. If I’m looking ahead I can’t see on the ground so I either look at the ground for trip hazards or look up and ahead. It’s a catch-22. Because of the pavements around the city, it hasn’t taken long for me to almost spear myself with my cane because it gets caught on raised paving stones.

“Another big obstacle for me is when the bins are being collected and are just thrown across the pavement and the middle of the road. That’s not just a hazard for someone like me but also for people in wheelchairs or those using pushchairs. Add into that cars that park far up the pavement which almost forces you into the road.

“Improvements have been made to cycling paths and cycle lanes but I’d maybe like to see something like that for running. My regular area for running is Irlam because I’ve lived here nearly 10 years and I know all the pathways and where is safe and when it’s not going to be busy. That gives me more confidence that I don’t have to worry about traffic or crossing the road or like things like that.

“There are quite a few athletics places around Manchester and good running facilities in places like Wythenshawe and parts of North Manchester but there isn’t really anything out this way.

“I had just got on with things until somebody pointed out it could be quite dangerous and wasn’t an ideal situation.

“I started on social media a couple of years ago. I can get people to see what I see and what I do on a daily or weekly basis. It’s a way to raise awareness about visual impairment and disability in general.”

Gareth has also teamed up with sight loss charity Henshaws, using his debut half marathon at the Great Manchester Run to raise money. He will be supporting them again when he steps up to the full 26.2 mile distance at the Chester Marathon in October and hopes to use the link to further drive conversations about inclusiveness and disability. You can donate to his fund-raising page at JustGiving here.

What messages does Gareth have for people with disabilities and the authorities?

Gareth has spoken to Transport for Greater Manchester about inclusion-related issues and has raised problems with Salford Council.

He also wants politicians and lawmakers to think about those with visual impairments when it comes to safety on our streets, roads and pavements and suggested they use a vision simulator such as the pairs of glasses which represent different levels of impairment and can give people something of an insight into what living with sight loss is like.

Gareth says people with disabilities should consider running as a hobby, and he urged those thinking about it to do what’s ‘best for you’.

He said: “One thing I have tried to promote is there is always something you can do to be physically healthy. For me, it’s remembering not to let your disability stop you. Don’t let your disability put you off.”