Cindy Bergman (48) from Gemert has had a new hobby for six months: running. In itself nothing special, except that Cindy is not only deaf but also almost blind. Yet she will run the ten-kilometer distance at the marathon in Eindhoven on Sunday. There is a lot involved. A lot. But no challenge is too big for Cindy and her team.
“I would like to run that distance. I really like that,” Cindy explains to Omroep Brabant via her iPad. Well, communicating with the 48-year-old Gemertse is difficult. Cindy cannot speak or hear. She also has very poor eyesight and cannot tolerate bright light. “I see almost everything blurry,” she explains.
Yet it has to happen on Sunday in Eindhoven: the ten kilometers. Over the past six months, Cindy has trained three times a week for the distance on the athletics track in Vught. She cannot do such training alone. She runs with a buddy from a group from the Running Blind organization – indeed, a running group especially for the visually impaired.
“If you can’t see anything, everything isn’t possible.”
Brigitte de Laat is one of the buddies of the running group. She herself has normal vision, but as a buddy she knows all too well how great the running challenge is for the visually impaired. “A runner who can see just puts on his shoes and goes outside. But if you can’t see anything, you are always dependent on someone to help you.”
Cindy is a special case. Not only does Cindy have very poor eyesight, she is also completely deaf. “You can still give a verbal warning to a runner who is only blind. Then, as a buddy, you can tell the person to turn left, for example because of a speed bump or because a traffic light is red,” says Brigitte.
That is of course not possible with Cindy. To literally keep her on the right path, a buddy uses a ribbon. To communicate more specifically with Cindy, a kind of hand gestures are used. By touching Cindy’s shoulder and wrist in certain ways, Cindy knows whether she can run faster or whether she should stop.
“As Cindy’s buddy you always have to think ahead.”
For Cindy, the challenge will be tough next Sunday, for sure. But it will certainly be just as tough for her buddy, who would like to be left out of this article. After all, there are thousands of people participating on Sunday, all of whom could get in the way. And then of course there are other obstacles on the course, such as speed bumps and fences.
This requires a lot of alertness for Cindy’s buddy. Simon Sirken, also a buddy of Running Blind, knows this from experience.
“As Cindy’s buddy you always have to think ahead. That really takes a lot of energy. You hear and see everything, but of course Cindy doesn’t. As Cindy’s buddy, you are constantly trying to keep an eye on everything that is happening five meters in front of you. Besides, you can’t do anything unexpected. Then Cindy is shocked, because she doesn’t know what is happening to her.
“I am very happy and very proud.”
At Running Blind they know the challenge will be tough. But just like her buddies, Cindy has confidence in a good outcome on Sunday. “I am very happy and very proud that I can run my very first quarter marathon,” she concludes with confidence.
Everything surrounding the Eindhoven marathon can be followed on Sunday in a live blog and a livestream on the Omroep Brabant website and app.
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