With no excuses, just runs

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With no excuses, just runs

The Herald-Sun May 24, 2005

http://www.herald-sun.com/sports/18-610311.html

Curt placed third in his age group in a recent road race, his

name blending in with the rest in the overall results.

But , 41, is no ordinary runner.

He covered the distance, 9.3 miles, in a few minutes more than an

hour, competing against other runners as well as the turns and undulations

of the course. His was a time anyone could be proud of. But should be

applauded not only for speed and stamina but also for courage.

is blind.

In a sport rife with excuses, would have an easy out. Forget if

his back hurts, or if it's too hot or too cold or too windy. is happy

if he can get out for a few miles with a guide supplying tugs on his left

elbow as well as verbal cues.

" He's very independent, " said Jeff Wilcox, a Durham triathlete and

's most frequent running guide. " I think if you have a disability like

that, you go one way or the other. He never finds an excuse for something.

Everybody has an excuse for why they can't run a 5K. "

, a decorated economics professor at Duke, lives life like the

rest of us. He is married with three children and enjoys playing guitar. He

cooks pork tenderloin or salmon on the grill, and he can whip up a mean Thai

curry.

" He's a really good cook, " Wilcox said.

When can't arrange to run outside, he pounds away on a

treadmill while listening to Tom Petty. And, though he cannot see the body

art on his upper arm, he recently got a tattoo of a peregrine falcon at the

same time his teenage daughter had her belly button pierced. A bonding

experience, he said.

ran cross country in high school in Tacoma, Wash., even though

his coach insisted on a group of runners, not just one, being his guide.

knew the importance of developing chemistry with the guiding runner,

and there were instances then when races didn't go so well.

Like the time the coach paired with a student from overseas who

was still learning English. finished the race in one piece -- barely.

" I think I fell 12 times. It was pretty bad, " said. " But it was

a bad course. Even the sighted people were falling. "

received his doctorate at Yale and worked nine years at Texas

A & M before coming to Duke five years ago. While in Texas, he ran the Houston

Marathon twice, the first time in 3 hours, 17 minutes -- about 7½ minutes

per mile. During one of the training buildups to Houston, his guide pulled a

hamstring on the last long run, but was able to find another guide to

run with him.

One of his guides now, UNC economics professor Claudio Mezzetti, is

about to leave for England. Even though he and Wilcox hit it off great,

is still looking for guides.

Arranging for a second runner is his lone difficulty in the sport.

That, and the roots he must navigate on runs in Duke Forest. But Wilcox has

managed to pilot the two on straight lines, avoiding the pitfalls that

sighted runners have little trouble with. said he has fallen once in

the last year, stubbing his toe on a footbridge.

occasionally runs Wednesday evening summer track meets with the

Carolina Godiva Track Club at Durham Academy. He enjoys flat, straight road

races most.

" I don't run very well at the track; I'm pretty good at going

straight, " he said. " People have natural gyroscopes. Once you're going

straight, it's not so bad, but the turns are tough. "

The running, he says, clears his mind and gives him the freedom to eat

and drink what he wants, a common theme among runners. is willing to

take the risks that come with running blind for the rewards the sport

brings.

" I think [for] most people in my shoes, the alternatives are not very

interesting, " said. " It's kind of what you're used to. I think if

you're sighted, imagining what it must be like to do something blind is

unfathomable. It depends on what you're used to. "

, stricken at age 2 with a type of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

that attacked his neck and head and gradually took away his sight, remembers

a disabled colleague at Texas A & M saying something one day that puzzled him.

The man, a marathoner and engineering professor, lost all feeling from his

chest down around age 30. One day, getting out of the van that transported

the university's disabled staff to and from work, the man told , " I

would never trade places with you. "

, fully blind since age 20 but fully able to enjoy life, was

baffled.

" I'm thinking, 'What the hell is he talking about?' said. " I

would never trade places with him. "