Igniting the Possibilities
Randy Pierce tackles challenges with grit, courage and trust
Randy Pierce had already fought his way through the grief, isolation and hopelessness he felt when he went blind from a sudden neurological disease at age 22. He’d come out the other side determined to reject the perceived limitations of his condition.
He began volunteering as a teacher. He earned a black belt in karate. He built a website about the Patriots that went viral, inspired a fan community, and earned national media coverage and a plaque in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Then a fluke accident left him suddenly wheelchair-bound.
“It was hard being blind and in a wheelchair,” he says dryly. “My first moments in the wheelchair, I was low, and I remember thinking, you know, first I go legally blind, and then I go totally blind, and now I’m in a wheelchair. When is life going to stop kicking me?”
We’re sitting in his office at Future In Sight in Concord. This is the organization whose support brought him out of his initial, inertial despair after he went blind. They taught him how to navigate the world in a new way. Later they invited him to be on the board of directors. Now he’s the president and CEO, passionately stewarding the more-than-century-old organization forward in its mission to provide support and services to the blind and visually impaired.
It’s late on a Friday afternoon. September sunlight is streaming in the windows of his corner office and his guide dog, Swirl, a black lab, is lying patiently near his feet. We’re wearing shorts and sneakers, sweat still drying after a run up the steep hill toward White Park and then back.
We were taking it easy because it was a hot day, and Randy’s treadmill has been broken so he hasn’t been out in a few weeks. That’s where he logs most of his miles these days. It’s not always possible to coordinate schedules with runner friends who can act as guides on outdoor runs. When it’s working, the treadmill is a saving grace for a high-mileage runner like Randy.
Randy Pierce, guided by Ernesto Burden, runs past White Park in Concord.
I’ve run with Randy a few times now, and he’s still working to teach me the ropes of guiding a blind runner. He has to keep reminding me as we run, each holding one end of an ultralight, collapsible cane, to time my audio cues better. “Step up to a curb in three, two, one,” or “There’s a gate with two bollards coming up in about 10 feet, tuck in behind me. Three, two, one.” I usually manage to name the obstacles as we are upon them. My countdown could use work.
The amount of attention, presence and focus it takes to guide can be nerve-wracking initially. A sighted runner quickly realizes when learning to guide how much of what we do when we run is unconscious, taken for granted. Curbs and cars and ruts in the road. Bridges where you have to step up on one side and step down the other. Tree limbs hanging over paths. Randy wears sunglasses while running to prevent those tree limbs from poking his eyes, should his guide fail to mention or avoid them.
This underscores the tremendous courage and trust Randy manifests in so many areas of his life.
I asked him how he came to distance running after ending up in a wheelchair. He says surviving that one year, eight months, and 21 days in the wheelchair made him realize how much he loved being on his feet and moving.
“When I came out, I had a walking stick that I needed for support,” he says. “And it was a long, gradual process. But I celebrate walking. Hiking is walking in great situations. And running is walking at a little bit of speed. I’ll never take for granted those gifts again. And I’m going to find ways to celebrate them.”
That started his athletic journey. Now that he was up again, he wanted to know how far he could push himself.
Randy Pierce rests on his steps with guide dog, Swirl.
The marathon is a 26.2-mile running race. Randy has run 17 of them since 2014. His first one was Providence. His guide dog had recently passed away, and he had a new dog, which he couldn’t leave to go running as often as one normally would to train for a 26.2-mile race. The bonding process is too fragile and critical. So his longest run before that first marathon was 10 miles, which most marathoners would agree is not enough.
“You can guess what happened, and that was no surprise to me,” Randy laughs. Undertrained and suffering, he nevertheless finished the race in 4 hours and 40 minutes. He walked some of it but ran the majority, including the final miles.
“Not always fast, but it taught me a little bit of the grit that you need to do to get through that.”
Grit has been a consistent element of Randy’s story. A core value that comes across in the stories he tells and the speeches he gives. He’s in high demand as a public speaker. He’s got great stories to tell. But he’s also got an underlying passion for what he’s doing that makes every day exciting and mission-driven for him.
He applies the same tenacity it takes to run a marathon or do a Tough Mudder obstacle race to further the aims of Future In Sight.
“I am passionate about this, because this is my way that I can make sure that I’ve given back for the support that got me out of the literal darkest days of my life and moving into believing in myself and what I could be doing. And now this is my chance to make sure that the team who does it is best supported.”
From partners and collaborators to clients to donors, Randy works to “excite and invite” them to the possibilities. He describes the evangelism and teaching he does for the cause, not as filling his audiences up with knowledge as though they were containers but lighting fires. He’s evoking passion because he knows the difference Future In Sight made in his life and in so many others.
“The blindness challenge leaves people more often isolated and not believing in themselves. They do not believe they have the skills, and so they quit … they hide, and they stay inside. But I think for many of them, it’s that they think they have no other choice. And that’s what I want to change.”
Randy’s feats, from marathon running to obstacle racing to axe throwing, may seem insurmountably daunting for someone who can’t see. These examples can help provide insight into how many other activities that may now seem impossible to a newly blind or visually impaired person — or to their family members — are still achievable. Whether it’s quilt making, working on a computer, reading a newspaper, or cooking (“cooking without looking,” he jokes), Randy says, with the right guidance, a new way forward can be found.
“It’s a gradual change as you start to realize how much more you can do,” Randy says. “I think the biggest epiphany for me came when I finished my first round of training here (at Future In Sight). I suddenly saw that I could get where I wanted to go. It gets you out of your home, gets you out of isolation and you start connecting. And that can take you anywhere.”
This article is featured in the winter 2024 issue of 603 Diversity.
603 Diversity’s mission is to educate readers of all backgrounds about the exciting accomplishments and cultural contributions of the state’s diverse communities, as well as the challenges faced and support needed by those communities to continue to grow and thrive in the Granite State.
