{"id":309,"date":"2025-04-17T11:54:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T10:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sidelinesmag.co.uk\/?p=309"},"modified":"2025-06-05T17:30:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T16:30:22","slug":"guiding-to-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/sidelines\/2025\/04\/17\/guiding-to-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"Guiding to glory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Attached by a 10cm cord, how do visually impaired runners and their guides stay in sync and reach the finish line? With record-breaking athletes, Sidelines brings you an exclusive insight into guide running. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Great Britain’s 100 metre blind sprint record holders James Ledger and guide runner Greg Kelly approach the finish line, Photo courtesy of James Ledger<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the Paralympic and sporting world, few partnerships are as vital as that between a blind athlete and their guide runner. Often overlooked, guides are the glue that makes it all happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trust is vital, and for Great Britain and Wales\u2019 leading T11* sprinter, James Ledger, and his guide Greg Kelly, this is no different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are both the athlete in my eyes. Without Greg, I can\u2019t do what I do,\u201d says Ledger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their first year as a team, Ledger and Kelly broke the T11 British record for 100 metres, crossing the line in 11.55 seconds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew it was quick; we could just feel it. When you\u2019re waiting for the clock to come down to see what the time was, seeing \u2018British record\u2019 is just an unbelievable feeling,\u201d Kelly says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m running as fast as I possibly can in the dark,\u201d Ledger says. \u201cI\u2019ve got to trust Greg with everything, and that belief in him lets me fly to my full potential; that is how we beat that record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Kelly having never guided a run in his life, their friendship formed quickly, and that translated to results on the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Greg and I first met, we became bloody good friends,\u201d Ledger says. \u201cThat makes everything easier. We understand each other a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what goes into finding a guide fast enough to sprint next to a world-class blind sprinter, but selfless enough to cross the line second?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was an Instagram ad, put out by Ledger and his coach Matt Elias, which attracted the attention of sprinter Greg Kelly, 25, from Scotland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think guide running would have been on my radar,\u201d Kelly says. \u201cBut after seeing the ad and having one conversation with James I saw what his ambitions were to go to the Paralympics and compete abroad, I was desperate to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly, growing up, was always a sports lover and was focused on football, but when individual medals and national titles for Scotland in athletics (200 metres and 400 metres) started flowing in, he pursued athletics wholeheartedly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a move to Loughborough to study at the University, he progressed his individual athletics career in 200 and 400 metre races, pushing for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blind sprinter James Ledger and guide runner Greg Kelly start the race, Photo courtesy of James Ledger<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Whilst that didn\u2019t pan out, timing led him straight into Ledger’s path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I applied to be James\u2019 guide runner – I didn’t train for it,\u201d Kelly admitted. \u201cI actually studied a few YouTube videos and listened to feedback from James following our training sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly’s lack of experience as a guide runner has never been a stumbling block, as for Ledger, what mattered most was learning the timing, rhythm and understanding of each other and building their relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guide running is where a sighted guide assists a visually impaired runner, ensuring safety and direction. The guide and runner are tethered by a 10cm cord and communicate constantly to navigate the track together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with Ledger having already worked with a guide runner, running at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and the 2022 Birmingham Games, he is now an expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ledger, 31, was born in Swansea with bilateral coloboma and nystagmus, a condition affecting his sight and eye movement, leaving him with around 3% total vision. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a very young age, my parents quickly realised that the world wasn\u2019t necessarily a visually-impaired-friendly place,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He discovered running after a discussion with his parents and realised that sitting on the bench for a non-disability football team wasn’t fulfilling a desire for sporting success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ledger said: \u201cDad, I want to be fast.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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