--- title: Thomas Panek to Be 1st Blind NYC Half Marathon Runner Guided By Dogs description: Thomas Panek will be the first blind person to run the NYC Half Marathon, and he will be guided by a team of three dogs, Westley, Waffle, and Gus canonical: https://time.com/5552730/thomas-panek-blind-nyc-half-marathon-dogs/ author: Anne Most article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-15T22:09:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:25:23.083Z article:section: Sports og:title: This Blind Runner Is the First to Race the NYC Half Marathon Guided Only By Dogs og:description: Thomas Panek will be the first blind person to run the NYC Half Marathon, and he will be guided by a team of three dogs, Westley, Waffle, and Gus og:url: https://time.com/5552730/thomas-panek-blind-nyc-half-marathon-dogs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd78ad0d3e6abfe3/698946e0b3fce336110c351a/panekraceday.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: PanekRaceDay og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Blind Runner Is the First to Race the NYC Half Marathon Guided Only By Dogs twitter:description: Thomas Panek will be the first blind person to run the NYC Half Marathon, and he will be guided by a team of three dogs, Westley, Waffle, and Gus twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd78ad0d3e6abfe3/698946e0b3fce336110c351a/panekraceday.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Blind Runner is the First to Complete the NYC Half Marathon Guided Only by Dogs > Sponsored content. 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This Blind Runner Is The First To Run The NYC Half Marathon Guided Only By Dogs_  by [Anne Most](https://time.com/author/anne-most/)  ## Anne Most Mar 15, 2019 10:09 PM UTC This Blind Runner Is The First To Run The NYC Half Marathon Guided Only By Dogs  by [Anne Most](https://time.com/author/anne-most/)  ## Anne Most Mar 15, 2019 10:09 PM UTC Thomas Panek, 48, made history as the first blind man to race in Sunday’s New York City Half Marathon led only by guide dogs. He was guided for the 13.1 mile race by a team of three dogs, a black Labrador named Westley, a yellow Labrador named Waffle and his own personal guide dog, a 7-year-old yellow Labrador named Gus. The team’s run time was 2:20:52. Panek has been a runner for quite some time — he’s run 20 marathons throughout his life. Ever since he lost his sight in his early 20’s, he was hesitant to continue running, but eventually trained to run in races with the help of human guides tethered to him. However, he wondered if it was possible to run a race without human guidance, instead led only with guide dogs. Panek is the president and chief executive officer of [Guiding Eyes for the Blind](https://www.guidingeyes.org/), a New-York based nonprofit organization that matches guide dogs to people with vision loss. Five years ago, Panek was paired with Gus, and in 2015, he developed the “Running Guides” program, which trains dogs to guide blind runners at a running pace. Watch the video above to learn how Panek and his dogs ran Sunday’s historic race. ## Transcript We're doing a half marathon with a relay of dogs and Gus has got the last 5k. And we're going to bring in Wesley here, is Wesley nearby? Yes he is right here. Hey Mr. Wesley. Hey Buddy. And we're going to run together with Wesley, Wesley's going to get the first 5 miles with me. Hey bud, how are you? Thank you to you too, yeah. > [ LAUGHTER ] > [ MUSIC ] > You know, I've been a runner for my whole life. Except for the fact that I stopped for a long time, too afraid to run without assistance. I picked up running again using human guides. People volunteered to connect with me with a tether to show me which way to go, but I would have to leave my guide dog at home. And yet, dogs love to run and I love to run. And so I really wanted to see, with my training team at Guiding Eyes for the Blind, if it was possible to train a guide dog to run. We started small, step- by- step, running in short races, like a 5K, or a five- miler, here in Central Park. But one day, we always hoped that it would be possible to run In a longer race, a half marathon. Ready? Come on. Let's go. We're pacing with three dogs, it's a three dog relay. And Gus will be anchoring the race with the last 5K. Gus will set the pace at the end. We have two other dogs that will be pacing me. The first is going to be Wesley. He's a black club, Wesley runs at about an 8 minute mile to an 8: 30, and then after the first 5 miles, we're gonna have his sister Waffle run in, Waffle is a fast face time, she can do anything from a 6 minute mile on up >> So Gusty's job is to help me navigate around obstacles. He has a specially designed harness for running, these are his running clothes. And I have a harness handle that I hold that connects to him, and everything that I feel through the harness tells me where he's at, when he stops, when he moves around an object to the left or to the right. I'm following him, it's almost like dancing together with somebody. You've gotta follow the footwork. From time to time when we need to go around cones. So I'm gonna be waiting until he starts to pull me to the left and as we're doing that 180, he's showing me how far to turn. So I'm paying a lot of attention To where he's at on the course. I can never get the dog to go run faster than they're comfortable with, they really do set the pace. I can usually encourage them, so I'll say, okay, let's go, let's go. But ultimately, at the end of the day, these dogs are setting the pace. The main objective of the program is to keep me and other people who are blind Healthy so that we have the ability just like anybody else to have health and wellness as a priority in our lives. [ MUSIC ] The trust and the bond that you have with your guide dog, it's really incredible. You're relying on a dog to help you see every day, to keep you safe. From the moment that you wake up in the morning to the moment that you go to sleep at night. I met my wife because I had a guide dog with me, and I had the confidence to go up to her and ask her out on a date. These dogs not only provide you with the safety and independence of being able to be mobile, but guide dogs for people who are blind provide them with that sense of freedom as well, to be able to do whatever it is that a sighted person does, and sometimes Maybe even run a little faster than them. 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