Italy - “Runner In Vista” - an Italian sport partnership to raise awareness and funds

The “Runner In Vista” (runner in sight) initiative consisted of twelve marathons of 5 kilometers held in eleven different Italian cities. It was an awareness and fund raising sport initiative, started by Proxima Spa and Larry Smith Italia with the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted and the Italian Union for Sport for All (UISP), under the patronage of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and the Italian Paralympic Committee (CIP).

Experienced runners and absolute beginners accompanied a blind person running or walking blindfold to experience what running in the dark is like. The initiative aimed at raising awareness about the value of social inclusion and the right to develop mobility and orientation skills through sport.

This initiative also had the aim of raising funds to support the “Esplora” programme that is being developed by the UICI to help children with visual disabilities to increase their self-confidence and mobility skills. The “Runner In Vista” initiative received the additional support of a wide network of private sponsors and local associations and got national media coverage.  A nice anecdote is that the “runner package”, that every registered participant received was also given to Pope Francis, who accepted it gratefully. The initiative had its last act at the “Biennale”, the international film festival held in Venice in August – September, where a short film about the life of Asia, a partially sighted girl, was shown as a testimonial to the “Runner in vista” initiative. More information on the initiative can be found at:  https://runnerinvista.it/.