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Blind, diabetic runner to tackle Colfax Marathon

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Contributed by: Liz Easterly on 4/17/2008

Kerry Kuck is 50. He started running when he was 13 to control his Type 1 Diabetes. He can recall running at night to reduce high blood sugars.

Athletes with Type 1 diabetes are in a catch-22: exercise, in moderation, can improve blood glucose management. But long, high-intensity exercise can send blood sugars plummeting down to dangerously low levels. Kuck never thought he could run more than a 10K until he joined the Rocky Mountain Road Runners in January 2007 and Achilles Track Club of Denver in March of 2007. With the help of these 2 organizations, Kerry was able to make longer and
faster training runs.

With the help of a new, high tech device called a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), Kerry is attempting his first full marathon, the Oklahoma City Memorial on April 27, 2008. It will be followed by the Colfax half-marathon on May 18.

Kerry's first half marathon was the 2007 Colfax, which he completed in 2:13:43. During that half, Kerry had to stop twice for blood sugar tests using the traditional finger stick and meter method. This year, thanks to his new CGM, stopping for finger stick tests shouldn't be
necessary.

But the diabetes isn't Kuck's only challenge. He's also totally blind.

Kuck trains with his guide dog, Audi, a yellow lab who loves to run. The two run 3-1/2 to 5 miles a day together. Audi can get Kuck into shape, but it's a human guide that he needs for the longer training runs and for the races.

That's where the Achilles Track Club comes in. The Denver chapter of Achilles was formed last March to help disabled people participate in mainstream athletics like the Colfax Marathon. Volunteers from Achilles do training runs as well as races with a tether to Kuck to keep him safe and weave around obstacles.

"Finding a guide is hard when you're running 22 miles," Kuck said. "It's extra work for the guide. With Audi, I can run an 11-12 minute mile. A human guide allows me to run much faster."

Kuck has been training with runners from Achilles, Rocky Mountain Road Runners and with Nick Sterner and members of the AIR Foundation (one of the Colorado Colfax Marathon's charity partners).

"Running blind is the easy part," Kuck said. "It's running with Type 1 diabetes that's hard. And finding a human guide, sometimes that's hard."

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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments

Submitted By: Liz Easterly

posted on 4/21/2008 @ 3:48:35 PM

Rated Story

Kerry is the Remarkable Runner at the Colfax Marathoners blog. Lots of inspiring comments over there! http://www.coloradocolfaxmarathon.org/portal/Blog/tabid/236/EntryID/43/Default.aspx

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Submitted By: Gladys Mercier

posted on 4/18/2008 @ 7:51:55 PM

Rated Story

Kerry is totally brave. I admire him for his accomplishments.

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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Liz Easterly

Denver , CO

Liz Easterly has posted 16 stories and 4 comments since joining on 3/2/2008. Liz Easterly 's average story rating is 5.

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