MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Over 5,000 participants gathered at the start line of Camp Pendleton’s World Famous Mud Run on Saturday, June 5, 2010.  Like the Red Sea parting for Moses, the crowd made way for 65 “Blind Mud Runners” representing Blind Start of America (www.BLINDSTART.org) dressed in Military Green, wearing blindfolds, orange safety vests, and yellow signage marked “Blind Runner”.  The applause and cheers of “BLINDSTART! BLINDSTART!” roared as they made their way to the starting line.  This was BLINDSTART’s 2^nd Annual “Visionary Experience…Blindfolded!”  BLIND MUD RUN.

These 13 teams dubbed the “Bakers Dirty Dozen” represent BLINDSTART, an award-winning 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the mission to help blind and visually impaired persons lead lives of Independence.  They continue to make history as the first organization to have both Blind and Blindfolded participants in the event.  Each team consists of one Blind or Visually Impaired runner, one Blindfolded runner and three Sighted Guides who work together to maneuver through a 6.2 mile course full of obstacles and mud.

The Blind Mud Run brings Awareness and Education about the challenges of the Blind and Visually Impaired community.  BLINDSTART is raising funds for its 50/50 Home Promise Plan (2011) which will increase Gainful Work Employment and Home Ownership for Disabled Americans.  To donate to this important cause, please visit www.edivvy.com/charity/blindstart2010 or www.blindstart.org.

The Blind Mud Run is part of a series of popular, niche BLINDSTART events branded “Visionary Experiences…Blindfolded!”  BLINDSTART was founded in 2006 by Brian Tom, a Cerritos resident for 35 years, who became legally blind after losing his sight to glaucoma at the age of 21.

BLINDSTART is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to help Blind and Visually Impaired persons learn and develop job skills to enable them to ultimately lead lives of Independence. To be a part of next year’s Blind Mud Run 2011’s 24 “Double Dirty Dozen” teams or for more information, visit www.BLINDSTART.org, contact us at (562) 282-0123, or visit our Cerritos Office at 13047 Artesia Blvd. Suite C-204 Cerritos, CA 90703.

Written by Daphne Leon Guerrero