A runner in his 70s is gearing up for the biggest marathon in the world next month — and all with limited sight.
Douglas Chee told Seven Sharp he has "about 5%" of his vision in his right eye, while his left eye is "100% gone and it's all cloudy" due to glaucoma.
But you don't need vision to be a runner, he said — not when you've got a running partner for help.
Air New Zealand flight attendant and mum Rosie Hay is a keen runner, having completed "around 50" half marathons, and 16 full marathons.
Chee, meanwhile, has run 60 half marathons and completed the Christchurch Marathon since he started in 1985.
For the past eight months, the pair have been a team thanks to Achilles New Zealand — the Kiwi leg of a global support group for athletes with disabilities.
Now, they're training for the biggest marathon in the world — the New York City Marathon.
Around 50,000 runners take part in the 42km race every year, 1000 of whom are from overseas.
"It's going to be loud; it's going to be chaotic. There's going to be people everywhere," Hay said.
The race conditions are a far cry from the alpine views in Christchurch.
Chee said come November 5, when he tackles the Big Apple, he could well be in the dark.
"I'm preparing myself to go totally blind," he said.
"I'll hear the noise, music — you're going through the Bronx, you're going through Queens."
Hay said she'll be memorising the names of the bridges "so that I can describe it all to Douglas".
It's not about the race, however, but the laughs and adventure which comes with it.
"Ready? Course I'm ready," Chee said, "75 years I'm ready."
Hay said taking part in the marathon will be "a huge moment".
"I'll cry. I'll be very, very, very proud and it's going to be a very emotional moment for both of us, I'm sure," she said.
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