Simon Wheatcroft: Blind ultra marathon runner working on an app to assist others

Most of us look at our smartphone as a fancy device to stay connected and access media, but for some it is more than just that. Technology has changed our lives in many ways, and this inspiring story will make you love your tech, even more. At the IBM Developer Connect held in Bengaluru, I met Simon Wheatcroft. A dad and ultra marathon runner with longest run of 260 miles including 83 miles non-stop, cheerful, friendly and visually impaired. No, this isn’t a sad story, but a truly inspiring one. Did he always want to be a runner? “Not really, I never wanted to be a runner,” he tells us. Wheatcroft was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa when he was 13 and by the age of 17 had completely lost vision. He once planned to take his girlfriend up a mountain and had to return due to unstable weather conditions, as she could see and he couldn’t. That’s what changed his attitude towards life as he decided to never give up again. He started running across the goalpost with the pair of shoes he had, the Runkeeper app with audio feedback. Then on, there was no looking back. It wasn’t easy as he decided to run outdoors with chances of crashing into a tree or post. “I really wanted to do something, really push the boundaries,” he said. And, he chose running because it wasn’t quite costly, and once you get shoes you can simply start running. “I had just gone to the University and didn’t have enough money. Running doesn’t need a lot of money and I could just do it,” he added.

How technology changed it all Wheatcroft says technology has played a big role in his life. He says it came at a time when he was glum with life. “Without technology I would have not been able to even get started. So, technology has played a big role,” he said. However, for him, even more important was the point of time it came in his life. “When I came down from mountains I was having a very difficult time. I was finding it hard to live with the fact that I had to come down because I couldn’t see. Runkeeper gave me the challenge helped me. It came at the perfect time when I was struggling with life and this app gave me hope and opportunity,” he said. “Running is the sense of independence and opportunity to push. How often do we take some time where we can think about one thing. Running lets you concentrate and it’s time to solve problems you have at work” Association with IBM  “It started quite a while ago, he tells us. IBM offers cloud services for the Runkeeper app and Wheatcroft has been using Runkeeper for 5-6 years. “It was during IBM and Runkeeper competitions that my name came up. Long story short, I was in the commercial. And, it was during the commercial that I had enough interaction with IBM and discussed a few pieces of technology that could be interesting for future,” he said. IBM and Runkeeper collaborated and worked towards a solution that would help him navigate the dessert. Apps and features He is currently working on an app along with IBM. However, it’s still work in progress and just a prototype. The app is internally known as eAscot, and named after his dog Ascot. The app is still in works at IBM’s Bluemix Garage. “When you are building navigation app for blind, it has to be safe. We are going to ensure it is safe,” he said. Meanwhile he is using Runkeeper with IBM Cloud. Talking about the Runkeeper with IBM Cloud, Bhumika Patel, a marathoner and an employee with IBM tells us, “Audio Cue is one feature that Simon uses very nicely. He uses it on familiar roads. So, he knows that at 2 kms a tree could be an obstruction. So, he uses the feature along with his knowledge about the road to his advantage.”

Talking about what features he expects for the app. He said, “I think in the future there would really have to be some level of object detection. Right now, apps help with plain navigation. We are looking at working on something which can detect obstacles and other runners.  There should be a sort of vibration pattern like a belt around the chest that would vibrate and alert in the form of haptic feedback.”