Richard Hunter
Richard was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa in November 1989 while a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. 10 months after being commissioned in the USMC at Oregon State University, he was quickly medically discharged and needed to find a new purpose in life. It was the Marines who introduced him to strenuous endurance activity, but he didn’t start running longer distances until about 12 years later.
Richard completed his first marathon in 2002 in 3:43:39. He had accomplished his goal, checked it off his list of things to do, and returned to running shorter distances to stay in shape. Richard began to experience a rapid rate of vision loss in 2005, and found himself in the position of having to leave behind his10-year career as a school psychologist in a small Northern California school district. After going out on disability retirement, it became even more important for Richard to find ways to be a positive role model to his 3 young daughters so began doing a lot of volunteer work and set the ambitious goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. It wasn’t until he crossed the finish line of the December 2007 California International Marathon with a time of 3:18:49 that he even knew he was physically capable of attaining such a difficult goal.
Presently, Richard has small islands of vision in each eye remaining. In spite of his limited vision, it is not uncommon to see Richard running by himself on familiar paved bicycle paths along the American River near his Folsom, CA home. He wears a reflective vest with “Blind” printed on the front and back as a safety precaution. Richard was recently introduced to Justin Waller, a 3-time Ironman, who was inspired to become a volunteer when he saw on-line footage of C-Different athletes and guides. Richard is extremely thankful for his new training partner and friend!
As of March 2009, Richard has completed 11 half-marathons (PR is 1:32:13) and 3 marathons, including the 2008 Boston Marathon. Richard set the goal of completing a ½ Ironman to once again set a stretch goal and to serve as a positive role model to his children.
