Guiding Eyes CEO Gets New Running Guide Dog During Blindness Awareness Month
President and CEO of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Thomas Panek, is celebrating this National Blindness Awareness Month (October) with a brand new guide dog. Blaze, a two-year old yellow lab, is an official graduate of the organization’s Running Guides program.
In his downtime as “top dog” at Guiding Eyes, Blaze can be found training alongside Panek with his four children at their high school track and field. Panek hopes to pass on his love of health and fitness to youth who are blind and sighted alike.
“Blaze has big paws to fill, but on his second birthday this month, he is looking every bit as capable as Gus (Panek’s former guide dog),” Panek said. “Maybe even a little faster running around the track.”
Panek’s last guide dog Gus, an eight year old yellow lab, retired at the finish-line of the 2019 New York Half-Marathon, the first guide dog ever to officially participate in a New York Road Runners Race.
“I am looking forward to continuing my journey inspiring health and wellness for the blind with my new guide dog Blaze. This year, I turn 50, and my lifetime goal is to run a sub-five minute mile, 400 yards at a time, with each of my four children. I have my new guide dog to keep me moving, to blaze the trail and get us to that next finish line.”
“Recently, the first man to finish a sub-two hour marathon, Eliud Kipcho, proved that no human is limited. My mantra is that no blind human is limited. Running with a dog is as close as we can get to a fountain of youth,” Panek continued. “Thank you to Blaze’s puppy raiser, Kelly Walsh, and the community of people who fuel the passion to help Guiding Eyes achieve our mission of providing guide dogs to people with vision loss, helping them achieve their health and wellness goals.”
Guiding Eyes for the Blind has graduated over 8,000 guide dog teams since its founding in 1954. All services provided to the recipients, who are blind or visually impaired, are provided free of charge. Specialized training and a lifetime of veterinary support for the guide dog teams is second to none. The organization relies 100% on donations and a community of over 1,400 volunteers located throughout the United States. https://www.guidingeyes.org.
