Chris Adamson (right), a blind 9th-grader
at Mission Bay High, starts the 100 meters
with guide runner David Cervantes
Tues., April 25. Notice the nylon tether
in MB colors that the two hold.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
The foot-long tether is the link that ties Chris Adamson, running the 100 and 200 meters while blind, and his trusty guide runner, David Cervantes.
"At the start of the season, they told us to use a string," said David, a one-on-one aide for Chris during the school day at Mission Bay High School. "But it can go over Chris's head." That didn't work.
Another step was the nylon tether, in bright Buccaneer gold. But in an earlier photo of the two running, they have their arms through the slots sewed on each end of the strap, Chris on the left in lane two, David on the right in lane one.
"With our stride, I don't want to pull him," David said. As his arms would swing in the rhythm of running, he would lift up and pull Adamson awkwardly. It didn't lend itself to a natural motion.
The whole point is that Chris is doing the running. His aide is merely there to run alongside him, not leading, but also not pulling him back.
Also, Chris is a few inches over five feet. A ninth-grader, he is not Usain Bolt, the famous Jamaican sprinter, who stands 6'5". David notes, "If you've noticed, I'm quite a bit taller" (than his student). Cervantes, who ran distance at Mission Bay (he won't reveal his graduation class, which had to be 2019 or earlier), is adapting to sprinting a much shorter distance with Chris.
So, at this point of it evolving, each runner holds the strap in his hand. But the two have shifted lanes from earlier in the season--Chris runs to David's left, in lane one, with David in lane two so that he won't block the visual timing device from seeing Adamson and his number clearly.
With his number sticker on his left hip at a recent track meet, Chris, before stretches on the Mission Bay infield, said, "I'll have to tuck my shirt in. I don't want to cover my number."
Having only run 100's in eight or so meets at this point, each time a record because he is the only para athlete (as he is called) running (the only blind sprinter on a high school track team in California, according to his head coach), the procedure is still very much subject to change.
* * *
If you spend the afternoon with Chris before and during a meet, as I did Tues., April 25, you will find the diminutive freshman to be friendly, engaging, and popular with his teammates on the Buccaneer track team. Other students came over to where Chris was hanging out on the turf infield at the track at Mission Bay High to say hi during our time together while I interviewed him.
"Chris is a cool guy, he and his brother (also named David)," said David Maier, a junior who runs the 400 and 4x400, before the meet against St. Augustine, OLP, and San Diego High.
Maelig Guesnard, a sophomore sprinter in the 400 and 4x400, said, "We're cheering for Chris. We think it's great (he's on the team)." She and Marissa Toliver, a junior in the 100, 200, and 4x100 events, noted, "Chris is our first person visually-impaired who runs here at Mission Bay."
Students from the visiting schools commented on Adamson's running. Said Sabian Scrivner, a sophomore from SDHS, "I think it's great. I saw him in the Cerveny Invite (at Mission Bay April 15), which I ran in. He ran a great race."
Said Julian Jackson, also of SDHS, who performs the 200, 400, and triple jump, "That's revolutionary. That's amazing he can do that."
Adamson, when asked about the blind and visually-impaired terms, said, "I'm blind. I can't see anything. When I was younger, I could read 30-point type. That's pretty big." But he lost all that sight. He wears cool Ray-Ban dark glasses. "The sun hurts my eyes" when it shines directly at him, he said.
We kept up a pretty constant stream of conversation, as he is more than willing to talk. And he is quite an entertainer. I think he enjoyed the attention.
But don't get caught in a name-the-capital game of countries with the first-year high school student. "My family won't play the game with me," he said. He said he's getting a new version of the capitals game.
"I work on accents," he revealed. Chris loves to listen to sports, especially NHL hockey--his dad Steve is Canadian, having been born near Toronto, Ontario, with Chris's favorite team being the Winnipeg Jets--pro tennis, and NBA basketball. He listens to lots of audio, including speakers with British accents. Having a good sense of humor, he will imitate them or twist them around.
Chris's brother is a junior who plays for the Buc boys tennis team. He is sighted. "I'm the only one in my family who is visually-impaired," said Chris.
Chris does Alpine skiing and ice skating. "I ice-skate with my dad. He doesn't control the pace, but he keeps me from running into something."
Mom, Noelle, is an "L.A. girl". "My mom fights for me. If something is not accessible, she'll (work on that). She can get feisty."
Says Chris, "I want to run para in college. I want to create change for people who are visually-impaired.
"I feel like a lot of things are not accessible. Some of the roads here in San Diego are not crossable. Like Ingraham and Law streets. There's no control, That is so dangerous."
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