Brockport student with visual impairment finishes Boston Marathon

According to News Reports

When she is home in Maine, she runs with her best friend and guide Samara Garcia.

While she is at Brockport, Ball runs on treadmills with assistance from the staff at the school's gym.

"Our treadmills actually are all touch screen so I can't use them by myself. So, all of my co-workers and everybody at the SERC they adjust the treadmill, they come check on me, they tell me what pace I'm at," Ball said.

Like many runners, Ball has always dreamed of one day running the Boston Marathon.

"It was always a goal. I always wanted to do it. I didn't think it was actually attainable," she said.

Ball and Garcia ran the the Buffalo Marathon in 2018 hoping to qualify for the most sought-after race. The pair missed the mark by only four minutes.

"The qualifying time back then to qualify for Boston as an visually impaired athlete was 5 hours, and we ran a 5:04," Ball said.

Ball saw a Facebook post from Adaptive Sports New England. They were seeking applicants to run the Boston Marathon. Ball was one of three runners chosen by the charity to compete in the race.

"I don't even have words now, I was so excited," she said.

On April 15, Ball and Garcia ran with 30,000 runners in Boston. She was one of 30 visually impaired runners competing.

"Now I want to run Boston again, it was amazing," she said.

On May 26 she will run the Buffalo Marathon in hopes of qualifying, but this year it will be tougher.

"They keep adjusting the visually impaired qualifications and I think right now to run Boston in 2020 the qualifying time for my age and visual impairment is 4:20," she said.