As Eline reached the top of Mount Langley, a 14,000-foot mountain in California's Eastern Sierra Nevada, she could feel the soft sand under her feet and hear the enveloping silence of the wonderful mountain. But she couldn't see a thing.
Born almost completely blind, Eline is among a growing number of outdoor-adventure athletes who refused to let disabilities reduce them to onlookers. She had a strong desire to take part in outdoor activities when she was very young. Unfortunately, her early efforts to fit in with the other kids didn't go well. While she experienced countless failures, she faced up to them.
When it comes to her final success in outdoor sports, it is all credited to her doctor who is expert in instructing blind runners. Impressed by Eline's love for adventure, the doctor recommended her to join a half-marathon. Eline had never run more than 4 or 5 miles at that point. She worried about making a fool of herself or wasting her doctor's time. "Don't worry," he assured her. "If we have to walk the last few miles, it's no big deal."
Eline ran every step of that race and won her division. It was her first taste of athletic success and a turning point. Since then, she has traveled the globe, blowing away most of her visually impaired (视觉障碍的) competition in 47 marathons, from New York to Athens to Barcelona. In 2015, she won her division in the Boston Marathon, one of the most celebrated and competitive races in the world.
Marathons had become sort of Eline's routine, but climbing a 14,000-foot mountain was so wildly out of her comfort zone that it brought back the butterflies she felt in her stomach before that first half-marathon more than a decade ago. Now, she made it. The change was just as meaningful. "Life can be scary, but fear doesn't help," she said. "Being blind creates hardships other athletes don't face, but it also brings out extraordinary grace and generosity (大方)."
