2 runners plan to achieve their ‘Half blind half marathon’ together in Hawaii

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Two women who have the same condition will achieve their goal of running a half marathon together showing people a disability does not have to be disabling.

Both Marri Murdoch and Kristi Kelley have a condition called homonymous hemianopsia. This causes a person to lose vision on either the right or left side of each eye. They also both have this condition causing them to lose vision on their left sides.

After completing the Start to Park 10k in December, Murdoch posted her accomplishment and how proud she was on social media. Murdoch said many people reached out to her wanting to volunteer for her nonprofit, travel visions aloha and also to connect on having vision loss. Kelley, who lives in Arizona, saw Murdoch’s post and reached out.

Kelley told KHON she used to climb, mountain bike and run before her stroke two years ago which caused her to go partially blind. After her stroke, she gave away her climbing gear, but a friend quickly told her, “it’s not that you can’t, it’s that you haven’t figured out yet.”

That phrase stuck with Kelley ever since, and on her one-year anniversary of vision loss, she ran her first half marathon. This year’s Hawaii Half Marathon will be Murdock’s first half marathon.

We just clicked instantly because we had that, ‘Wow, we have the exact same vision loss and we’re both runners and I can’t believe it.’ You know.”

Marri Murdoch

Today, both Murdoch and Kelley are excited to run the Hawaii Half Marathon and want people to know, “you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to and vision loss doesn’t have to be a barrier to doing whatever you want.”

On race day they will both be wearing bright-colored vests to let runners also partaking in the Hawaii Half Marathon aware.