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Thomas Panek becomes first blind runner to finish NYC Half Marathon guided by Meta AI glasses

Blind runner Thomas Panek, finishing the NYC Half Marathon in Meta’s AI glasses. Beside him is his human guide, Jed Laskowitz. (Courtesy of Thomas Panek)
Courtesy of Thomas Panek
Blind runner Thomas Panek, finishing the NYC Half Marathon in Meta’s AI glasses. Beside him is his human guide, Jed Laskowitz. (Courtesy of Thomas Panek)

Blind runner and Lighthouse Guild CEO Thomas Panek made history a few weeks ago, completing the NYC Half Marathon wearing specially designed Meta AI glasses.

The glasses allowed human coach, ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek, to watch the race through Panek’s sight line, allowing him to provide coaching and guidance from his home in Colorado.

Panek, who has long advocated for ways to give blind runners increased autonomy (including creating a program to train running-specific guide dogs), says this new tool could be game changer for blind runners in the coming years.

He talks to host Robin Young about the half-marathon and about the ins and outs of the glasses. Jurek also joins them.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

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