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BLIND ATHLETE RUNS THE INCA TRAIL IN A DAY

Following Dan Berlin and Team See Possibilities as they complete the Inca Trail in a single day

By Lucy Piper

January 18^th, 2018

THE BRIEF

Back in late August 2015, I got an email from a colleague in Canada, asking me what my October schedule and workload was looking like. Glancing across at my ‘Agile’ job list, I ignored the visual (bumper-to-bumper traffic) and replied that I had flexibility. “How can I help you?”

My colleague Mikey replies, “Would you be available to go to Peru and do some filming for me?”

Me, “Sure”

Mikey, “You’ll have to do the Inca Trail”

Me, “AWESOME”

Mikey, “In a single day”

Me, “er, woah… er… OK!”

Mikey, “whilst filming a blind ultra-runner”

Me, “are you serious?”

Mikey, “Absolutely. Are you in?”

Me, “Absolutely.”

TEAM SEE POSSIBILITIES

Dan Berlin started losing his sight to cone-rod-dystrophy gradually over the course of about twenty years. But instead of contracting his world to within the confines of his established comfort zone, Dan decided that he would focus on what he could do as opposed to what he couldn’t.

So of course, he started running ultra-marathons…

This was when Team See Possibilities was formed: accompanied by his three endurance-athlete companions – Charles Scott, Alison Qualter Berna and Brad Graff – Dan decided to take on physical challenges that had not been successfully completed by a blind athlete before. The purpose would be to raise awareness and funds for charitable causes linked to his condition.

Their first challenge as a team would be to successfully complete the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim run: a gruelling 46 mile run from one side of the Grand Canyon, down to the bottom of the valley, up to the opposite side, and then to return all the way back to their starting point. They completed the run in October 2014, making Dan Berlin the first blind athlete to accomplish the run without stopping. (It took them 28 hours of continuous running without sleep!)

So in 2015, they were looking for their next challenge. And the Inca Trail was calling…

THIS WAS WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE

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© 2026 Lucy Piper

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