Program Highlight: Team River Runner Outta Sight Clinic

Developing unique programming that significantly impacts our community is at the core of our mission. Our adaptive climbing program is the perfect example of how our team works to build community around the activities we provide and the participants we serve. 

Our burgeoning Team River Runner (TRR) chapter is another such example. Alek has taken his love of paddling to new depths, working hard over the last few years to partner with Team River Runner and establish a Richmond Chapter of their programming. This spring, Alek worked with TRR to host an ‘Outta Sight Training’ session and made Beyond Boundaries the first chapter to have an Outta Sight program in-house in the country.

“TRR takes more blind and low-vision paddlers down whitewater than anyone else in the world. The weeklong clinics are open to blind veterans, and they usually do a day on flat water and then do days in class I, II, and III rapids,” Alek explains.

Alek has worked to build this chapter from scratch, recruiting volunteers after seeing a need to work with some of our adventure partners. Paddling trips with the Department for the Blind and Visually Impaired inspired Alek to do more for these groups after seeing how excited they were to paddle.

“We decided to bring this in-house because we wanted to find better ways to serve groups like DBVI, and seeing what TRR was already doing felt like the right fit to become a partner with Beyond Boundaries. I knew that I wanted our chapter to be able to host the Outta Sight Program and manage it for ourselves,” says Alek.

Outta Sight Training is a rigorous marathon of paddling, adaptability training, and more. The scheduled weekend for the event presented another challenge—the James River jumped from 6ft to 11 due to heavy rains. While great for paddling, this would present an undue hardship during training.

“We pivoted and went to the Rivanna River instead. We could work with blind and low-vision paddlers and paddle ourselves with goggles that simulated their experience. Our clinic taught us more about how to paddle with these people. We had a ton of our volunteers there. The president of TRR and the president of the Outta Sight Program also traveled from across the country to attend,” says Alek.

Our team and TRR volunteers were offered another unique experience during the training– the opportunity to meet and paddle with Lonnie Bedwell. Motivational speaker, blind veteran, and the first person to complete the first blind descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, Lonnie is an impressive adaptive athlete and was a tremendous asset to our Outta Sight Training session.

“It was a great program. I’ve done many training sessions and thought it was a good group. They’re passionate, skilled, and dedicated to what they are doing. I have zero reservations about recommending this group. I felt confident in the group; the people were great,” says Lonnie about his experience with the Beyond Boundaries crew.

Volunteers for the TRR program come from all walks of life. Alek has worked to merge his passion for whitewater with Beyond Boundaries’ mission, recruiting volunteers who embody our spirit. People like Davin Smith, a USMC veteran who joined the Richmond TRR chapter and attended the Outta Sight Training.

“Overall, it’s outstanding; I think it will be successful. If enough participants are willing to join, it will be a very successful program. One of the participants brought some low-vision goggles, and it was so important to be able to experience it and to be able to apply guiding skills practically,” says Davin about his experience over the weekend.

As we continue to expand our paddling and whitewater offerings, it’s critical to have the community's support. Programs like Outta Sight give our team and volunteers the skills they need to paddle with our participants confidently. We’re incredibly grateful to TRR for partnering with us and bringing their experience to our programming.

“I think this brings a new level of accessibility to our parks and the James River. It’s a big deal to take blind and low-vision people on rafts in any case, but with this program, we’re putting people into independent boats and giving them the freedom to go after it themselves; it’s helping us grow accessibility to our rivers,” says Alek.

To learn more about TRR, contact Alek directly at alek@beyondboundariesrva.org or sign up to volunteer here.