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Home > Archive > Oct 3, 2007

Light in the Darkness
By Stephen Vincent
After losing his eyesight in his senior year of high school, Adrian Broca needed something.
Broca's family kept him going through the first years after he became blind. They helped him fight through the depression and thoughts of suicide.
But it was when he started running marathons that Broca found his passion and regained his desire to live.
Through marathon running, Broca has found confidence, a job and the love of his life.
Broca, who will be running the St. George Marathon for the first time on Oct. 6, runs in several marathons a year, including the LA Marathon and Boston Marathon.
“Running has given me back my sense of independence,” Broca said. “When I'm out there, I feel like I'm in harmony with the world around me. It helps me to achieve in life and regain confidence. It's through running that I've gained most of my friends.”
One of the people he met while running was Brenda Arechiga, who belonged to a group, the LA Roadrunners, that Broca joined. Arechiga did public relations work for the running group and did some work to highlight Broca's efforts on the marathon course.
From that meeting, the two became close, and they are now engaged.
“We're both runners, so we can go out and train for the marathons together,” Broca said. “Even though she runs a lower pace than I do, I like running with her. I wouldn't do it with anyone else.”
Arechiga was supposed to run with Broca in this year's St. George marathon, but she suffered an injury that will prevent her from running this year's marathon.
But Broca said he'll look forward to meeting her at the finish line, and the two plan on running together in next year's marathon.
Before he lost his vision, Broca ran on the cross country team at Temple City High School, near Los Angeles. The summer of 1994, before his senior year, he began losing his central vision. He ran the first part of the cross country season his senior year. But then, as his peripheral vision declined, Broca got lost a few times on cross country courses.
Embarrassed, and not wanting his teammates to know that he couldn't see, Broca quit the team, and eventually he quit school too.
“I felt like life had lost all its meaning,” Broca said.
The one thing that got Broca through those difficult days was his family.
“My family has been my strength,” Broca said. “They've supported me and helped get on with my life. They helped me not dwell on the things I couldn't change. It's because of them I'm still alive because I considered suicide, but I couldn't hurt my family like that.”
And so many things that Broca shoved out of his life – school and friends – when his vision disappeared have been restored through running.
“Running has helped me become more disciplined,” Broca said. “It's helped me discover gifts, such as will and discipline, that I use in everyday life and school and work.”
Broca will earn his bachelor's degree in business administration with a minor in finance from Cal State-Los Angeles this year. He will then work for a real estate company that has been sponsoring his running.
“I know once I have my degree, I'll have even more opportunities to succeed,” Broca said.
Last year, he won the Boston Marathon's visually impaired division with a time of 3:00.12.
When he began running marathons, Broca initially did so without telling anyone he was blind. He simply ran along with the other runners and followed where they were going.
That approach brought some occasional problems, such as running into barricades; other times, the situation became more serious. At one marathon a couple years ago, Broca kept running by water stations because he couldn't see them. Near the end of the race, Broke nearly suffered a heat stroke because he was so dehydrated.
“I realized if I was going to reach my full potential, I needed to have others help me,” Broca said.
The LA Roadrunners were the first group who offered to help, and they had runners guide Broca along the course. He has also been allowed to have a cyclist guide him along the course.
During the St. George Marathon, he will be helped along the course by members of a local cross country team.
“I'm excited about the opportunity,” Broca said. “I don't have to worry about getting lost or missing water stations. With people looking out for me, I feel safe and can concentrate on my running and getting to the finish line.”
Broca's goal is to one day run in the Paralympics (a division of the Olympics for athletes with disabilities). To qualify, he has to run a time of 2:46. So far, his best time has been 2:56. At age 31, Broca believes he has only five or six years left to get that time down, and he believes the St. George Marathon could be the key although he cautions that he is still a year away from breaking 2:46.
Because the St. George Marathon is a faster marathon and because of the guides he'll have helping him along the course, Broca hopes to crack 2:50 at this year's marathon.
Broca is excited that people who don't even know him have volunteered to help him complete the St. George Marathon.
“They're not only my eyes during the race, but they're my source of strength and encouragement,” Broca said.

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