16 April 2026
Clarke Reynolds, a blind runner and Braille artist, completed the Brighton Marathon on 12 April, supported by volunteers who viewed his route through his Meta smart glasses and Be My Eyes app.
Reynolds, known professionally as Mr Dot, has retinitis pigmentosa and only 5% vision.
Reynolds took on the Brighton Marathon challenge to raise funds for Fight for Sight, for which he is an ambassador, raising more than £2700.
The Be My Eyes app connects people who are blind or have low vision with volunteers worldwide through live video and artificial intelligence.
An in-app feature also allows users to create private, dedicated volunteer circles – this has recently been made available on Meta AI glasses.
For the marathon, Reynolds’ volunteers were carefully selected and briefed in advance to ensure he could always reach familiar and prepared supporters when he needed assistance.
Reynolds completed the marathon in just under six hours and 20 minutes.
Commenting on the achievement, Reynolds said: “We did it! I’m absolutely over the moon. I am now the first blind person to run a full marathon while being supported by volunteers using smart glasses and Be My Eyes.”
He explained that his aim was to push the boundaries of what the technology could do for him as a blind person.
An experienced runner, Reynolds has previously completed the London Marathon with a guide.
As a back-up safety precaution for his Brighton Marathon challenge, a trained guide runner provided by The Richard Whitehead Foundation’s Supported Runner Project, Alistair Ratcliffe, ran alongside.
Reynolds thanked Ratcliffe and the volunteers who supported and cheered him on through the Be My Eyes app on the day and throughout training.
There were a few moments during the marathon where connectivity was lost due to broadband width, caused by the volume of people at the event, but this did not present a problem for the runner.
“The potential of this technology for people with sight loss is incredible. It’s opening up a whole world of opportunity, and more and more people are using it in their everyday lives, there’s so much to be hopeful about,” he shared.
Running the marathon with the support of the smart eyewear and Be My Eyes technology has sparked conversations, Reynolds said: “Which I hope will help to challenge society’s ideas about what blind people can do.”
Be My Eyes volunteer, Julie Sutton, presented Reynolds with his medal at the finish line, who then presented a medal to back-up guide runner, Ratcliffe.
Including the weeks of training, and the day of the marathon, Reynolds has been supported by around 150 individual Be My Eyes volunteers from around the world, through the app.
Describing what it was like to train while using the app, he shared that volunteers were “blown away” that he was training for the marathon, adding: “They’re expecting me to ask ‘where is the soup?’ Or help me to a shop.”
“I love making the connection with people, telling them about why I’m running, and about Fight for Sight’s work. They are always really interested and love being part of something so out of the ordinary,” he said
Eleanor Southwood MBE, director of impact and external affairs at Fight for Sight, said: “We are so proud of Clarke. What he has achieved is extraordinary. We are so grateful to him for his support and to everyone who has so generously sponsored him, raising over £2600 for Fight for Sight.”
Clarke Reynolds’ fundraising page has remained open, for those wishing to support by donating.
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