BATH TOWNSHIP, Ohio --- A legally blind Bath Township girl is running her first 5-K with a local high school student's help.
Caroline Mizer, 10, lost her sight when she was 3 years old. With the help of Brady Marks, 17, the Bath Elementary School student will run her first more than three-mile race.
Marks attends Revere High School and heard the "Girls on the Run" program needed a guide for a runner with visual impairment.
"They made an announcement for it at our school, and I did girls on the run, so I went down to the volunteer office," Marks told Channel 3's Hilary Golston. "I was so excited because I loved Girls on the Run when I did it."
Marks, using a yellow diving ring, guides Mizer during the afters-chool activities associated with the group and in their culminating 5-K run. Marks is called Mizer's running buddy.
However, their relationship is much stronger than that of running buddies.
"Whenever I'm down she always helps me," Mizer told Golston. "She's really nice and she's always been there for me ... and she's like a big sister to me."
The Girls on the Run program at Bath Elementary focuses on girls between the third and fifth grades. According to the group's website the organization seeks to "inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum, which creatively integrates running."
Caroline serves as an example to the other girls in their pursuit of positivity.
"She brings a different aspect for the girls, and you see how the girls ... how they care about her," coach Kim Kessler said. "It really brings out more caring and compassion in the girls."
"Our curriculum and activities have been transcribed into braille for her," said Sarah Lack, the communications coordinator for Girls on the Run of Greater Summit.
"While she can't participate in other sports, like cheerleading or soccer, she has been able to participate ... and is discovering through our program that she can do anything she sets her mind to," Lack said.
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