WE Fit 50 Sponsored by NFB

Photo Caption: Jessica and Prada running on high drive. Photo Credit: Jeff Flory

WE Fit 50 Sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind

On July 29th blind runner Jessica Beecham will run the Pikes Peak Ultra, her first 50 mile race. Jessica will be running alongside Achilles Pikes Peak guides Tim Gore and Denise Flory to raise funds for WE Fit Wellness, a Colorado Springs emerging not for profit organization. Blind since birth, Jessica does not let anything hold her back from living the life she wants. She is the first blind runner to complete the Pikes Peak Marathon (a round trip up and down America’s Mountain). She recently completed Behind the Rocks 50k and is excited to embrace the challenge of Pikes Peak Ultra, recently named in the top five toughest races in the country. As the Executive Director of WE Fit Wellness Jessica is passionate about the organization’s mission to bring accessible, affordable, and achievable exercise and nutrition solutions to people with disabilities or others who have been left behind in the mainstream fitness movement. Jessica says, “Running trails is really challenging for me. It has helped me to develop new strategies for running with my guides, taught me to believe in my ability as a runner, and has helped me form a deeper connection with my community. I am fortunate to be a part of a community that supports my endeavors to explore my outer limits and grow as an individual, athlete, and advocate. There are many who have not been able to experience the growth that comes from taking on new adventures. Supporting WE Fit Wellness allows me to change lives through supporting the health and wellness journey or others.” In addition to the tough race, Jessica has an equally rigorous fundraising goal. “I am attempting to raise $15,000 for WE Fit Wellness. This money will help us support and sustain programs that we currently receive little or no compensation for providing while we work to obtain grants and other funding sources.” See below a list and description of the excellent programs provided by WE Fit Wellness.

 Health and Wellness Related Research:

We are currently conducting a study regarding barriers to nutrition, exercise, and medical equipment/services for individuals who are blind.

 NF-BE Healthy Fair:

WE Fit Wellness partners with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Sports and Recreation Division to provide an experiential health fair at the NFB National Convention in Orlando Florida where 3,000 blind people have the opportunity to try activities such as chair fitness, boot camp, TRX and body weight exercises, cardio drumming, yoga, traditional Japanese sword fighting, just to name a few. Participants also receive health and wellness information and consultation.

 Find Your Fit Podcast and BreakingBlind YouTube Channel:

Find Your Fit and BreakingBlind allow us to provide support and inspiration to individuals with disabilities as they pursue their personal health and wellness journey.  Each of these programs not only allows us to provide valuable content, but also allow us to employ two, part time workers with disabilities.

 Internship opportunities:

WE Fit Wellness is committed to providing internship opportunities for individuals with disabilities. While our internship opportunities are unpaid, we do offer room and board as part of our internship program. We kicked off our internship program in the Spring and were able to extend a full time summer work experience to our intern, Amber Sherrard, following graduation.

 Colorado Workshops (Cardio Drumming, Sports and Rec Experience Day, Olympic Day, Team Building, self defense, yoga)

WE Fit Wellness supports organizations such as the Colorado Center for the Blind, Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, and Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in providing workshops and experiential activities for Coloradans with disabilities at little or no cost.