'Fight for your dreams': Visually impaired runner Matt Mueller of Appleton competing in first half marathon Sunday

APPLETON – Matt Mueller is visually impaired, but it hasn’t caused him to lose sight of his dream.

The 46-year-old Appleton resident is running the ThedaCare Half Marathon on Sunday as part of the Community First Fox Cities Marathon Presented by Miron Construction.

It will be Mueller’s first half marathon after completing the 5K in 2016 and the Scheels 10K last year during marathon weekend.

“One big reason I’m doing this is I want people — and it’s not just running — I want people to know, you know what, fight for what you want to do. Fight for your dreams. Don’t let people tell you that you can’t do something,” Mueller said. “I want to inspire people to be able to look back and say look at Matt, he was visually impaired but look what he did. He ran a half marathon.”

Mueller, who works at Valley Packaging, had vision problems throughout his childhood. In middle school, he developed an eye infection in his right eye that led to scar tissue building up. Over the years, he said eye pressure problems and glaucoma led to more scar tissue on his corneas.

Because of the scar tissue, he's not able to wear glasses.

"When I wear them it just looks like a foggy mirror in the bathroom,” he said.

Mueller sees shapes and objects but making out details is difficult. He can read things up close but, as he says, he must “get very, very close.”

All of which makes running a challenge, but not impossible as he’s proving.

Things like cracks in the sidewalk, potholes or divots in the road or even sewer grates aren’t clear to him until he’s right on top of them, which is often too late.

“I’m usually the guy with the head down, making sure I don’t fall over and trip,” he said.

It hasn’t dampened Mueller’s motivation to challenge himself, although that desire hasn’t always been there.

He said he sat home a lot in high school and played games and didn’t have any interest in running until he got older.

“I just got to the point where I decided I can’t do this anymore,” he said. “I was kind of holding myself down and I just wanted to get out there and prove that I could do anything, even with poor vision.”

He said he rappelled down a 15-story building for a fundraiser, and then in 2016 did the 5K for the first time. In 2021, he got a new treadmill and then last year decided it was time to try something a little more challenging, so he participated in the 10K.

He made up his mind in January of this year that he was going to attempt the half marathon. He’s trained mostly indoors on his treadmill, working his way up from 1 to 2 miles early in the year to 9 miles by May, 10 miles in June and 11 miles by the end of July.

He took the half marathon route from the Fox Cities Marathon website and used that to create a Google maps version for himself on his treadmill so he could get used to the course and start to learn where certain landmarks are that he’ll be running past Sunday.

Inspired by her father: 'I surprise myself every day': Father's love for running inspires Casco woman to take on marathon challenge

He has lost about 30 pounds since finding the inspiration to start running, but that’s only part of the benefits he is reaping.

“This sounds like a joke but in all honesty, I tell people sometimes I just feel like Forrest Gump and I just want to start running because I can’t drive, so I can’t travel,” he said. “I can’t go up north like people do. I can’t get around, so for me walking and biking and running are about the only ways, generally outside of the bus, that I can get from Point A to Point B. So I look at it like, ‘Hey, it would be really cool if I could run from here all the way over to the other side of the water and do something over there, you know.’

“And so I kind of look at it almost like an adventure for me, so that’s why I think I got into it a little more. This is kind of cool, you know. I can get out there and run and see things maybe I’ve never seen before or maybe I’ve seen in a car, but you pass by and don’t notice it that much.”

Going for the record: 'This is the most ambitious for sure': Appleton firefighter training to set world record, raise money at Fox Cities Marathon

His goal for Sunday is to finish in 3 hours and he said he’s excited but a little nervous about doing a half marathon, calling it a “different experience.”

But the feeling of accomplishment he already has and expects to have again when he crosses the finish line Sunday is something Mueller is anxious to experience, especially if his story inspires others to follow his lead.

“I wanted to tell myself that I could do anything,” he said. “I never wanted my vision to hold me down or to make people feel sorry for me or anything like that. I just wanted to look and say you know what, if I work hard at it I can do it.”

CONTINUE YOUR SUPPORT: Thanks to our subscribers for making this coverage possible. Be sure to download our app on the App Store or Google Play. Follow us on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Newsletters

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Visually impaired runner chasing half marathon dream in Fox Cities