Hale has tested the software three times this summer – once using only a cane, a second time using only her guide dog, and once again in late August. On this third try, she used both her cane and Hero’s advice while skillfully maneuvering the 1.38 kilometer course.

His Golden Labrador Retriever was a 16th birthday present from Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

“Everyone has a car for their 16th birthday, I have a Labra-ghini,” the 19-year-old joked.

Samantha Gartland, mobility specialist at NABA, noted that Hale’s interest in the sport helped convince the training organization to provide her with a guide dog – and a special dog.

“Not all guide dogs are trained to be a running guide,” Gartland said, adding that guide dog recipients generally have to be older to be eligible for this type of assistance. It is a huge responsibility to make sure that the dog stays trained and that his friends do not treat him like a pet.

Hale has learned that orienteering with a guide dog can be problematic.

“Guide dogs are trained to take you on a path while orienteering takes you off the path,” she said. “It is very difficult for a novice user to interrupt dog training and go into an open space. If you overdo it, it could distort what they have learned.

That’s the kind of feedback Microsoft needs to refine its program, said Russ Myer, executive director of the Capital Region Nordic Alliance, which coordinates the testing.

Nordic Alliance organizes four Paralympic winter sports for men and women, veterans, adults and young people with disabilities: cross-country skiing, biathlon, orienteering and bobsleigh / skeleton.

Orienteering – a winter sport – requires navigation skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and generally unfamiliar terrain, and to move around normally at high speed. Myer set up the course in Washington Park with target points at some of the park’s famous landmarks: the Lake House, the bust of James H. Armsby (the co-founder of Albany Medical College), the statue and the Moses’ playground.

The collaborative initiative between Seattle-based Microsoft Soundscape and the Capital Region Nordic Alliance will eventually allow visually impaired people to walk a course independently and compete. Paralympic sports competitions are organized at local, regional and national levels.

The Microsoft Soundscape program is audio technology currently in use on iPhones that allows people, especially those who are blind or visually impaired, to learn more about their surroundings, according to the Soundscape website.

Technology allows the user to become more confident and able to move around. Hale is there for that: she is a fast learner and not afraid to try new things, especially when it comes to sports. She has been involved in track and field since she was in eighth grade at Averill Park schools. In Hudson Valley, she competes in the shot put and the discus.

“I’m trying to convince them the javelin is OK, I’m working with them on that,” she said.

“I also ran, which is why I took my dog ​​so he could run with me in training. Every now and then the pitchers have to run and I wanted to do it, ”she said.

She and Hero ran a 5K last fall as part of a mental illness awareness fundraiser.

“Megan is a great role model for our young NABA students,” Gartland said.

Hale plans to graduate from the Hudson Valley in May and hopes to transfer to SUNY Brockport and major in adapted physical education. She ultimately wants to teach others what she has learned and accomplished.

Maneuvering on new paths is just one more way for her to learn and teach.

“I want to help others,” she says.

Sport through the Northern Alliance of the Capital Region helps it do just that.

[email protected] • @ joyceb10bassett • https://blog.timesunion.com/allin

#womenworthwatching

• After a successful Challenge Cup, the National Women’s Soccer League is back. An NWSL Game of the Week will premiere on the CBS television network every Saturday in September. The TV schedule is on nwslsoccer.com.
• Japan’s 2018 US Open tennis champion Naomi Osaka sends a message on and off the court. She remains the tournament’s highest seed and spoke out against social injustice by using the mask she wears before and after US Open matches to highlight victims of police violence.
• This column is sponsored by Times Union Women @ Work, the network of business and professional women in the Capital Region. Register today at: https://womenatworkny.com