A Christchurch woman is aiming to be the first legally blind person to finish the Coast to Coast multi-sport endurance race.
Neelusha Memon has just 30% sight and major coordination problems after an auto-immune disease put her in a coma for four months in 2000.
The 27-year-old has gone from relearning to talk, walk and eat to climbing Mt Aspiring and heli-skiing across the Tasman Glacier.
She has also ridden at the Paracycling World Championships in France.
Memon will compete in the two-day individual section of the Coast to Coast from 10 February with support in all disciplines.
She says the Goat Pass run across Arthur's Pass will be the biggest challenge and she will rely on her support people to confirm what is in front of her.
"I can see dark objects, but I don't know what they are. I don't know how high they are and ... I don't know easy it's going to be for me to get over them.
"It does get scary - there are times when I just have to stop and gather my thoughs and my focus."
