He told of running into poles while training, running over animals on his bike, and what it was like to slowly lose his vision while doctors struggled to find the cause.

Scheidies, 23, is a two-time world champion in the blind category of the physically challenged division.

"Up close, I can see there's a person, but I can't tell if it's a male or female, or what they look like," he said. "It's kind of irrelevant in a race, though."

He is so talented, he needs elite athletes to guide him. At the Honolulu Triathlon, he will be helped through the 1.5-kilometer (0.93-mile) swim and 40K (24.8-mile) bike portions by Susan Williams, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, and the 10K (6.2-mile) run by triathlon military champion Tim O'Donnell.

Scheidies, from a suburb near Detroit, has a personal best in the Olympic-distance triathlon of 2 hours, 4 minutes. In comparison, last year's Honolulu Triathlon overall winner, Nick Hastie, finished in 2:04.29.

Barb Lindquist, a member of the U.S. Triathlon team and the winner of Honolulu's 2004 ITU World Cup, called Scheidies an "inspiration."

"I think doing a triathlon is hard enough when you can see," said Lindquist, the top-ranked woman triathlete in the world last year. "I can't imagine what it's like when you can't see. I would feel hesitant. But he's a world-class athlete and he's learned how to physically push himself without any fear."

Scheidies, who graduated from Michigan State in kinesiology and plans on attending graduate school at the University of Washington, began having problems with his sight at age 7.

"My teacher noticed I wasn't seeing things in class, and I didn't know any better," he said. "I went to every eye doctor in Michigan and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me."

His vision got progressively worse over the years. It took doctors almost seven years to discover he had macular degeneration, which is a condition in which cells degenerate, forming scar tissue that blocks vision.

AARON SCHEIDIES

Scheidies, who was born with a juvenile form of macular degeneration called Stargardt's disease, has 20/400 vision, while people with full sight have 20/20 vision. To be declared legally blind, vision must be 20/200 or worse. He said the best way to explain his sight, is that "I have 5 percent of the vision that a normal person has."

His peripheral vision is intact, but his central vision is blocked. He can see objects and silhouettes, but not any crisp, clear detail. He can see the lines on the road, but can't see signs or potholes, or other obstacles in the front of his path.

Scheidies' vision loss didn't stop him from participating in sports. He grew up playing baseball and basketball, and continued playing soccer until the ninth grade. He was a member of his high school's cross country, track and swim teams. When he was 18 and a senior in high school, he tried his first triathlon.

"I have a competitive nature, so that's how the whole triathlon thing started, because I wanted to challenge myself," he said. "I did one and I loved it. It was an incredible feeling, and it was a chance to compete."

He has competed in approximately 70 triathlons, training six days a week from 45 minutes to two hours a day.

Through his participation in triathlons, he joined up with the C Different Foundation, which was established to promote the participation of blind and visually impaired athletes in competitive sports, according to its Web site.

The foundation's executive director and founder, Matt Miller, hooked Scheidies up with a Levi Strauss & Co. advertising campaign, and Scheidies was in New York this past Tuesday through Sunday shooting the pictures for the advertisement.

"It's part of a 'How Does It Feel?' campaign for partially sighted people," Scheidies said. "When people in society see the ads, they'll pay attention to what they say."

Scheidies is outspoken about raising the participation rates for triathletes with disabilities. He appears comfortable speaking in front of crowds, especially the one yesterday filled with students who seemed most curious about how he makes his way around in the races.

Scheidies uses a bungee cord tied around his waist during the swim and run portions of the race, feeling tugs from his guide to stay on the right path. For the bike, he uses a two-seater, with the guide in the front steering and calling out instructions.