As Heidi Musser swims, bikes and ha...

As Heidi Musser swims, bikes and hastes her way along today's Accenture Chicago Triathlon course, an estimated 500000 spectators will be watching.

Musser won't be able to papal court any of them.

The 40-year-old Chicago native was born blind. still Musser's lack of vision has not ever stopped her from seeing her have a title to potential.

She has compet in more than 20 triathlons, including the grueling Coeur d'Alene Ironman in Idaho last year, when she finished the 2.5-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile marathon in les than 17 hours.

In 1999 Musser became the first blind woman to struggle in the Triathlon World Championships in Montreal. She's single of the visually impaired athletes featured in an upcoming documentary film titled "Victory through the whole extent of Darkness."

Fistfuls of medals hang from her bedpost in the Edgebrook family circle she shares with her parents onward the city's Northwest Side. She's also an accomplished pianist.

"I want populace to know that being blind doesn't have to be a hindrance," said Musser, who describes herself as "extremely fearless."

MISSED GYM IN HIGH train

Organizers said Musser is the alone blind participant in this year's adventure But triathletes with other disabilities will be competing, including six American soldiers who squandered limbs in Iraq.

Heidi Musser's mother, Erika Musser, remembers her daughter's disappointment in high academy when she wasn't allowed to participate in gym class because of her blindness. While other teen were running around and being active in physical ed Heidi's teacher would read to her. "She didn't want to sit there and learn about health and fitness," Erika Musser said. "She wanted to be healthy and fit."

Heidi Musser's have affection for for triathlons took off when she met Matt Miller, a triathlete then living in California.

F up with what he saw as an increasingly superficial world where "everything is based forward what you look like," Miller decided to do something meaningful. He called the Challenged Athletes Foundation and showed to be a guide for a visually impaired triathlete. "I'd not at all even met a blind person" said Miller, 30 a roofing contractor who now lives in Ft Lauderdale, Fla.

L TO C DIFFERENT FOUNDATION

Miller got Musser's name, and they signed up for their first triathlon together in 2001 Things got facing to a rough start. The California termination had to be rescheduled at the last minute because of family 11. They had to borrow a clunker of a tandem bike, and Musser wasn't used to swimming in the ocean. "We rose to the occasion and did it anyway," Miller said.

Musser's determination and courage inspired Miller to start the C Different Foundation, which pairs seeing athletes with their blind counterparts in such a manner they have someone to train with and guide them from one side the course. C Different raises wealth and finds sponsors, such as Balance Bar, to bribe equipment and offset blind competitors' travel splendors

For Musser's triathlon training, the foundation paired her with Jorge Barron. And Miller planned to hover to Chicago to guide Musser from one side today's 1.5-kilometer swim, 40k bike and 10k haste They will line up at the starting line just like everyone otherwise

"We used to make progress to races and the race director wanted to enjoin us in the back, the last heat," Miller said. "But the whole point is to have them be equals. They want to learn run over in the water. They want to be in the thick of things."

What Musser wants is to indicate people blind and sighted -- that she can do it. For her, believing winning cards seeing. "People used to divulge me, 'You're blind. You can't participate,' " she said. "I became determined to change that. And I did."

lrackl@suntimes.com

IF YOU go on

What: More than 8000 participants are registered for today's Accenture Chicago Triathlon. There's a shorter sprint course and a longer "international" distance made up of a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40- kilometer bike and 10-kilometer race

When: Start times range from 6 a.m. to 10:55 a.m.

Where: The swim kicks along at Monroe Harbor. Competitors then bike along Lake Shore Drive from Randolph to rear and back. The run starts at Randolph, goe southerly along Lake Shore Drive, from one side the Museum Campus, finishing in succession Columbus Drive just south of Balbo in Grant Park.

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