THE MORE STARS, THE GREATER THE CHALLENGE.
The hardest events are the ones worth attempting.
Go Anyway is an honest field guide to high-energy events — motorsport, marathons, mountains — experienced with sight loss. Real barriers, real strategies, real joy.
THE IDEA
“Difficulty is not the same as failure.”
Most accessibility writing is about making things easier. This project is about something different: choosing the loud, the crowded, the demanding – and going anyway. Success is a spectrum. There is value in the attempt itself, and joy can sit comfortably inside difficulty.
1. Success as a spectrum
Value exists in the attempt, not just the finish.
2. Joy within difficulty
Enjoyment and discomfort can sit side-by-side.
3. Honest lived experience
Transparency about the real sensory and emotional experience.
4. Many voices
Diverse experiences capture the breadth, not one perspective.
LATEST REFLECTIONS
Real attempts. Honest accounts.
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Burns and McRae on a Public Road: St James’s Motoring Spectacle 2026
Once a year Pall Mall closes to traffic and fills with more than 150 cars, from Richard Burns’s and Colin McRae’s Subarus to veterans bound for Brighton the next morning. Alan Groom, who has sight loss, gets there before the crowds and finds two famous trophies that almost nobody queued for.
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Thirteen Karts: Kartmania 2026
I raced cars in South Africa until I lost my sight in 2018. At Kartmania in Adelaide I had a plan to drive again: one slow lap behind two friends, then on my own. Then two large parties arrived, our session grew to thirteen karts, and I made the call to watch from the sidelines…
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Smell It First: Coopers Brewery 2026
A brew tour at Coopers Brewery in Adelaide, five small glasses at the tasting table, and a smell I had met an hour earlier in a jar of malt. Headphones carried the guide through the loudest parts of the plant, the fish and chips were world class, and I came home drinking beer differently.
THE RUBRIC
Score the experience, not just the access.
Every reflection on this site ends with the same rubric — and you can complete it too. It measures what compliance checklists miss: how the attempt actually felt. The better the experience felt, the higher the score. The greater the challenge, the more stars it earns.
The Go Anyway Rubric
Drag each slider to score an event you have in mind. The total and the level of challenge update as you go.
Move a slider to begin
Written by Alan Groom
I'm a British writer living with sight loss, and for years there was a tension I couldn't shake: wanting the loud, joyful, sensory events — motorsport, festivals, mountains — whilst being held back by anxiety and practical barriers.
Then I noticed something. Every attempt, even the messy ones, gave me back more than it cost. Pride. Learning. Stories. So now I document the attempts honestly, and I invite you to share yours.
Every accessibility detail published here is verified against the organiser's own information before publication. The reflections are mine; your experience may differ — and that's rather the point.
"When I hesitate, I look towards the skier with no usable vision at all — flying past me — and ask myself: what's holding you back?"
Whatever your challenge is — go anyway.
If there's one manageable challenge you feel able to embrace, it might just shift something for you. And if you do go, I'd genuinely love to hear how you found it: what challenged you, what surprised you, and what stayed with you.
Share your experience