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Jason Romero was at his job volunteering at a downtown Denver homeless shelter two years ago when he suddenly felt a spiritual “calling” to run across America. The notion frightened him, as it would anyone, let alone someone legally blind. Yet he knew it was a calling he needed to answer.

An ultrarunner who had finished three Leadville 100-milers, three Ironman triathlons and more than a dozen marathons, Romero was used to overcoming fear with the attitude that philosophical vision is more valuable than sight. But this would be his biggest challenge yet.

“All of a sudden I had this overwhelming sense of sureness, ‘I’m going to run across America,’ ” recalled Romero, who will begin a 3,200-mile, two-month run Thursday from the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles to Boston. “Nothing like that’s ever happened to me before. Then after I felt that, I got real scared. I was like, ‘Maybe I’d better tell somebody to hold myself accountable, because this is insane. I’m (liable) to shove it to the back of my mind and not acknowledge that I think I’m being called to do it.’ ”

He texted his mother, Cinderella Epstein, who often “crews” his races. She texted back immediately: “I’m in.”

Since that day, Romero has done several more marathons and ultras, running across Puerto Rico (183 miles in 51 hours) and finishing the 135-mile Badwater ultra in the intense heat of Death Valley (40 hours). Last month he became the first legally blind runner to win an ultra race 鈥� the 50-mile San Jorge race in Puerto Rico 鈥� and did it without a guide. He finds that guides have trouble keeping up with him.

Romero’s degenerative condition, retinitis pigmentosa, will eventually leave him totally blind. It already has stolen his peripheral vision. He can make out shapes and contrasts 鈥� yellow lines on pavement are helpful 鈥� but he stumbles and falls a lot. He has dozens of scars and once crashed into a guardrail. Recently he walked into a street sign and cut open his face.

In the Puerto Rico race last month, he followed the leader for 30 miles. When the leader faded, Romero ran off by himself and won in 7 hours, 23 minutes, breaking the course record.

“It was unbelievable,” said Romero, 46. “I’d never won an ultramarathon before. It wasn’t some handicapped event. It was a really neat thing to have happen.”

A challenge and a blessing

Romero is “terrified” by the thought of going completely blind some day. A father of three, it makes him sad to think he’ll never see his grandchildren, and he has battled periods of depression. But he also considers his blindness a blessing, believing God is using his example to help others struggling with challenges.

“If you focus on the ‘can’ts,’ you’re going to spiral down into nothing,” Romero said. “If you focus on the ‘cans,’ what the possibilities are, maybe you’ll run across America one day.”

Romero was 14 years old when he was diagnosed with R.P. The doctor told him he would be blind by age 30. In the parking lot after that doctor visit, Romero’s mother burst into tears 鈥� the first time he saw her cry.

In school he had to sit in the front row to see the blackboard, and kids made fun of him. When he’d ask a girl to a dance, he had to ask if she could drive because his driver’s license prohibited him from driving at night.

But he excelled in school. He got a business degree, then a law degree, somehow reading 300 to 400 pages of law texts a night with magnifiers and bright lamps. He practiced law for five years but didn’t like it because he saw a lack of integrity in the profession. He got a job at General Electric in Boulder. After four years there, GE sent him to run an operation in Puerto Rico, which he did for six years.

Then came a divorce in 2009, a move back to Colorado and his first bout with depression. He felt like a failure because of the divorce. He got a job with Western Union, but that required a lot of travel, which took too much time away from his kids. He took a job running a school for children with autism.

One of his children has autism. He considers that a blessing, too.

Immediate change in life

Then his sight deteriorated to the point where he had to give up driving. That spun him into another depression.

“I was trying to raise kids and I was in bed,” Romero said. “Before, I could drive to the store and get groceries. It’s hard to tell your kids, ‘Let’s get on the bikes and ride to Target,’ and they’re like, ‘Dad, it’s snowing.’ Their life changed, just like my life changed, overnight. I felt like a failure to my kids. I felt like a failure to myself.”

He sought help for the depression, but the doctor wanted to put him on medication. Romero didn’t like that solution, so he focused on running. And running. And running. It was good for his mental health, but it became a cause, too.

“The thing I battle on a daily basis is people saying, ‘Oh, you’re amazing,’ ” Romero said. “This is nothing about me. I’m being called and used to do something with my specific circumstance. In my case, it’s because I’m legally blind, and it can demonstrate to a lot of legally blind people that it doesn’t have to be over because you are (blind). And also to the sighted world, that blindness is not a factor in success. It’s a characteristic. It drives me nuts when I hear people say I’m disabled. I say I’m specially abled.”

He’s trying to make the most of the years he has with dwindling sight.

“Going blind is really hard because you’re constantly adapting,” Romero said. “It’s not like you adapt and then it stops. Until you go lights out 鈥� no light perception, or no usable sight 鈥� you really haven’t arrived. Once you are (totally) blind, you go on. But also it’s terrifying. I’m not at the point where I’m emotionally ready to give up sight or light perception, but it will come.”

It’s hard for his mother to watch.

“I’m always sad, because I don’t want to see it happen,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “But I believe there’s a reason 鈥� this happened for a reason. He has a lot of inner strength. I don’t know where that comes from. He’s very bright 鈥� genius IQ 鈥� and has always been very driven. That’s who he is. It’s innate.”

Epstein will be driving a support van for his run across America 鈥� the goal being 50 miles a day for 64 days with no days off, finishing at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall.

“I’m more worried about his mental state,” said Epstein. “He will break down, I think. He has to, somewhere along the way. He’s going to have to tough it out.”

He wears a shirt with his motto on a sleeve: Blind Faith.

“I am running with absolute blind faith,” Romero said. “I hope in some way it’s going to impact others in that way. I’m doing it because I was called to do it. There’s something higher that’s going to be watching over me. It will be an amazing experience.”

John Meyer: jmeyer@denverpost.com or @johnmeyer

Visionrun USA

Denver’s Jason Romero, who is legally blind, will embark on a 3,200-mile run across America beginning Thursday at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. He hopes to complete his run in 64 days, finishing at Faneuil Hall in Boston. His run will benefit the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes. Donations can be made at , and his progress across America can be followed via that website.