Oops I did it again…
To be more specific, I’m going to do it again. Run a hundred mile race, that is. Only this time there’s going to be four of them between May and October 2025. Although the symptoms are getting worse (typing this is a nightmare and so sloooow!) I can still run (more of a jog/walk) so thought I had better try while I can.
Centurion Running host the four races (details in the fundraising link pinned at the top) on the Thames Path, North Downs Way, South Downs Way, and a mix of the Thames Path and the Ridgeway for the last race in October.
I need to do more exercise to slow the progression, so hopefully the training this winter will have a double benefit of helping my symptoms and make each race less painful (don’t quote me on that!)
Wow! What an adventure!
Just a short post to update you about the race.
Mud, floods, some sun, mostly night pretty much sums it up.
I finished in 89 hours 3 minutes 13 seconds in 50th place (out of 56 finishers).
The full race report is here: https://puckfarkinsons.uk/winter-downs-200-centurion-running/
The fundraising has reached over £2200! The link to that is here: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/
7 days to go!
Eek!
In a week’s time I should hopefully be 40 miles (65 kilometres) into the Winter Downs 200. I’m doing it because it is likely to be the last long race that my brain lets me attempt as the Parkinson’s Disease progresses.
I’m fundraising at the same time and the link is here: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/
My race crew has been prepped and I am really grateful for their support. Without them this race would be another level of difficulty, even with Parkinson’s. They have given up their holidays to give me the best chance of completing the 206 miles (it’s a trail race, you always get bonus miles!). My cunning plan is to go slow and steady which means they will be spending a lot of time hanging around in the cold and rain waiting for my smiling face to rock up.
My race number is 101 and the live link is here: https://live.centurionrunning.com/WD200-2023/. It’ll be easy to spot me on the map – I’ll be the one at the back!
Nice out…
A week of lows and highs
It’s the halfway point between my races – 44 days since the Chiltern Wonderland, and 44 days until the Winter Downs 200. The planning has intensified, with lots of map work and the timing spreadsheet is becoming a thing of beauty with night and day coloured sections. However, I am always aware of the saying “no battle plan ever survives the first encounter with the enemy” so the idea is to enjoy the journey and adapt as necessary!
The week started with a bit of a downer – but one that has played on my mind for a while. The common statement about Parkinson’s is that “you don’t die from Parkinson’s, you die with it”. To simplify, your life expectancy doesn’t shrink but you die from the other ailments that Parkinson’s brings. Yay, what a bonus that is.
However, when you follow the social media groups, something doesn’t ring quite true about the situation, and a new report in nature.com shows that the younger you are, the shorter your life expectancy. (Link to the report is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41531-023-00588-9). For someone aged 55 who would normally expect, on average, to live another 25 years this is shortened to 14 years with PD. Happy Days, but to repeat myself, the plan is to enjoy the journey and adapt as necessary!
Making the most of what’s left, it was another recce of the Winter Downs 200 (fundraising link: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/) with Budgie and Steve, who are part of my support crew. We travelled the southern half of the Vanguard Way, which links the North Downs and South Downs Way.
It was a wet day, and the amount of rain that has fallen recently became clear when we came across several flooded sections, and had to wade thigh deep at a couple of points. Hopefully we will get a dry spell of weather in the lead up to the race.
We did have a laugh as we splashed along which helped raise the spirits, and encountered some unexpected wildlife as a pig had escaped from its field. We also rescued two sheep who were trapped in a bramble hedge.
The route was twisty and definitely needs me to be on the top of my map reading game to avoid wasting time and unnecessary miles for the legs.
Facebook reminded me that 10 years ago I was taking part in the Original Mountain Marathon in the Cheviots, splashing around in muddy puddles. Some things don’t change…
50 days!
(scratching around for a blogpost title of a potted catchup of the past week…)
Having had a banging headache all day this is a bit later than planned (and probably sounds a bit jaded). I did try going into the office but trying to look at a screen was too painful, even with sunglasses. Consequently I haven’t taken enough meds today and typing this is…challenging. (Apologies for the typos). [update: it’s really frustrating with the tremor causing multiple duplications both of letters and deletions. The original title was 51 days…]
It’s been an interesting week. I went for a long run on Friday 13th, in the knowledge that the weather would be biblical, and it lived up to expectations. The run turned into a walk, with the footpath churned into a chalk stream and so slippery that anything faster than a plod left me skating like Bambi. Having fallen over on the last three runs I had no desire to add to that total. Eventually the rain stopped and the stars came out. I tried taking a video during the rain but the phone didn’t want to know! I did get to share some of the path with a badger as it headed into the woods at Kingley Vale.
I ran on the Friday because I was due my covid and flu jab on Saturday and I left the weekend training free just in case of a reaction. Good move, as with a jab in each arm, they got more painful as the hours progressed and also left me feeling flattened. I dragged myself down into Portsmouth on Sunday morning for the Great South Run. I was stationed at a spot near the charities corner (and their sound systems), Power Up Station (and its sound system) and the Batala drummers. It wasn’t quiet!
It was a lovely sunny morning for a run, and it was fun marshalling the lemmings (sorry, locals) as they tried to cross the road, sometimes when there was actually a gap between runners. It was also great to catch up with some friends who were helping out too.
The rest of the week was spent trying to fight off the effects of the jabs at work, and on Saturday was a trip to the Centurion Running shop for the final bits of kit for the long run in December (fundraising link here: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/). The shop is excellent, and I made the most of the free tea, coffee and homemade flapjack!
After a 4 hour round trip (thanks to the A3/M25 roadworks) it was off for a run as I needed to get the legs moving again and keep practicing with the race gear to reduce time spent faffing, such as with putting on overtrousers etc. whilst wrangling the rucksack.
The rain had left the tracks near me a little damp…
The run to QE and back turned into a bit of an upper body workout too, with a large tree across the path meaning that I had to do some climbing.
Sunday was a quick bimble with Willow around QE, and a chat with Budgie over coffee and cake about our recce of the southern section of the Vanguard way this weekend. That just leaves the section at the start between Juniper Hall and the North Downs Way to check over as some reports say the route is a bit “vague”!
Owen Delany has produced another classic “map” for Centurion Running – to give you an idea of the route:
68 DAYS TO GO!
Winter Downs 200. 13th – 17th December
The time is flying by and the race is in just over two months. Eek! Last weekend was a run along the first half of the Vanguard Way, which links the North Downs Way and South Downs Way. Apart from run training, it was chance to explore that section of the route (which I’ve never been on before) and see what the terrain was like. It wasn’t flat, but definitely gentler hills than the Downs that it links.
It was also a warm and dry day – neither of which I expect in December! It was great to be running again with Budgie, my ever-reliable training partner. It’s been a long time since we’ve had chance to have a bimble together, and we definitely earned the ice-cream at Forest Row.
We’ll be doing the last part in a couple of weeks’ time so hopefully the weather stays fine (famous last words!)
Apart from challenging myself, I’m doing the 200 miles to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK and Cureparkinson’s, charities which care for those with the disease and also research into a cure. The link to the fundraising is here: https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/puckfarkinsons200/
Nearly there…
One week to go until the final 50 mile race of the Centurion Slam, the “Chiltern Wonderland”. To quote the race website “The CW50 is a 50 mile single loop around the beautiful Chiltern countryside. The route takes in 5600ft of climb and visits picturesque villages, bursting with history, featuring locations made famous by British film & television.”
Hiding in the wonderful description is the height statistic- it is only 100ft less ascent than the South Downs Way, so it will still be a tough day in the office. Although it is offset by the route going past Cobstone Windmill (which is home to Caractacus Potts in the film “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”).
Hopefully the weather will be a bit cooler by then. Thanks to everyone who has supported me so far! (And the fundraising link is in the menu somewhere…)
In other news, the Parkinson’s is progressing. My left hand side tremor is becoming more of a constant rather than intermittent thing, and my left arm has developed “tennis elbow”-like symptoms and gives me burning pain in my left thumb when extending my arms, so, amongst other things, putting my socks on is daily agony (what with my feet being so far away, lol). Typing can be a bit hit and miss (more miss than hit) when the left hand is waving around on its own.
At the end of December I’m back to the National Neurological Hospital for a consultation about Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). If I’m a suitable candidate then the process involves electrodes being inserted into my brain, controlled by a pulse generator (like a pacemaker) which sits near my collarbone. It’s not a cure, rather a different form of treatment and does not stop the disease from progressing.
Nothing exists at the moment that does.
Which is why I fundraise to help research into the disease. And although next week I’ll hopefully finish the final 50 mile race, my training will continue. Because my next challenge is my biggest one yet: 200 miles.
https://www.centurionrunning.com/races/winter-downs-200-2023
Wendover Woods 50 miles
Part 3 – Easyjet don’t fail me now!
On Friday 7th July I’ll be leaving the WPC early to catch a flight back to Gatwick, trundle home and swap the car for the Campervan and then head off to Aylesbury to camp. Hopefully I’ll get a good night’s sleep as on Saturday I’ll be running (although more likely crawling) 50 miles through Wendover Woods for the third part of the “slam”. The fundraising is nearly at £1500 now, which is amazing!
The route is 5 loops of 10 miles and you can see from the picture how loopy it is. It’s also full of evil hills and the overall height gain is over 3200 metres (10500 feet in old money). It’s so evil we get an extra couple of hours to complete it – which means that the final cutoff will be at 00:30 on the Sunday morning.
The scale on the route profile slightly distorts the steepness – but it feels that bad when trying to run it! I’m hoping that the weather isn’t as hot as the SDW100 as the trees and hills will make it even worse with no breeze to cool us down. Hopefully I won’t bring the heat of Barcelona back with me!
Happy World Parkinson’s Day!
Well, it’s actually the 11th April but I’m getting this blog in early. April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month (I think I’m quite aware about it, thanks all the same) and the global organisation “PD Avengers” is trying to get 11th April officially recognised as a global health day to help raise the profile of Parkinson’s Disease, over 200 years since it was first documented by James Parkinson in 1817. Still no cure.
One of the benefits that Parkinson’s brings is that I am now on a medical condition driving licence. This entails renewing my licence every three years. I can understand the thinking behind this – mainly from a safety perspective. After all, someone suffering from a movement disorder* should be regularly assessed for safety. Unfortunately, one of the symptoms of Parkinson’s is micrographia (tiny handwriting) which in my case means my writing is more illegible than the average Doctor’s prescription, and the DVLA require a paper form to be completed by hand. So, my wife completed the form for me and I attempted to sign as required in several boxes.
If you’re not aware by now, on Saturday 8th April I will be running (walking and very likely crawling) the slightly more than 50 miles from Worthing to Eastbourne along the South Downs Way. We have a 13 hour cutoff, and based on current training it is likely to be a close run thing. I’m using it as a fundraiser for CureParkinsons, a charity whose sole purpose is to cure the disease. So far we have raised £1,000 which is a fantastic amount and hopefully we will add substantially to this over the four races that make up the Centurion Running 50 mile slam (details here: https://puckfarkinsons.uk/latest-fundraising/). The fundraising link is here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/puckfarkinsons. One of the symptoms of Parkinson’s is fatigue – so I’m already handicapped when I toe the line at Worthing College (not that I’m getting my excuses in early or anything!)
*movement disorder my arse. There are around 40 symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, the majority of which are not movement related – even if you count constipation (which is definitely a lack of movement) https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/parkinsons-disease/symptoms/.
4 Weeks To Go!
I should have typed this yesterday but ran out of time. It’s now 27 days until the South Downs Way 50 miler. We start at 8.30am from Worthing College, head north until we hit the South Downs Way, turn east and keep going until Eastborne – 50 miles and 5700 feet of climbing later. And it must be completed within 13 hours.
It’s the first event of four that make up the 50 mile “slam” of Centurion Running events that I’ve decided to do as a fundraiser for CureParkinson’s. https://cureparkinsons.org.uk/
The full list is here: https://puckfarkinsons.uk/latest-fundraising/ Hopefully I can stay fit and complete them all.
6 years ago this would have been a doddle. 6 years ago I didn’t have Parkinson’s and was the fittest I’ve been in my life. Now it’s a totally different ball game. I’ve completed longer races since being diagnosed but one of the main problems with Parkinson’s is that it is degenerative, and I’ve been struggling more and more with running over the last year. So, cheesy as it sounds, this challenge will really be a battle to complete.
I’m raising funds for CureParkinson’s and their quest for a cure. The glacially slow research into the disease means that any breakthroughs will benefit future generations rather than me – and I would gladly forgo a cure if it meant anyone else didn’t have to suffer this crappy disease. The link to my fundraising is here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/puckfarkinsons and all donations are gratefully received.
One foot in front of the other…and repeat!