Blog 23/25
The Ageless Athlete
July 17th 2024
By Martin Parnell and Malc Kent
Chapter 14
The Stroke (Part 2 of 2)
They put me in the Jeep and drove directly to Urgent Care in Cochrane. Within two minutes I was in a bed and 20 minutes later the ambulance was on its way to the Stroke Unit at Foothills Medical Centre. For the next two days I was on a cocktail of drugs and underwent language, reading and writing testing.
At 12:38 p.m. on October 30 I left the hospital. This is part of what it said on my discharge sheet:
- • Final Stroke Type Diagnosis: Ischemic Stroke.
- • Male presenting with speech difficulties.
- • Past medical history of sinus thrombosis, rheumatic fever and recent diagnosis of afib.
- • On exam patient had difficulties with paraphasic errors, reading and writing, normal strength.
- • Assessed by speech and occupational therapy – safe for discharge home with outpatient rehab for return to work and speech.
I was just happy to be heading home. I had been given a file of documents to review and booked an appointment with Dr. Hanlon the next morning. At the meeting he went over everything that had happened. My speech was improving but wasn’t completely back to normal. He showed me a copy of my MRI. I was shocked to see a bright white shape in the grey outline of the brain. Dr. Hanlon surmised that the atrial fibrillation had caused a blood pooling around the heart and a blood clot had broken off and entered the brain. But for the grace of God.
He also told me that I would be on a blood thinner for the rest of my life to prevent this happening again. The next month would be blood tests and doctors’ visits, which was fine by me. One thing I was looking forward to was the New York Marathon. I had almost run it in 2012 but Hurricane Sandy had other ideas. This year a good friend of mine from Afghanistan was running it, Kubra.
My world continued to revolve around blood tests and doctors’ visits, but there was one thing I could control: my daily walks. I did the same thing in 2015 after I had been diagnosed with a clot on the brain. From my perspective physical activity was as important as any of the drugs I was taking.
On the morning of November 27, I had an appointment with Dr. Hanlon and I had one question I needed to ask him: Could I start running again? He had heard this from me many times over the years and he gave his stock answer: Yes, with caution. That afternoon I got on the treadmill and walked four minutes and ran one. Then I repeated it. In the end I did 8 km in 1:08:56. I was back.
Four days later Sue and I headed to the movies. The Calgary Underground Film Festival was on and The Secret Marathon was being shown. We had heard that both theatres at the Globe Cinema had been sold out. Arriving at the event we found the place was packed. In the foyer a group of Girl Guides were selling their world-famous cookies.
The show went ahead and Kate, Hirra and I answered questions at the end. Afterwards Sue and I and a group of filmgoers went to a pub across the street and relaxed. What a night. The reaction had been amazing and it was great to share the film with so many family and friends.
Another film event was on the horizon, The Ageless Athlete. The work on the documentary had been completed and Telus announced that it had scheduled the showing for December 11. That day it was shown on Telus TV and YouTube. To date it has had over 6,000 views.
*****
All good things must come to an end, and so it was with my 10th and final run/walk on December 31. It was an amazing day.
We were so lucky with the weather. We’d never had a plus-temperature year over the ten years until this last one. It was a gorgeous day.
We had hoped to bring in $10,000 from the series of runs and walks and at the end of the event the total stood at $6,760, with several sponsor pledges still to be counted and a cut-off date of Jan. 31. Fingers crossed.
We had raised $75,000 over the 10 years, and when it was finished there was a tear in my eye, I have to admit. It was a little bit hard to take but it is good to finish on a high like that. Now that it is over, you feel some pride getting it all done over those years.
As 2019 came to an end so the clock ticked over into 2020. With this comes the end of a decade: 10 years / 3652 days. It seems like a heartbeat ago that I was standing on a road outside of Cochrane, Alberta, at 9.00am on January 1, 2010 at the start line of Marathon Quest 250.
So let’s see what happened between then and now with “The Decade by the Numbers”:
- • 1 Grandchild: Matthew age 5
- • 2 Health scares: a clot on the brain and a stroke
- • 3 Books: Marathon Quest, Running to the Edge and The Secret Marathon
- • 4 Film Festivals: Cinéfest, Edmonton, Zonta and Calgary Underground
- • 5 Guinness World Records in Netball, Lacrosse, Indoor Soccer, Ice and Ball Hockey
- • 6 Afghan women and girls running the 2016 Marathon of Afghanistan
- • 10 Year end Events: Right To Play, a Playground, Free to Run and Boys and Girls
- • 16 Minutes in TEDx YYC “Life is a Relay” presentation.
- • 17 Countries participated in The Secret Marathon 3k in 2019
- • 19 Minutes in “The Ageless Athlete” documentary
- • 21 Hours to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet)
- • 64 Years old on December 19, 2019
- • 77 Minutes in “The Secret Marathon” documentary
- • 250 Marathons run in one year
- • 1,014 Km run along the coast of England in 25 days
- • 27,340 Children given the gift of hope from the $1.3m raised for Right To Play.
- • 28,218 Km run in 10 years (7.73 km/day)
As the next decade begins I’m looking ahead to see what’s coming next. On April 20th I’m running the Boston Marathon so it’s time to crank up the training program. This means heading out on a new journey, one step at a time.
*****
On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) China office heard the first reports of a previously unknown virus behind a number of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city in eastern China with a population of over 11 million. They initially called it Coronavirus, now known as COVID-19.
Little did we know how our world would change.
*****
Fundraising for the 2019 Year End Run/Walk for the Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area came to an end on January 31. In total $9,250 was raised for “The Club” towards a target of $10,000. Donations came from across the community including Footstock Weekend, Downunder Travel, Rotary Club of Cochrane and Fenton Automotive
The Boston Marathon was scheduled for Monday April 20, and it was still on. This meant I had to start my 12-week training plan on January 27. My goal was to run a sub 4:05:00 race, which would qualify me for the 2021 event.
*****
At 6 p.m. on Monday, February 17, I had just finished 15 km on the treadmill as part of my Boston 2020 training. Now, that was 17 years, 59 days (6,298 days) since I’d started running in 2002, and over that time I’ve covered 40,075 km, which happens to be the circumference of the earth.
So what happened between that snowy day in Sudbury and yesterday’s treadmill run? Well, here are some of the adventures running took me on with Running the World by the Numbers:
- • 2.0 km First run on December 20, 2002
- • 3.0 km The Secret 3K, Global
- • 5.0 km Footstock 5 km, Cochrane, Alberta
- • 10.0 km Terry Fox, all over Canada
- • 12.0 km Grim Challenge, UK
- • 16.0 km Gorilla run, Calgary
- • 21.1 km Ottawa Half Marathon
- • 42.2 km Calgary Marathon
- • 42.2 km London Marathon
- • 42.2 km Marathon of Afghanistan
- • 48.0 km Yukon Arctic Ultra
- • 80.0 km Fernie Ultra
- • 82.1 km Golden Ultra
- • 90.0 km Comrades Marathon, South Africa
- • 100.0 km Rarotonga Quest, Cook Islands
- • 106.0 km Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- • 126.6 km Boston Marathon (2004, 2008, 2010)
- • 125.00 km Canadian Death Race
- • 146.00 km Sinister Seven Ultra
- • 160.00 km Lost Souls Ultra
- • 193.00 km TransRockies Stage Race
- • 1014.0 km South West Coast of England
- • 10,550 km Running 250 marathons in one year
- • 40,075 km Complete Running the World on February 17, 2020
So the first spin around the earth was done and it had been a blast. Time to turn around and head back the other way. Who knows what challenges and adventures there will be on the return journey?
Later that week Sue and I had Malc, Kat and Jonno over for supper. They had some big news: they were heading to Llandudno, North Wales! Malc had been accepted as Principal Scientist for CGG, an integrated geoscience company providing leading geological, geophysical and reservoir capabilities to its broad base of customers, primarily from the global oil and gas industry. Malc was quick to point out that he would be continuing his coaching and running analysis business and that I could contact him any time on all things running-related. Events had happened so quickly, and little did we know that they had made the move just in time before the full force of COVID-19 hit
*****
On Wednesday, March 4, at 3:30 p.m., a group of students, teachers and parents lined up outside École Notre-Dame des Vallées School in Cochrane, Alberta. They were all there for one reason: to participate in The Secret 3K.
The Secret 3K, now in its third year, was inspired by filmmaker Kate McKenzie’s documentary film The Secret Marathon, in which she and I travelled to Afghanistan to support that country’s first female marathoners. Since its inception, The Secret 3K has grown to become an international movement, with 15 affiliated events across Canada and 12 countries participating around the world.
As The Secret 3k was about to start at École Notre-Dame des Vallées, one of the students did the countdown from 10 and we were off. Everyone ran and walked at their own pace along the Bow River pathways, proudly wearing their “EQUALITY” bibs. One kilometre in we spotted a herd of deer and a buck. Amazing. At the turnaround spot I waited for all the participants to pass and then headed back.
As the students crossed the line everyone cheered and gave each other high-fives. They were thrilled that they had completed 3 km and done something to help others. In this case it was supporting three very worthwhile causes: The Girl Guides of Canada, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and the Marathon of Afghanistan.
As the students, parents and teachers headed off home they all said that they wanted to do it again next year.
That evening Sue and I headed out to Eau Claire in Calgary for the 6:30 p.m. event. The place was jammed and half of the crowd were Girl Guides. I stayed chatting to the volunteers while Sue and our friend Wayne and Cathy did the walk. By the end of the evening over 3,000 participants from 11 countries had participated in The Secret 3k.
The run/walk takes place during the week of International Women’s Day and celebrates gender equality and creating safe and inclusive spaces. Next year’s event will take place on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
Just over a week later I got some bad news. Because of the Covid-19 emergency measures, the Boston Athletic Association had decided to postpone the 2020 Boston Marathon until September 14.
I thought long and hard about what this meant. The world had changed. The day before, the WHO had pronounced COVID-19 a pandemic and recommended “Social Distancing” and “Social Isolation.” My priorities had changed and I couldn’t see myself going to Boston in September. I wanted to focus on helping my family, friends and community.
It seemed like my dream of running the Boston Marathon in 2020 was over.
Download PDFIf you have any comments, please email Martin. info@martinparnell.com
View The Ageless Athlete Documentary (18 minutes)
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