run celia run ... for Parkinson's!

I recently read a piece of writing that compared long-distance cycling to a life lived in only a few days. Too much drinking in your teens? You’ll feel it in your 50s. Greasy snacks in your 30s? You’ll feel it in your 70s. Yes, ok, it’s all true. But what if a bear cuts you off halfway? What if your cycling partner's incessant desire to chat about the Kardashians makes you regret signing up to participate in the first place? Short story long, a to z is a bad measurement. You can do everything “right” and still find yourself asking why the pieces haven’t fit together as perfectly as imagined.

I’ll start this off with a disclaimer that the reason (person) for which (whom) I’m running this fundraiser does not approve of the forced stardom. He-who-shall-not-be-named. But for those of you who know, you’ll understand why Parkinson’s is that incessant parasite. And aside from he who shall not be named, there are an additional 10 million people with their own names, loved ones and stories.

A combination of factors, many of which Parkinson’s disease has made a feature in, have led to the reason why I now have less than 2 weeks to prepare for the Providence half-marathon. That said, I find comfort in having identified a prominent theme in early adulthood: the realization that no one really has any clue what’s going on. Marathon runners aren’t as odd as anticipated, nor are Computer Science students or even Rhode Islanders. Don’t get me wrong, I could barely walk for three days after my first 10-mile run, but I still ran 10 miles.

Riding this wave, I decided to embrace jumping into the deep end by cold-emailing the Parkinson’s Foundation, asking if they’d be interested in a partnership (sent 17 days before D-day). The Parkinson’s Foundation not only responded (*cough* @ Goldman Sachs), but agreed to match whatever I manage to raise. My goal is to make their finance department regret that decision as much as possible (and hopefully make he-who-shall-not-be-named crack a smile after getting over the fact that I emailed them in the first place).

Now for a statement I hope to regret: If this fundraiser hits 20K by May 7, I’ll run a full marathon.