Book Details:
Self-Published
Language: English
Paperback: 178 pages, color
ISBN: 979-8-9864119-0-3
Size: 6 x 9 x 0.44 inches
Weight: 10.5 ounces
All profits from the sale of Run With It are donated to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
By Joe Drake
Run With It
A True Story of Parkinson’s, Marathons, the Pandemic, and Love
COVID-19 disrupted the premier road races known as the World Marathon Majors (WMM) that take place annually in Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo, and New York City. Normally spanning the calendar from March to November, the pandemic forced a rescheduling of the 2021 WMM such that all the races would take place during a six week stretch in the fall. At age 60, with only a single previous marathon under his belt and recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Joe Drake decided to run all six of these races on the compressed schedule.
In Run With It, writing in a style that is charmingly humorous and informative, Joe marks his debut as an author. He tells of his transformation into a marathoner, the physical and logistical challenges of running these races amid a world eager to emerge from a global catastrophe, and how this quest with the help of friends, family, and the running community allowed him to devise a strategy for coping with Parkinson’s.
Table of Contents
Preface
1 Halfway There
2 A Mystery
3 Learning to Run
4 Escalating Goals
5 Team Fox
6 A Customized Training Plan
7 Clues
8 The Killer App
9 The Pandemic Gauntlet
10 The Inscrutable Media
11 Berlin
12 London
13 The Doubleheader: Chicago–Boston
14 Tokyo aka Seattle
15 Team 50
16 New York City
17 Run On Ahead
Acknowledgements
Notes
Bibliography
Steven Hall –
The book was a very motivational read! Congratulations on your achievement in racing the big 6 marathons in a compressed time-frame due to Covid. What an inspiring story of the authors diagnosis of Parkinson’s and how he reacts to it by following the doctors orders and start his extreme exercise regimen with the goal of the marathons as his target. I definitely came away from the book more informed. I am now more informed about Parkinson’s disease and the effect it can have on the body and the mind, as well as the emotional toll it takes on everyone involved including family and friends. But the theme of the book was more about the hope that there will be a cure in the future, and the authors efforts are going to be contributing to the necessary research to find a treatment, and eventually a cure for Parkinsons. I also learned a lot about what it takes to run a marathon, it’s not just tying up your shoe laces and going, you have to train your body and plan effectively on how to make it to the end. There is a lot of information in the book that should give me a head start, should I ever decide to run a marathon. (not so sure about that, but who knows!) The book also talks a lot about the community he encounters in the marathon world, where everyone is supportive of each other, and the friends that the author met along the way. I received this book as part of the early reviewers on LibraryThing, and have also made a donation to the authors charity of choice, the Michael J Fox Foundation.
Jennifer Robb –
4.5 stars (rating shown may vary depending on site). I doubt I’d read it again so that’s the main reason it doesn’t rate a 5.
I find Joe Drake very inspirational. Some people view a diagnosis as a defeat, but others view it as a challenge. I learned a lot about Parkinson’s Disease–such as I hadn’t realized that exercise was a way to retard the progress.
Years ago, I was on the school track team. One of my friends from that did go on to run at least one marathon and was hoping to qualify for Boston. This was all years before the pandemic. I can’t even begin to imagine the changes with international travel plus doing multiple marathons (including 2 in a very short period of time)! The chapters that discussed the marathons were my favorites in the book.
Julianne Bancroft –
Run With It is a memoir of Joe Drake’s attempt to complete all six of the world’s major marathons within a year. It is, at best, a difficult feat to achieve. In Joe’s case, it was more difficult because the COVID pandemic placed limits on how many people could participate in some races and required rescheduling some races to occur on successive days. And, on top of all that, Joe has Parkinson’s disease. To say I am in awe of what he accomplished cannot begin to express my feelings after reading Run With It. This book has a little bit of everything, including discussions of what Parkinson’s is and what is effective in countering its effects on the body, how to train for long races, and how to prepare for and then bounce back from the effects of those races. What I wish this book had more of was Joe’s feelings. He’s very honest about how his body felt during and after the races, but I would have enjoyed hearing more about how he felt emotionally after each individual race and then when he had accomplished his goal. He has brought attention to Parkinson’s individually and through an affiliation with Team Fox (fundraisers for the Michael J. Fox Foundation), and his experience proves that Parkinson’s is not a death sentence, nor can it stop anyone from achieving the physical and emotional goals they set for themselves. I would have enjoyed reading more about how that affected him and his family. Bravo, Joe! I hope that you continue achieving your goals, and that as you do so, you inspire and educate others.
Anne Kim (verified owner) –
What an inspirational book for everyone to benefit from, Joe shows us what the power of the human spirit can do and the importance of exercise for everyone! A great read, a must read for a great cause! Thank you for writing the book!
Natan Edelsburg (verified owner) –
Joe’s book was an inspiring story about resilience! His passion for marathons and overcoming a new reality was exciting and moving to read. I look forward to following Joe’s long marathon journey ahead.
Irena Smith (verified owner) –
Having completed my one and only marathon 14 years ago (a fact I still bring up all casual-like in conversation probably more often than I should), I know how hard it is to run 26.2 miles. Joe Drake ran six marathons (two on consecutive days). Over the course of six weeks. On two continents. During a pandemic. After a diagnosis of Parkinson’s. At age 60, which I should note is significantly older than the age I was when I ran my one and only marathon. (It’s true: youth is wasted on the young.)
What I loved most about Joe’s memoir is how effortlessly he combines exact and exacting reporting (the physiology and biochemistry of Parkinson’s, his reasoning behind selecting running gear and race nutrition and hydration, the logistics of getting from Chicago to Boston within a screamingly tight time frame) with self-deprecating humor and generously detailed descriptions (the sights and sounds of London, Berlin, Chicago, Boston, New York, and Seattle, the extraordinary people he meets along the way, his good-natured rivalry with Shalane Flanagan). But above all, I was blown away by his humility, his gratitude, his unfailingly positive view of the world, his determination to take nothing for granted. And lest you think this is one of those saccharine, inspirational “obstacles overcome” memoirs, it’s absolutely not—it’s clear-eyed, grounded, smart, and suffused with a recognition that any quest, no matter how ambitious, improbable, or ridiculous, is achievable if you attack it “with cheerful, stubborn resolve.”
You’ll learn a lot from this book, whether you want to know more about running (Joe is a former engineer who currently works in a running store in Seattle, and I particularly appreciated his focus on efficiency and on avoiding wear-and-tear injuries), about Parkinson’s research, or about the World Marathon Majors. But the most valuable thing is learning the minutiae of how someone reaches for—and exceeds—an extraordinary challenge, and does it with extraordinary grace.
Marcia Brandeau (verified owner) –
Ok so I might have some bias, after all Joe Drake is my brother, but this was a truly heartwarming and inspiring read. I am in awe of Joe’s determination to face a diagnosis of Parkinson’s with such positivity and action. He has found a way to improve his circumstances and in the process is working to help thousands of others facing the same diagnosis. My family has been profoundly affected by this disease but I believe his efforts, and those of many others like him, will be instrumental in bringing about a cure. Please buy this book not only because it is a great read, but also because the proceeds go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.