Spartan Race: Vernon, NJ August 2024
Rob Felber: 59 years old – diagnosed with PD in 2014 – 3rd Spartan
Parkinson’s Warriors and InMotion clients completed a 5K, 20 obstacle Spartan race at Mountain Creek – Vernon NJ.
Spartan races feature a trail of rugged terrain, often rocks, mud, and elevation combined with obstacles including barbed wire crawls, 100# round atlas stone carries, 35-foot a-frame cargo net climbs, as well as carries and drags such as 60-75# bucket, sandbag carries and hoists, often exceeding 80 pounds.
Penalties for skipping or failing an obstacle include 30 burpees or running penalty loops. Other obstacles are monkey bars, rings and a straight rope climb.
Kirstin D’Alessandro: 55 years old diagnosed with PD in 2009 -3rd Spartan
For Rob Felber (59 years old diagnosed 2014 ) and Kirstin D’Alessandro (55years old diagnosed 2009) it was their third Spartan.
This year they were joined by Forrest Petz (48 years old diagnosed 2024), InMotion coach Dana Rini doing her first race, Rob’s daughter Zoe Felber Bluffestone (her third Spartan) and her husband Cory Bluffestone doing his first.
For newcomers and veterans alike, this was an incredibly challenging race with mountain elevation over 1700 feet and multiple times up and down the mountain.
The mental toughness of simply putting one foot in front of the other combined with the comradery of their teammates made it all possible (not to mention the extra Dopamine taken; for Rob it was a little soggy meds with muddy water but they still worked!).
Forrest Petz : 48 years old diagnosed with PD in 2024
We are planning to do more and hope others with PD can join.
Boston Marathon 2024
Cristina Burbach wrote a great detailed race report, about our group of people with Parkinson’s who were able to get para-athlete classifications and compete in the para division at Boston Marathon.
Cristina Burbach’s 2024 Boston Marathon race report-6 people with PD competed.
If you have any interest at all, check it out. As a PWP you just need to turn in a sub 6 hour marathon time from a certified course. That averages about 13:30 min/mile.
Cristina’s post goes into more detail but there is prize money… and it was so inspiring to spend time with other runners with PD.
Paralympic Track and Field Trials 2024
After I was classified as a para-athlete at Boston, the thought occurred to me that I may be eligible to compete in the Paralympic track trials. It is a complicated process. It turns out the only events they have for the coordination impaired classifications are the 100m and 200m dash.
I was too late to the game to get a World Para-athlete classification so even if I had run super fast, I was not eligible for a Paris Paralympic Slot, but it was a cool experience even though I fell flat on my face…
I am wanting this section to eventually be about groups of people with PD getting together at races to cheer each other on, and as an extra motivation to set goals and stick with it.
Please see upcoming events page for upcoming events. If you have a race report you would like to include here, or an upcoming event you are planning to do, that you would want to try to get others with PD on board, please e-mail: parkinsonzexercise@gmail.com