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.