Photo by Derek Redd New Jersey resident Larry Grogin is running 100 marathons in 100 days for Parkinson's disease awareness. His trip took him through Wheeling on Friday.

Larry Grogin refuses to allow Parkinson’s disease to have the last word in his life.

That’s why he has taken on a cross-country trek – much of it on foot – to not only raise awareness for neurological diseases and funds to fight them, but hope for those who live with such diseases that they can accomplish amazing things.

Grogin, a 71-year-old Bloomingdale, New Jersey resident, has begun a quest to run 100 marathons across the United States in 100 days. The project began March 24 and on Friday, the 19th day, he came through Wheeling. At each stop, he runs and walks the 26.2 miles of a marathon distance.

Grogin, a chiropractor, acupuncturist and herbalist, has been an avid marathoner and triathlete for much of his life. He has more than 300 marathons and 30 Ironman triathlons under his belt.

Yet when he was told by his doctor in 2019 that he had Parkinson’s disease – a neurodegenerative disease that can lead to body tremors, rigidity and slowness – he felt something he hadn’t experienced with his physicality.

“Vulnerability,” he said. “It was the first time that I thought I can’t muscle my way through and beat it.”

Grogin said he had been a muscle-through guy for much of his life, so living with Parkinson’s forced him to go against how he had operated for so long. With Parkinson’s he said, it’s not about conquering the disease, like one would with cancer. It’s about living with the disease.

“You have to learn how to live with it successfully,” he said. “With Parkinson’s, you think about living your best life.”

And at age 71, that best life was conquering an impressive feat for anyone, much less a septuagenarian with a neurodegenerative disease. Yet these runs and walks are something he said is crucial to living with Parkinson’s successfully.

“Movement is medicine,” Grogin said. “It’s such a powerful tool with Parkinson’s and I’ve come to know it personally. Nothing is better for somebody with Parkinson’s, even if it hurts.”

He admits that sometimes it does hurt. He is chronicling the trek on his Instagram page, runlarryrun26, and talks about the bumps and aches that come with running such distances. He remains undaunted, though. He’s not doing this just for himself, he said. He’s doing it for so many who battle neurological diseases across the United States.

Grogin mentioned that West Virginia, has the third-highest prevalence for Parkinson’s in the United States with around 7,000 cases, and he said that number will only grow.

So he has turned these runs into a fundraiser – Strides For Humanity through the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s – and said he has raised nearly $200,000 so far.

He hasn’t been on this path alone. Multiple friends have been and will be with him through the 100 days. His friend Harry Silver was wrapping up his leg of the trip Friday and was meeting a new group in Ohio.

Silver said he marvels at what Grogin has accomplished so far and what he is trying to accomplish with this trip.

“It’s really extraordinary,” Silver said. “Watching Larry emotionally but also physically through the ups and downs. He powers through the challenge. It’s remarkable, the kind of inner strength you have to have.”

Grogin plans for that strength to carry him across the country to the final destination – Calabasas, California. He said with a chuckle that when he reaches the finish line, he’s going to sit down, close his eyes and not move for a while. He’ll have earned the rest, and he’ll have shown those with neurological diseases that life doesn’t end with a diagnosis.

“It’s about raising funds, raising awareness and raising people’s hope,” he said. “It’s not a death sentence.

“On one of my runs, I was thinking, I’m not dead,” he added. “I may sweat a little bit. I may drool a little bit. I may stumble a little bit. I may even fall a little bit. But I’m not dead.”