A 71-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease is doing something most healthy athletes would never attempt.
Larry Grogin, a retired chiropractor and acupuncturist from northern New Jersey, is running 100 marathons in 100 consecutive days — crossing the entire United States on foot to prove that a diagnosis doesn’t have to be a death sentence.
With 78 days already behind him and Los Angeles in his sights, his story is stopping people in their tracks from Kansas backroads to Colorado mountain trails.
And what he’s doing isn’t just physically extraordinary — the message he’s carrying across America might be even more powerful than the miles.
Jump to:
- A Diagnosis That Changed Everything — Then Changed It Back
- 100 Marathons. 100 Days. One Very Important Birthday
- From Blisters to Calluses: How 78 Days on the Road Changes a Body
- “Run Larry Run” — A Nation Starts to Pay Attention
- His Advice? If People Don’t Think You’re Doing Too Much, You’re Not Doing Enough
A Diagnosis That Changed Everything — Then Changed It Back
Grogin was no stranger to endurance sports when Parkinson’s entered his life in 2019. An experienced marathoner and Ironman triathlete, he had already been planning a coast-to-coast run when the diagnosis landed.
The dream didn’t die. It evolved.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Rather than abandon the idea entirely, Grogin restructured it — logging long runs in locations across the country in a format his family felt was safer. As the disease progressed, so did his understanding of what it really meant to live with it.
Up until that point in time, I was able to muscle through life, and fight to succeed at things. Parkinson’s taught me a very different lesson of learning how to live with it, not beat it.
He draws inspiration from Abraham Lincoln’s philosophy of destroying enemies by making them friends — and that mindset quietly powers every single step.
100 Marathons. 100 Days. One Very Important Birthday
In March, on the morning of his 71st birthday, Grogin laced up and started running. The challenge — 100 marathons in 100 consecutive days — came together almost poetically.
It just rolls off the tongue easily.
Months of preparation preceded that first step. His training blended strength work, swimming, cycling, and running — plus pickleball, which he credits not for physical conditioning but for sharpening his reflexes and mental focus.
Every single day since then follows the same rhythm: wake up in a new hotel, begin an extended treadmill warm-up, eat breakfast, then head out onto the road for another 26.2 miles.
The Secret Parkinson’s Weapon Most People Don’t Know About
Here’s where things get genuinely fascinating. Grogin doesn’t just roll out of bed and start running — and for Parkinson’s patients, that distinction matters enormously.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
With a normal body, you can warm up in a couple of minutes, but it’s hours for a Parkinson’s patient. Once you understand that, it’s a secret passcode.
He often completes up to a half marathon on the treadmill before he ever steps outside, counting those miles toward his daily total. Early in the morning, his gait is visibly strained. By the final mile, it looks almost completely normal.
“We’ve been posting on social media the last mile every day, and I get emotional when it looks normal,” he shared. That transformation — captured daily and shared online — has become one of the most quietly powerful parts of the entire journey.
From Blisters to Calluses: How 78 Days on the Road Changes a Body
The early days were brutal. Blisters, sunburn, and exhausted muscles made every step a negotiation.
The blisters became calluses, the sunburn became a suntan, and the muscles became conditioned.
These days, his biggest grievance is considerably more relatable. The hotel waffle breakfast has become something of a running joke — pun very much intended.
If I died and went to purgatory, they’re going to serve me waffles.
After nearly three months on the road, the man is conditioned, focused, and deeply motivated. Stopping now isn’t something his body — or his mind — would easily accept.
If I didn’t do a marathon tomorrow, I would be squirming in my seat, wondering what to do with myself.
“Run Larry Run” — A Nation Starts to Pay Attention
Word travels fast when a 71-year-old Parkinson’s patient runs through your town every day. Grogin has been met with cheering strangers on quiet Kansas streets and salutes from railroad crews in Colorado.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
In Dayton, Ohio, hundreds of people threw him a full celebration, honoring him as the guest of the evening. Fellow Parkinson’s patients have been showing up in the most unexpected places — on mountaintops, along trails, at roadside stops.
I’ve had people meet me on mountaintops and trails and the oddest of places. I think the message is getting through, that they’re the primary catalyst in their healing, and they’re the ones who can make a difference.
That message — that patients themselves hold real power in their own recovery — is the entire point of this journey.
$160,000 Raised and Counting
Grogin is running for the Davis Phinney Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping Parkinson’s patients live well. He’s currently raised approximately $160,000 and remains confident he’ll hit his $250,000 target before reaching Los Angeles.
The funds address needs that are easy to overlook — like helping patients who can no longer drive get transportation to the gym. Small things. Life-changing things.
It’s such a tough illness, and there’s a kind of relief when people feel that they’re not powerless in the face of it, and that is gratifying.
His Advice? If People Don’t Think You’re Doing Too Much, You’re Not Doing Enough
As both a healthcare professional and a Parkinson’s patient, Grogin holds strong opinions about how the disease should be approached. While many experts champion short, explosive movements like boxing, he champions the opposite — long, slow, sustained effort.
Movement is medicine and is the best thing in the world for Parkinson’s patients.
His mission was never about personal glory, and he’s been clear about that from the very beginning.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
This run is not about saying ‘Larry is so strong and mentally tough.’ It’s about people who feel defeated realizing that if a 71-year-old can do this, they can do anything.
Los Angeles is close. The waffles are almost over. And somewhere along a highway in America, Larry Grogin is still running — because for him, that’s simply what you do.
What’s been most special has been the smiles and the people waving from their cars, but I haven’t quite cracked the code of why so many people have said they are inspired. It’s pretty neat, but I’ll never understand it — it’s just running.
