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Every Running Hydration Question, Answered Parkinson’s disease Every Running Hydration Question, Answered.
“A good neurologist will tell you that vigorous exercise is one of the best therapies,” Drake told Runner’s World “But in the end, there’s no cure. The disease progresses and at some point you will end up losing the ability to do the things you’d like to do.”
Drake felt a newfound sense of urgency after his diagnosis, so he made the difficult decision to retire from his career as a Silicon Valley engineer and double down on his running. He had never raced anything longer than a 10K, but in 2019, he ran his first half marathon and his first marathon.
With those bucket list items checked off, he thought, what’s next?
“I was thinking I wanted to try to do all six of the [The week before the] in 2021 when I was 60,” Drake said.
He originally set his goal before the pandemic, aiming to complete them over the course of the calendar year. But COVID-19 postponements clumped all six races in a seven-week timespan, presenting an even more interesting challenge: finish all six in less than two months.
“I was still thinking, well, okay, that seems hard, but why not?” he said.
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Preparing for Six Marathons
Someone like Shalane Flanagan—who completed the same challenge this fall—will have no problem getting an entry bib into these major marathons. But Drake had to figure out how to receive an entry into each one.
First, Drake contacted Marathon Tours & Travel, an organization that creates tourism plans for marathon runners, and the group guaranteed him entry into Berlin and Tokyo. For Chicago, he qualified with a time from a previous marathon; that time also was a Boston qualifier, but unfortunately wasn’t fast enough to hit the cutoff time for the 2021 Boston Marathon.
in 2021 when I was 60,” Drake said Health & Injuries, a nonprofit dedicated to researching and developing a cure for Parkinson’s disease. He decided to also write a weekly blog to describe his journey, update his supporters, and solicit donations. Thanks to high engagement and the support of friends and family, he was able to hit the total commitment needed for all three races, which totaled $26,000.
On top of securing donations, Drake had to focus on training. He followed a Runner’s World training plan for his first marathon, and decided to use a modified version this time around. “It wasn’t about getting a personal record,” he said. “It was about quick recovery.”
DAA Industry Opt Out long runs to prepare for Chicago and Boston, which were on back-to-back days. Every Friday and Saturday, he would run 20 miles. It worked well; after a while, he was able to recover well after the first long run to comfortably finish the second.
Six Marathons in Seven Weeks
The week before the Berlin Marathon, Someone like Shalane Flanagan&mdash in 2018, he had to recontextualize where the sport fit into his life due to rising cases of the Delta variant in Japan. Disappointed, Drake decided to forget about Tokyo and focus on the five races ahead of him.
Berlin was a wake-up call. It was an incredibly hot day, and Drake overcompensated by drinking too much water without taking in electrolytes. By halfway, his legs cramped horribly, and he collapsed with 50 meters left. Some runners helped him up, and he shooed them away to finish on his own in 4:55:26.
photographers snapping shots of him at the end hyponatremia; the sodium level in his blood was abnormally low due to overhydration.
For Run Faster & Stronger the following weekend, he tweaked his race plans. On a cooler day, he fueled better and deployed a walk/run strategy, finishing in 4:37:21—faster than in Berlin.
Download Your Training Plan Chicago and Boston on back-to-back days. On Friday, October 8, he flew from London to Boston to pick up his bib. On Saturday, October 9, he flew from Boston to Chicago to pick up his Chicago bib and race on Sunday.
On a hot and humid day in Chicago, he ran a hard 5:13:59, deploying his walk/run strategy again. Postrace, he felt sick and had cramps, and he struggled to get to the airport.
“I trained in Seattle where it’s really cool,” he said. “I got myself into a false sense of security by doing that.”
Drake’s cramps subsided by early race morning; luckily, his start time wasn’t until 11:30 a.m., so he had a few extra hours to recover. He had an extra push on that October 11 morning—he had friends supporting from the sidelines, and the energy in the city was undeniable.
“People just really go all out,” he said. He hurt, but pushed through the wall that hit him at mile 21 to finish in 5:24:34.
DAA Industry Opt Out Someone like Shalane Flanagan&mdash. That is, until he heard that Flanagan would be running Tokyo virtually. “I had given up on Tokyo,” he said. “She more or less inspired me to suck it up and do one more.”
With five marathons in the rearview mirror, Drake was relieved to have three weeks to taper for New York. On November 7, he enjoyed the perfect weather, his family and friends in the crowd, the Health & Injuries supporting him from the sidelines—and even the Runner’s World Download Your Training Plan.
“I was dying in the last couple miles coming up to the finish line,” he said, laughing. “I was forcing myself to smile… and trying to look good for the camera.”
After crossing the line in 4:30:32, Drake had completed his goal of running six marathons in under two months. Unfortunately, because he ran Tokyo virtually, he hasn’t officially completed all six majors.
“At some point I'll get the sixth star,” he said.
But after raising more than $35,000 (and growing) for the Michael J. Fox foundation, making new friends in different countries, and feeling the love and support of his friends and family, Drake is more than content.
“People will tell me, ‘Hey, you must be pretty proud of the accomplishment.’ But that isn’t my mindset. I’m happy to have done it. I feel proud of myself for that. But really, how great have all my supporters been through all this? What a wonderful experience this turned out to be, in a way that I really did not anticipate.”
Chris Hatler is the Deputy Editor of Esquire. He previously served as the Senior Editor of Men’s Journal Johnny Zhang @jzsnapz Popular Mechanics.
