100 Miles for Parkinson’s Research

Nick Manis — Brian’s nephew — and his close friends Jeff Begin — Brian’s son-in-law — and LJ Urie will set out on World Parkinson’s Day, April 11, from Centreville with the plan of covering 100 miles to Ocean City on foot within 24 hours. Ahead of the effort, they’re collecting donations to the Michael J. Fox Foundation in Brian’s memory.

“My uncle’s presence was known when he walked into a room due to his size and how fit he was,” explains Nick. “He went from one of the most fit people I knew to not being able to walk over a 10-year period. For me, that was extremely tough to see and reminded me of how fragile our lives can be.”

The idea originated with a similar, albeit slightly smaller, physical challenge at the height of the COVID pandemic. During lockdown, Nick and LJ had what Jeff describes as “the crazy idea to run a marathon and swim 2 miles across the Severn River” as a fundraiser — and they managed to raise $80K for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, in conjunction with Brian’s daughter Elizabeth who ran a self-created marathon in London when the Berlin Marathon was canceled.

Fast-forward to spring 2024, a few weeks after Brian died, and Nick told Jeff he planned to do another fundraiser and run 100 miles this time. “I wasn't sure if he was just emotional or joking or what, but I said I'm in,” Jeff recalls. “What I do know is Big B meant the world to each of us and those around us, and we wanted to do something enormous to honor him.”

They’ve mapped out the course they’ll take on the big day: From Centreville, they’ll head southeast through Denton, crossing the border into Delaware, then heading east to Rehoboth. Once they hit Rehoboth, they’ll follow the coastline south to Ocean City and finish around 129^th Street. They’ll have designated stops on the way, along with support following them in cars for certain legs of the route to provide aid, including food and water.

This kind of challenge calls for a lot of training, which is a huge time commitment. “This is a distance you can't really show up and wing it for, so you have to put in hours and hours each week of running and a lot of it at slow paces just to log miles and build aerobic endurance,” Jeff says.

They’ve been training individually, but they use their Garmin watches to track one another’s progress and hold themselves accountable. Occasionally on weekends, they’ll do long runs together, sometimes going as far as 36 miles at a time. “It's been fun running together and having someone to suffer with makes the 3 AM wakeups and cold much more tolerable,” Jeff says.

They vary the running with weight training, stretching, and lots of foam rolling to reduce aches and pains. Ryan Morrissey from PEAK Custom Fitness Solutions in Annapolis has been helping them train, giving advice on everything from good running form to nutrition on the big day. Their plan is to run with CamelBak hydration packs and every hour take 32 ounces of fluid and 80 grams of carbohydrates.

Overall, their goal is to finish in 24 hours, averaging a 14-minute-per-mile pace. They’ll likely run 9:30/10 minutes per mile for stretches or slow to walk a 17/18 minute mile for periods, with some stops for eating mixed in.

Brian’s wife, Harriet Adam, expresses her awe and admiration for what Nick, Jeff, and LJ plan to do, saying, “I love these guys so much and I know Brian would be so humbled. They’re amazing people in their own right, but here they’re doing something that’s bigger than themselves. The physical and mental commitment they have taken on is beyond inspiring. As they honor someone who had an impact on their lives, they are also bringing awareness and raising money to help others fight this horrific disease. We’re praying for a safe and healthy run and can’t wait to celebrate them.”

The trio will collect donations up to and through April 11 (and potentially in the days after their accomplishment) via their fundraising page — and they’ll gladly accept donations from both loved ones of Brian or anyone in the community who wants to support a good cause. “I think I speak for each of us when I say we enjoy running, but not this much, so please donate and share it with your friends so we can make this one count,” Jeff says.