Four inspirational runners joined Team Cure at the New York City Marathon to raise funds for Parkinson’s research.

On Sunday 6 November Cure Parkinson’s CEO Will Cook, Nicky Edwards and brother and sister duo Charlie and Jessica Brew all took part in the iconic race, raising valuable funds and awareness for Parkinson’s.

The marathon took Team Cure on a 26.2 mile route through New York City’s five boroughs, starting in Staten Island and finishing in Central Park. The day before the marathon, our research partner, Van Andel Institute (VAI), kindly hosted a pre-marathon brunch for their own and our runners, giving everyone the chance to meet and hear about our collaborative research.

As we start to move into the 11th year of the iLCT programme, our collaboration with our strategic partner Van Andel Institute is stronger than ever. Not only do we continue to collaborate on ground breaking research, but we work closely together on directing more funds towards future clinical trials. An excellent example of this is our joining together for the recent New York City marathon; I was delighted to travel to the US and run the race alongside Chris and Grace Pregent-Halford from VAI.”

Will Cook, CEO of Cure Parkinson’s

Each Team Cure runner had a personal reason for taking part in the event for Cure Parkinson’s, and for our CEO Will Cook challenging himself in the name of fundraising is second nature! This year alone, Will has cycled with seven other members of Chess Valley Rugby Club from their home ground in Croxley to Paris in just three days; he tackled the gruelling Raid Alpine cycle challenge in July alongside 22 other supporters including Cure Parkinson’s patron Mike Tindall; and he took on the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October. In fact, for the Cooks, supporting Cure Parkinson’s is a family affair as this spring Will’s mother Joyce, 87, led a team of six to walk over one million steps in a month for Cure Parkinson’s.

Cure Parkinson’s is hugely grateful to Nicky, Charlie, Jessica and Will for running the New York City Marathon to help raise funds and awareness for us, and congratulations on completing such an incredible challenge!

Team Cure at the New York City Marathon:

From left: Nicky Edwards, Jess Brew, Will Cook, Charlie Brew with Chris and Grace Pregent-Halford at the VAI pre-marathon brunch
Will Cook with his daughters, Beth and Amy, after the marathon

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