Aug. 5, 2016
Scott Rider was the fastest middle-distance runner I ever saw race in person. The 1978 Hilliard graduate won two Big Ten titles in the 800 meters at Ohio State and was the guy you wanted with the baton on the last leg of almost any relay.
Coming off the final turn, it was, “Watch out, here comes Rider.”
That speed alarm now serves as a warning to be wary. Rider is 56 years old, but I awkwardly treat him like my 87-year-old mother, offering a steady hand as he approaches steep stairs.
“I’ll be fine,” he insists.
Rider’s right foot drags. His right hand shakes. He doesn’t look fine, but he manages.
Here is what most of us know about Parkinson’s disease: Michael J. Fox has it. Muhammad Ali had it. It causes trembling. Few realize that the motor-impairment disorder is caused by the brain not producing enough dopamine, the chemical that spurs movement. An estimated 60,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year, but no cure is available.
Rider didn’t understand much about Parkinson’s, either, when he stepped outside the neurologist’s office in 2006 and began crying because he knew everything was about to change.
“The irony is that I discovered I had Parkinson’s while running,” he said. “I used to run at least five days a week, and the toes on my right foot started clenching.”
At first the disease brought only mild difficulties, but nothing comes easily now as Parkinson’s has progressed into the last of three stages of medicinal treatment. Rider’s wife, Kelly, helps button his shirts. He sometimes requires a driver for his job at his financial-services company in Hilliard, and friends help him handle luggage when he travels the country raising funds for Parkinson's research. The simple act of walking no longer is.
“I stumble a lot. It kind of sucks,” he said.
Watch out, here comes Rider.
“I work out seven days a week. I know, it’s hard to tell,” he said, adding that exercising the body and mind is essential to managing a disease that often leads to dementia and decreased life expectancy.
To battle Parkinson’s, Rider rides. He has logged nearly 8,000 miles on his bicycle the past two years, because for reasons still unknown, the tremors diminish while pedaling.
“The bicycle is a place of peace for me,” he said.
The outdoor rides are at a leisurely pace, going against the grain of a former All-American whose competitive fire still burns. To wit: last year Rider made top 10 nationally in Parkinson's fundraising. And on Sept. 11 at Mapfre Stadium, he will chair the National Parkinson Foundation Moving Day, Columbus' version of a fundraising walk held in cities across the nation. His goal is to assemble a team of 250 walkers, the most in event history.
And to think Rider once concealed his disease.
“For a long time I tried to hide my Parkinson’s, and early on I could,” he said. “There are tricks. For example, you can sit on your (trembling) hand. But I can’t hide it today.”
Nor does he want to. Rider writes a weekly blog about living with Parkinson's, one of which he titled, “Why I came out of the closet.” Now he greets people with a shaky hello, extending his trembling right hand and not letting go until telling them, “I’m Scott Rider. I have Parkinson’s disease. Don’t worry, it’s not contagious.”
But Rider’s attitude is infectious. Certainly, he has bad days, like when dwelling on the dead dream of running road races with his three children. Kelly said her husband used to be a much more positive person, but that he also has become more considerate of other’s struggles.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I would change it if I could, because this has made me a better person in a lot of ways,” he said, adding that his faith and family have helped him cope with his condition.
Rider the runner was great, but greatness is based on achievement. This Rider is good, which speaks to character. Despite his disease, his compassion will not be shaken.
Rob Oller is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.
roller@dispatch.com
@rollerCD
http://health.einnews.com/article/338130231/R6-8LBLvahXAIZs3
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