Mags with daughter Sarah before setting off on the Great Escape Half Marathon.
A WOMAN who does not let suffering from Parkinson’s Disease stop her running has completed a half marathon across Dartmoor to raise more than £3,000 towards research into treating the disease.
Mags Jarvis, 62, a running coach with Okehampton Running Club, raised an impressive £3,032.50 for Parkinson’s UK after taking part in the Great Escape Half Marathon with her daughter Sarah.
Mags and Sarah took part in the off-road race across the moor on August 26.
‘The race was held on a warm and sunny day. Sarah finished fourth overall and was second lady lady in one hour and 46 minutes and I was second in my age group of ladies aged 60-64, finishing in the top half of the field in two hours and 37 minutes,’ said Mags.
‘Since then sponsorship has reached a total of £3,032.50, which far surpassed my expectations. I am indebited to everybody locally who has been so supportive and so very generous.’
Mags, who lives in Northlew, first developed signs of Parkinson’s Disease six years ago. She takes medication to control the symptoms, which include joint stiffness and tremors, which allows her to train, but is well aware that there is no cure for the disease.
‘Obviously you slow down with age but with the medication I have actually improved my running times over the last two years,’ she said. ‘The medication only masks the symptoms, though. It is a degenerative illness and it goes in one direction only but there is a lot of research going on to find a cure. I wanted my fundraising to go towards research so that’s why I chose to run for Parkinson’s UK.
‘I chose this half marathon because I like running off road and trail running and it seemed a good challenge,’ she said. ‘I really enjoyed it. It was not overly hilly but the terrain was rough. The first bit wasn’t too bad, but the central bit of the race you had to find your route because it was only marked by little markers so it was easy to go wrong.
‘I loved the challenge, personally. Every single step has to go in the right place. On a road run you can just switch off but I don’t find that very fulfilling, and I think it is better to have a variety of movements for your legs rather than just one.’
Mags, who has been running for 36 years, said she was determined not to let her illness stop her lacing up her trainers. She coaches and trains each week with the Okehampton Running Club and also leads walkers in the Okehampton Walk and Talk group. She runs three or four times a week, which she says keeps her spirits up.
‘The other thing about Parkinson’s is that the chemical we are missing in our brains is dopamine, which is a feel-good chemical, and without that it is easy to feel a bit low, she said. ‘Running releases those chemicals.’
She said the scenery running on Dartmoor also gave her a boost. She did training runs on the moor with friends from Okehampton Running Club over the summer to prepare for the Great Escape Half Marathon. ‘The views up there are just exhilarating,’ she said.
‘I know from talking to my neurologist that I’m probably pretty rare as a runner with Parkinson’s but I would love to encourage people to at least give some kind of exercise a go,’ she added. ‘A lot of people, when they are diagnosed, go into a negative mindset, but as we all know, the effects of exercise on the brain are very good.’
http://www.okehampton-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=422270&headline=Parkinson%27s%20sufferer%20Mags%20Jarvis%20raises%20thousands%20by%20completing%20half%20marathon§ionIs=news&searchyear=2017
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