Larry Grogin, a 71-year-old with Parkinson’s disease, is running 100 marathons in 100 days across the country to show movement is medicine, and he proved it in Durango on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The retired chiropractor is using his background as an elite endurance athlete to raise money and awareness for Parkinson’s, and he ran his 78th and 79th marathons in Durango since beginning the journey in New Jersey on March 24.
Grogin took some time to relax and meet the Durango community at Zia Taqueria on Wednesday night before starting another marathon in Cortez on Thursday.
“It’s been amazing,” Grogin said about Durango. “I’m not saying it to be nice ... We’ve been to the nicest places with the nicest people, but when we hit Colorado, something different happened. You live in Disney.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Grogin planned to start at Memorial Park and go to Home Depot and back three times for his 26.2 miles. However, he changed his route on Wednesday, starting on Main Ave at 3 a.m. and running 15 miles, before doing the last 11 miles on the Animas River. Grogin said he had beautiful conditions with cool temperatures and a light breeze.
Grogin had a great reception at Zia, with plenty of supporters coming up to say hello to Grogin, wish him well and even giving donations for the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s, helping him achieve his goal of raising $250,000. Jonathan Bell, who runs a local Parkinson’s support group, was there for Grogin’s run and the reception at Zia. So was The Good Fight Boxing Club owner Katy Kopec.
Another stellar athlete who was at Zia supporting Grogin was Durango’s Patrick Morrissey. A member of the Human Powered Potential team that rowed from California to Hawaii in July 2024, raising $43 million for Parkinson’s, Morrissey also has Parkinson’s and recently became a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“It was totally heaven,” Grogin said about meeting Morrissey. “I feel like I went to the Super Bowl and got to go in the locker room with the quarterback. What he’s done is amazing and continues to do. He was telling me earlier today the plans they have to put into motion with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, performance labs and stuff that’s going to change the world. He’s as humble as you could expect; what humility.”
Next for Grogin is running in Phil’s World Bike Trail on Thursday. He’ll then head into the Navajo Nation, go through Flagstaff, Arizona, before finishing in Calabasas, California, on July 1 with a huge party at the finish.
You can find more about Grogin’s story here.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
