In April this year, Ben Coburn and a group of his friends will take on a mammoth challenge involving swimming, running and board paddling around Newcastle – in honour of Ben’s Pop who had Parkinson’s. Joel, an integral member of the team, too has a family member who suffers from Parkinson’s.

We spoke with Ben to find out more about his story and what this challenge means.

What drives your commitment to a cure for Parkinson’s?

My beautiful Pop, Barry Martin, had Parkinsons Disease. To see such a fit and healthy man struggle with this disease in the twilight of his life was extremely difficult. In our quest for help for pop, it appeared a lot more work can be done in this field to ensure future generations don’t have to suffer the way pop suffered with the disease.

What are you doing to ‘shake things up’ and fundraise?

We have decided to make our very own challenge event. It will consist of a 1km swim, 8km run and 3.5km board paddle in and around Newcastle. There is a group of us doing the event and by how the training is tracking, it sure will be a challenge!

Additionally, I am doing no alcohol, no takeaway, training twice per day and drinking 3.5ltrs of water per day for 80 days leading into the event in preparation.

Can others get involved?

Yes, if you’d like to get involved please reach out to myself via our Facebook or our Instagram pages. You can also follow the event and our training through these pages.

If you’d like to donate to our challenge, please visit our fundraising page.

Find out more about how you can make a difference by getting involved with fundraising. 100% of all funds raised will go directly towards cutting-edge Parkinson’s Research for better treatments to slow, stop and prevent Parkinson’s progression.