A best-selling author and renowned runner who has faced a marathon of obstacles will be the guest speaker at the Okotoks public library later this month.
Martin Parnell, author of the Calgary area best-seller Marathon Quest, will present Ordinary to Extraordinary — One Step at a Time on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at the library.
His talk will touch on running, but it’s about overcoming any obstacles.
“This talk is about challenges we all have — maybe health challenges, whether it is to ourselves or to our family,” Parnell said. “This is not a running talk. It’s about what happens when you have a situation that changes your life. How can you handle it — what are some of the things to make you positive. That’s what it is really all about.”
His latest book, Running to the Edge, has just been published.
Parnell made headlines in 2010 when he ran 250 marathons to raise money for Right to Play, an organization promoting youth activity worldwide. He also completed 10 endurance quests from 2010-2014 — including a weekend-long lacrosse game in which many Okotokians participated, for Right to Play. He’s raised more than $1.3 million for the organization.
However, he found himself with a long bed stay when he was diagnosed with a clot in the brain in 2015.
“The (lecture) will really focus on the long road to recovery through the convalescence,” Parnell said last week. “Just six weeks ago, I took my last pill. They had me on blood thinners and blood pressure pills. Now I am off everything, and that is really good news.”
The blood clot came while he was in Winnipeg, where he was scheduled to give a keynote speech in February of 2015.
Guys who run marathons aren’t supposed to have brain clots.
“The wheels came off and the organizer said ‘You look awful’ and I went to the hospital,’’’ Parnell said. “It was just out of the blue.”
He was in the Winnipeg hospital for two weeks, but was practically housebound for half a year.
“I went from a guy who ran marathons to a guy who needed help going to the bathroom,” Parnell said. “I didn’t do anything for six months.
“The biggest thing is I had no control over it. I chose those other obstacles — the marathons — but this, it chose me.”
Parnell admits to depression during his convalescence.
Although not quite to his old self, he is back running. He ran Marathon Afghanistan in November to help raise funds for a volleyball court for female athletes in Afghanistan.
“I was feeling blue, my wife gave me an article about a woman who ran a marathon in Afghanistan,” Parnell said. “Marathon runners here face obstacles like dehydration, nutrition, training. For her, the obstacle was harassment. She was sworn at, called a prostitute, stones thrown at her, but she toiled on and ran the marathon.
“That inspired me and I told myself: ‘If I can, I am going to go over there and help these ladies who want to run.’”
There is no cost to attend the Jan. 26 presentation. Parnell will have copies of his book available.
Proceeds from the book will go towards Right to Play.
Anyone interested in attending the lecture can register with the library at 403-938-2220.
