This is the third article in a five-part series about figures in the sports world that have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease or are doing something to raise awareness.
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What had you accomplished by age 24? Most people, if they’re lucky in today’s economy, are working a low-paying job with their newly-earned college degree. Maybe they’re in graduate school. Or living in their parents’ basement.
For Sam Fox, by age 24 he had raised over $170,000 towards Run While You Can, the organization he founded to honor his mother’s fight against Parkinson’s disease. Oh, and Fox ran from Canada all the way down to Mexico, covering 43 miles per day for 61 straight days. Wow.
Sam Fox was born and raised in Rhode Island. In high school, Fox showed natural athletic talent and earned 15 varsity letters in four sports. Fox was a four-year varsity letterman in track and field at Yale University and won a gold medal in the high jump at the Penn Relays in 2007.
Fox was inspired by his mother, Lucy Fox, in her decade-long fight against Parkinson’s disease. Lucy has been Sam’s inspiration, and her acres of well-tended plants and vegetables have impressed upon Sam the values of hard work. Despite her diagnosis, Lucy’s outlook on life hasn’t changed. She remained upbeat and, while she had to give up hiking and kayaking, still maintains her garden and makes her own beer.
Sam Fox, an avid outdoorsman and Ivy-league athlete, decided that he would run the Pacific Crest Trail to raise money and awareness for Parkinson’s disease and to honor his mother. The Pacific Crest Trail runs from the Canadian border to the Mexican border, and covers 2,400 miles. For two straight months, Fox ran well over a marathon per day to complete his goal. He chronicled each day in a blog and a documentary about his run, titled Run While You Can, is set to come out in the spring of 2012.
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