Brenner Runs for Parkinson’s Research
A decade ago, Brookhaven resident Bob Brenner caught the “running bug.” Now he's gearing up for his first Boston Marathon in April.
Technically, there are two ways to participate in the Boston Marathon.
One option is to qualify for the esteemed race. That’s not so easy. If you are, say, 59 years old, you need documented proof indicating completion of the 26.2 miles in under three hours and 35 minutes (good for an average of 8:12/mile). Thus, for many aspiring marathoners, Boston remains a pipe dream.
“There was no training on earth that was going to get me to a sub-four-hour marathon unless I quit my job and started running all the time,” says Brookhaven resident Bob Brenner, 59, who is, in fact, gearing up for his first Boston Marathon this April.
Brenner hails from Boston’s North Shore and has been an active recreational runner for the past decade. But he is also realistic. He knew that if he was ever going to burst through the finish line on Boston’s iconic Boylston Street on April 18 — a holiday known as Patriots’ Day up north — he’d need another form of arithmetic in his favor. He’d need to qualify via the more conventional route: raising the requisite funds for a charitable organization.
In this regard, he has already crossed the finish line.
Brenner will be participating in the 126th running of the world’s oldest annual marathon as a member of “Team Fox,” representing the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, for which he has raised over $15,000 and now hopes to hit $25,000.
The foundation, spearheaded by the iconic ’80s actor, is focused on supporting research for Parkinson’s, a disease that Brenner has become all too familiar with. In August 2017, his beloved mother-in-law, Marilyn Hankin, lost her 20-year battle with Parkinson’s. As long as he had known his wife, Dara, Brenner had also known what Parkinson’s entailed: slower-paced walking, facial features freezing, slurred speech, early onset dementia.
So, when Brenner learned that the seven-member team had an open slot for this year’s race, it was the proverbial win-win situation — he could support Parkinson’s research while realizing his decade-long dream of running on Marathon Monday.
That’s right, decade-long. Not lifelong.
“I had no interest in running,” acknowledges Brenner, who has run the 2018 Marine Corps Marathon and, most recently, this year’s Atlanta Marathon. “I was the guy that might occasionally run for two or three miles and then I would get bored. It never really did anything for me.”
Naturally, there were baby steps before competing in the grueling 26.2-mile event. The first competition was a standard 5K, the completion of which Brenner equated to “Olympic gold.” Then it was on to the July 4th Peachtree Road Race.
With the 10K checked off, Brenner graduated to Atlanta’s Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon, when it was probably 80 degrees colder than on Independence Day.
After training for and completing the 2018 Marine Corps Marathon, Brenner figured that race was his first and last. But then he had a change of heart, seizing the opportunity to pay homage to his late mother-in-law by gunning for the Boston Marathon, which he refers to as the “granddaddy of them all.”
For obvious reasons, there was no Boston Marathon these past two Aprils. (Last October, there was a watered-down event with a reduced capacity of 20,000 runners.) This spring, after a three-year hiatus, the Boston Marathon will resume in earnest with its traditional field of over 30,000 participants.
“There are certain things I am a purist about,” says Brenner. “I don’t know if running it [Boston Marathon] in October would have been exciting. Running it on Patriots’ Day, that is the only way to do it.”
He’s aiming to run it in 4:40, which would match the mark he set during his first marathon. But, being a native New Englander, Brenner knows that Boston has its unique challenges. For one, the weather can be wildly unpredictable — in 2012, runners sweltered in 89-degree temps, while six years later, athletes battled wind and freezing rain for hours. Then there’s the course’s signature “Heartbreak Hill,” a cruel incline that daunts runners at Mile 20.
“Finishing it is the first goal,” acknowledges Brenner, whose fascinating Jewish background includes a grandfather and great-great-grandfather who were rabbis on the island of St. Thomas.
As April 18 approaches, Brenner is no different from the overwhelming majority of marathoners who, at least on occasion, wake up wondering if they are good for a five-hour run later. Especially when temperatures hover around freezing.
“I used to joke that I am not a real runner,” he adds. “I usually get a little anxious. I don’t think I can do this today.
“For me, once I get going, it’s the exercise component, but it’s the accomplishment. I can go have that burger. It’s fun when you say to your friends, ‘Yeah, I ran 18 miles today.’”
Indeed, Brenner has quite a few friends who are supporting him in this noble pursuit. In addition to hearing from old shipmates from his Navy days and even older high school friends, Brenner has the backing of a weekly neighborhood fitness club whose members have accompanied him during the more trying stages of his recent workouts. They’ve also been instrumental in supporting his aforementioned fundraising goal, necessary for securing the coveted bib for Team Fox.
“This current group I work out with really came together,” says Brenner. “They really jumped out and supported me. It’s hard to ask family for money. One day, I looked and there was a $1,000 donation. Almost everyone in that group has donated.”
For those interested in learning more about Brenner’s story and the Team Fox mission, please visit https://www.givengain.com/ap/bob-brenner-raising-funds-for-the-michael-j-fox-foundation-43022/ or reach out to Bob at bbrenner@bellsouth.net.
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