Adrian Reynolds talks about his double-marathon experience.

Posted Thu 5th May 2016 at 08:21
by Adrian Reynolds

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'Taking part in the Big Marathon Challenge with Men's Running Magazine has given me a great opportunity to increase awareness about TS'

I can’t think of many illnesses that have gone from obscurity to part of popular culture for such misleading reasons. Far from just being about swearing, Tourette’s includes a multitude of physical tics which impact just about every part of the body. With running the main problem has been disorientation and eye tics, with predictably damp conclusion when running alongside the canal. I knew from my first running event it may be difficult to deal with the crowds and even more so in my first marathon with 38,000 people in front of me. I exerted as much energy trying not to trip over the people in front of me as I did actually running. I hadn’t trained to run at other people’s pace and spend an hour sprinting around people or jogging on the spot. There’s a fine line between a marathon and a queue when you start at the back.

I’d never been much of a runner, but like many people, it didn’t take long…precisely one 10k event before I was hooked and wanted to go further and faster. What appears to exacerbate Tourette’s one day makes no difference the next, so it has been difficult to know how to combat it. However, I’ve found one constant, and that’s staying as fit and strong as I can through diet and exercise. Sometimes I’ve needed to shut myself away to cope, but I compensate for that with longer runs and fresh air, exploring new areas, and running on sunny days across interesting landscapes. The motivation may not be as strong when jogging down a back street in Balham, but the positive impact on my life remains. The days when it’s severe enough to stop me running just make me appreciate the days I can run even more.

Many of the associated disorders such as depression, anxiety and OCD will be familiar to everyone. Each can put exercise further from your mind, but running can have a huge benefit. Since I started running regularly I’ve felt fitter and stronger every year, which has put me in a good position to deal with my illness. The mental health benefits have been just as strong, boosting my mood and confidence, while on many runs the tics reduce enough to switch off and it becomes a more cathartic experience. A lot of non runners might think it would leave them exhausted all the time, but as someone who has long been exhausted from illness, I can assure you running has given me ten times more energy. Just knowing I got through those last few miles of a marathon makes the challenges of daily life more manageable.

Taking part in the Big Marathon Challenge has given me a great opportunity to increase awareness about the condition and raise funds for Tourette’s Action. After these marathons I plan to keep fighting the misconceptions surrounding it, and enjoy running for as many years as possible".

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