The Spiritual Cupcake Podcast

Racing around the world:Tony Copeland-Parker

Episode Summary

In this episode, Candace talks with guest Tony about the medical news that he and his partner received, himself requiring an open heart surgery, and his partner getting diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. He talks about making a counter-intuitive decision that went against what some research would suggest for patients with Early Onset Alzhemizers; instead, they retired, sold their home and became nomads running marathons and half marathons all around the world. Tony talks about what it was like to travel around the world running race after race in places like Madagascar, Bhutan and the Great Wall of China with nothing but a suitcase. The pandemic did not put a stop to their plan and they are still running around the world over 7 years later.

Episode Notes

In this episode, Candace talks with guest Tony about the medical news that he and his partner received, himself requiring an open heart surgery, and his partner getting diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. He talks about making a counter-intuitive decision that went against what some research would suggest for patients with Early Onset Alzhemizers; instead, they retired, sold their home and became nomads running marathons and half marathons all around the world. Tony talks about what it was like to travel around the world running race after race in places like Madagascar, Bhutan and the Great Wall of China with nothing but a suitcase. The pandemic did not put a stop to their plan and they are still running around the world over 7 years later.

Anthony L. Copeland-Parker was a professional pilot/manager for thirty-seven years, the last twenty-seven with United Parcel Service. His last job had him managing pilots and flying B757/767-type air-craft all over the world. When he retired, he began writing his blog, PlayHard-HaveFun.com. Since then, he and his partner Catherine have traveled to eighty-two different countries. They have run at least a half-marathon in thirty-five countries and on all seven continents.

His book Running All over the World, adapted from a blog he wrote during their travels, is a nonfiction account of our five-plus years of flying, running, walking, sailing, and sightseeing from Atlanta to Antarctica and back again. Part travelogue and part medical memoir, it transports listeners to exotic places like Madagascar, Bhutan, and the Great Wall of China while at the same time offering a day-to-day look at what it means to have nothing but what's in your suitcase. It's also an offbeat love story, recounting the trials and tribulations of an ex-pilot with a passion for vistas and logistics and a woman so tough she walks a half-marathon in the Australian Outback mere weeks after breaking her ankle. During their years as nomads, they pushed their physical and mental limitations as often as they could - and finished every race  hand in hand.

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