A New Jersey man is preparing to take on a cross-country challenge few runners could imagine: 100 marathons in 100 days, all while living with Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Larry Grogin, nearing his 71st birthday, plans to begin the run Tuesday — on his birthday — traveling from New Jersey to Los Angeles to raise awareness and funds for Parkinson’s research.

“I was getting ready to take a run cross country seven years ago into 2019, and I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” Grogin said.

Running has long been central to his life, and he said that commitment only deepened after his diagnosis. Grogin has continued to run and thrive, even if it now takes him longer to stretch for each outing.

His upcoming journey, almost comparable to a “Forrest Gump” run, will take him across 2,600 miles. He plans to run 26.2 miles each day, sleep and start again the next morning.

“I’m inspired to encourage other people to get out and move. We say movement is medicine, and by that, we mean that whether you have a chronic neurological disease like I do, or you’re healthy, movement is health promoting and movement is medicine,” he said.

The run also serves as a fundraiser for the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s, and Grogin said he’s moved by the response he has received.

“I didn’t quite anticipate that people are inspired and encouraged, and it’s very heartwarming. I get emails and text messages from people we never met that said, we heard what you’re doing and we’re inspired,” he said.

As he prepares to begin the journey, Grogin said his message is simple.

“That anything is possible, that if you dream big, life gets big. And it’s not about beating life, it’s about surviving and getting along with it,” he sai