Colin’s story is a reflection not only on how far Parkinson’s reaches, but on how you can find community in the most unlikely of places.

A trip to remember

Coming to Australia from Ireland, Colin expected to find friends, adventure, a new lease on life. He hadn’t anticipated connecting with the Parkinson’s community.

After speaking to his neighbour in the elevator several times, they decided to get coffee. From here, Colin and Isa, a well-known member of the Fight Parkinson’s community, friendship grew. Colin said the friendship that blossomed over the years was one beyond expectation.

Over time, he started to learn about Parkinson’s and Isa’s commitment to being an advocate for the local Parkinson’s community.

“We started meeting for coffees and we built a nice friendship from there,” Colin said.

“Isa and her husband Alan have done so much for us in every sense, they’re just so nice to us, so generous.”

After years bonding, Colin said Isa felt more like a family member than a neighbour so when he decided to return home to Ireland he wanted to do something special to say goodbye.

After attending his first A Walk in the Park in April, Colin was taken aback by the strength of the Parkinson’s community.

He had heard from Isa how widespread the community was, but this was the first time he had seen it for himself.

It pushed his plan from ‘fundraise’ to ‘fundraise big’.

“That was absolutely wild, just how many people were there and seeing Team Isa and all the support around her was a big whoa moment,” he said.

“I was like okay, this fundraising idea is going to be a good thing. It’s going to be a big thing.”

Running hard and running far

Outside of a charity fun run in 2018 Colin hadn’t run much prior to 2025, until a a good friend asked if he’d run 21 kilometres with him at Christmas.

The challenge excited him though, and he decided to begin training.

After running the half marathon, the idea came to him- an endurance effort unlike anything he’d done before.

“I was just like ‘seven half marathons in seven days’,” Colin said. “Seven in Seven.

“The more I thought about it, I was just like, no, I think I actually have to do this now, because I wanted to do something that wasn’t completely impossible.

“The longest distance I’d run is a half marathon, so obviously seven half would be difficult but I had this delusional confidence I’d be fine.”

Telling Isa of his plan early on ensured he wouldn’t back out.

One man run becomes a community movement

Over the week, Colin was joined by his partner and friends, some running, some riding, helping him get through each day.

The week started well, with the first two half marathons flying by, but as the days went on Colin admits he started to struggle.

The impact of so much running on his body was undeniable and even with the best recovery he felt every step.

But the support from those showing up each day, including many early morning appearances from Isa herself, kept him going.

Before he knew it, his week of half marathons was nearly done and he was shocked by the swell of support that built around him.

It wasn’t just people he knew donating and reaching out, but members of his local community he’d never met. He even heard of a pub raffle that popped up to help the cause.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity to bring his supporters together, he invited the community to join him on his final run.

Meeting Isa at the finish line was the cherry on top.

“It was a beautiful day, I broke down at the end of that run because I was thinking about Isa, and what is happening, and just the bigger picture of Parkinson’s,” Colin said.

Outside of his fantastic fundraising efforts, Colin was also able to open a conversation on Parkinson’s for his community.

Across the week he was blown away by the number of people who came up to him with stories of how Parkinson’s was impacting their lives.

“One of my friend’s parents, donated quite a bit of money and his sister and his brother donated. So I texted his dad to just say thank you for the donation, and then his dad text back and told me his dad had Parkinson’s, so it meant a lot to his family.

“It became a lot more than just me raising money for Isa, it resonated with a lot of people and became so much bigger than I think anyone thought it was going to be.”