Man with Disability Raises Money for Boston Medical Center
By Penny Williams
The Eagle-Tribune Online, published Apr 12th, 2007
http://www.eagletribune.com/punewsnh/local_story_102010244.html/resources_printstory
HAMPSTEAD — Alva Pingel, 57, will be among the thousands of runners participating Monday in the 2007 Boston Marathon. He's running to fulfill a dream and to help a worthy cause, despite having a disability. Pingel lives with essential tremors, an involuntary trembling of the body associated with intentional movements such as holding a cup of coffee or picking up a pen to write.
Essential tremors can affect other areas of the body, including arms, legs or larynx, but in Pingel's case it begins with his hands and head. It affects Pingel's gait and makes standing in one place or sitting in a backless chair very difficult. However, he said, exercise helps to lessen the tremors and allows him to sleep better. Essential tremor, he said, is caused by abnormalities in areas of the brain that control movement. While often confused with Parkinson's disease, it isn't related. Parkinson's tremors are more pronounced during rest and don't usually affect the head or voice. Ten million people are affected by essential tremor, Pingel said, although most don't even know it. It creeps up on you, he said, noting his first symptoms came when he was just 27. As the tremors became more pronounced, he was forced to retire from his fast-paced, high-stress job.
Now, he does volunteer work. He can still drive and takes medication that helps some. Although his disability makes the marathon more of a challenge, that's not where Pingel's focus lies. “The most important thing about all this is what I am running for, not the disability I am running with,” he said. The marathon is a challenging 26 miles. Pingel has competed in road races before, but stopped in 1994 after developing a heart problem during the Falmouth Road Race. He said it happened because of a medication he was taking for his tremors. “But everyone has a dream,” he said. “When I got the official bid number from the Boston Athletic Association to run in the Charity Division of the Boston Marathon to raise money for the Boston Medical Center, I knew it was something I was going to do.”
He pledged to raise $5,000 for the Boston Medical Center, New England's largest provider of free medical care. The medical center is called Boston's safety net hospital and serves a largely indigent population. Other large city hospitals routinely turn indigent patients away from their emergency rooms, Pingel said. He has the support and financial help of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, which will donate $1 for every $3 he raises.
“I am running for the Boston Medical Center because I believe in their philosophy of never turning any patient away, regardless of their ability to pay for treatment,” he said.
Pingel will wear a heart monitor, something he says he always does when he runs these days, to ensure his heart rate is at a certain level to avoid a problem. He runs four days a week — three 7.5-mile runs and a longer 10- to 20-mile run.
“We have lots of hills here in New Hampshire, so I should be well prepared for Heartbreak Hill,” he said. His decision to return to running came after hernia surgery last summer. He worked hard to get himself back in shape so he could go hiking with his son in Colorado last fall.
He said his wife is ambivalent about his decision; she worries something will happen to him and he'll end up in the hospital. But, she plans to be there for him along the marathon course, he said.
His goal is to complete the marathon in four hours and 22 minutes. But, he said, if his heart monitor tells him something different, he will listen to it.
“This is a personal challenge because I have never completed a race longer than 12 miles,” he said. “In fact, I have never even contemplated running a marathon, other than having this dream of running in the Boston Marathon.”