Father Pushes Son With Angelman’s Syndrome the Distance Around the World – runnersworld.com

Every day, Jim Gavin, 66, and his son, Jimmy, go for long walks together. Each time, as Jim pushes Jimmy in a Team Hoyt racing chair around the various roads and trails near their Farmington Hills, Michigan, home, the father points out everything along the route to his 36-year-old son with Angelmans Syndrome (AS).

In 1984, Jimmy became the fourth person in the U.S. to be diagnosed with AS, and has been entirely dependent on his parents, Jim and Suzy, for his entire life. The rare neuro-genetic disorder shares symptoms and characteristics with other disorders including autism, cerebral palsy, and Prader-Willi syndrome.

With the diagnosis, some things had to be sacrificed. Jim, a lifelong runner since high school, had to stop coaching cross country and track at Detroit Catholic Central High School, where he was a teacher and guidance counselor. He continued to run by himself, but walks with Suzy and Jimmy became a happy place for all of them.

When Jimmy got big enough for a stroller, wed go for walks and hed love it, Jim told Runners World. He enjoys being outside more than anything. We always stop to say hi to people, and hes all smiles. He enjoys recognition and seeing people.

When Jim retired from teaching four years ago, his walking really ramped up, since an Achilles tendon injury put his running on hold. A colleague gave him a Fitbit Alta HR as a parting gift that Jim brought on all of his walks; between morning, afternoon, and evening walkswith Jimmy coming along on most of themhe began racking up some serious mileage.

Hes a gift from God, but hes also a lot of work, Jim said. Walking really has intensified the bond between us.

Jim reaches at least double-digit miles walked each day, and he estimates that they hit about a five-mph pace, while also pointing out things that Jimmy enjoys, like animals.

Without even knowing, Jim and Jimmys mileage started adding up. An email from Fitbit clued them in on just how much.

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Next thing I know, maybe four or five months after tracking the mileage, I get an email saying that Ive walked the distance of the Sahara Desert, Jim said. Then I hit the Great Wall of China, and almost two years to the day of my retirement, it said I had walked from the North Pole to the South Pole [nearly 12,450 miles]. We thought, Why not walk the other half?

Jim and Jimmy put a big dent in the remaining mileage in 2019, reaching nearly 7,000 miles total for the year. With the total24,900 milesnearing in 2020, Jim decided to up his mileage, doing 133-mile weeks (532-mile months).

The final day came on April 23. Father and son went out as they normally did, walking around a nearby lake to complete their mileage. However, when they returned, Suzy and her sister greeted them with posters and a tape break, commemorating their around-their-world distance.

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With the goal achieved, Jim and Jimmys mileage has come back down to 15-mile days, or 105-mile weeks.

Someone had suggested that his next goal to be to run to the moon238,900 miles. Even at their speedy pace, that would take about 40 years, so the Gavins are just planning on enjoy their runs like they always do.

Im not getting any younger, Jim said. I just want to keep my son involved with it. He goes right for the door every morning when he knows were going out. We came about this all by accident, and I was intrigued when we got a taste of it. Now, thats the end of it, and were just gonna keep going together.

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Father Pushes Son With Angelman's Syndrome the Distance Around the World - runnersworld.com