By GREGORY ZELLER //
Now here’s an idea that’s got legs.
Wai Law is off and running, once again. With hundreds of charitable miles already underfoot and Parkinson’s disease research in his heart, the Bethpage ultrarunner sets off Friday on a Long Island tour like no other: a 320-mile-plus jog tracing the Island’s entire perimeter.
Ready, set, going from Stony Brook University, Law – a 55-year-old long-distance runner with dozens of ultra-marathons and endurance events to his credit – will dash straight to Orient Point, then from Orient Point to Montauk and from Montauk to Westhampton; from there, he’ll hoof it to Seaford and then westernmost Williamsburg, Brooklyn, before racing to Huntington and then back to Stony Brook.
While the quest (a $32,000-plus fundraising score for Stony Brook University’s Thomas Hartman Center for Parkinson’s Research) is quintessentially humane and the effort is undeniably super, Law is not superhuman: The stem-to-stern run will be split into seven legs over consecutive three-day weekends, with the marathon man expected back in Stony Brook on July 31.
Break Neck: Experienced ultra-marathoner Law takes a breather under the Throgs Neck Bridge.
This is not Law’s first long-distance dedication: In 2021, he covered the entire 555-mile Empire State Trail connecting Buffalo and New York City to raise $40,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and for Parkinson’s disease research.
The moving tributes were inspired by Law’s friend Dennis Almodovar of Massapequa, whose father lost his Parkinson’s disease fight in 2017. While this year’s run focuses exclusively on Parkinson’s research, it also emphasizes a very important mental-health element, according to Almodovar.
“Many times, people who have Parkinson’s also have some sort of depression,” he noted. “Parkinson’s is near and dear to my heart, but what people don’t realize is the two could be very closely related.
“My father experienced depression,” Almodovar added. “People with neurological conditions like Parkinson’s are at higher risk for suicide.”
To that end, Law’s end-to-end run will benefit both the Thomas Hartman Center – which conducts basic scientific research into the causes of Parkinson’s disease and the treatment of its symptoms – and the Adolescent Medicine Fund for Excellence, which among other things helps Stony Brook Medicine provide mental-health support and resources for Long Island youth.
The long way: Law’s epic run covers the entire North and South shores, with some nifty footwork across the East End.
Alfredo Fontanini, who chairs Stony Brook’s Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, expressed the university’s deep gratitude to Law and Almodovar “for their outstanding continued friendship and support.”
“Their ultra-runs and their commitment to raising awareness for Parkinson’s research and mental health are truly inspiring for all of us involved in neuroscience research and (the) development of new therapeutic approaches,” Fontanini added.
Law – who is still accepting run support by check and credit card (and plans to track his epic run in real time on his Facebook account) – stressed the mental-health angle of the second running of what has become an annual Parkinson’s disease tour de force.
“We need to continue to advocate and encourage the youth to seek help, as well as educate parents and the society as a whole to recognize that mental-health disorders among the younger generation [are] real and addressing this issue is critically important,” Law said. “With the support of the community, I’m hoping that these first steps can be taken together toward a brighter and better future.”
