Caregiving is one of the hardest things a person can take on. When the person you Love has Alzheimer’s, the emotional weight is relentless. The Grief is layered, the exhaustion is real, and the moments of joy can feel fragile. Many caregivers describe a slow erosion of their own identity as the role consumes more and more of daily life.
For some, running becomes a place to put all of that. Not to escape it, but to carry it differently.
Anthony Copeland-Parker, the author behind Running With Cat, lived this firsthand. When his partner Catherine was diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s, Anthony and Catherine made a choice that surprised most people around them. They sold their home, retired, and became nomads, running marathons and half-marathons across the world for years. The running was not denial. It was a way of staying present, staying connected, and staying sane.
Alzheimer’s caregiving is a long-haul commitment. The disease progresses slowly and unpredictably, which means caregivers can spend years in high-alert mode, managing medications, appointments, emotional crises, and the grief of watching someone change. That sustained Stress takes a measurable toll on the body and mind.
Caregivers often report:
That last one is important. Many caregivers feel that taking care of themselves is somehow selfish. It is not. In fact, it may be the most practical thing a caregiver can do for the person they love.
Physical Exercise, and running in particular, has a well-documented relationship with Mental Health. Sustained aerobic movement triggers the release of endorphins and other neurochemicals that reduce stress, lift mood, and improve sleep quality. But for caregivers, the benefits go deeper than basic biology.
Running creates a window of time that belongs entirely to you. It is not a doctor’s appointment. It is not a caregiver task. It is your body doing something it knows how to do, and that familiarity is grounding when everything else feels unstable.
For endurance athletes especially, there is something meaningful about finishing a race. The training builds structure. Race day provides a goal. Crossing a finish line, even a small local 5K, is a reminder that you are still capable, still moving forward, still yourself.
Anthony and Catherine finished every race they ran hand in hand. That detail says a great deal about what running can mean when it becomes shared, not just a solo coping tool, but a bond.
What Anthony’s story makes clear is that running is not just exercise. It is a framework for approaching an impossible situation with intentionality.
Endurance athletes understand a few things that translate directly to caregiving:
The second book Anthony wrote through Running With Cat, ‘One Footstep at a Time,’ takes its name from this exact idea. As Catherine’s abilities changed, the pace of their life slowed. Foreign marathons gave way to shorter distances and slower rhythms. But the commitment to keep moving, to make every day meaningful, never changed.
Getting out for a run when you are a full-time caregiver requires planning. It is not impossible, but it does take intention. Here are some ways caregivers have made it work:
None of this requires Travel to Antarctica or a race in Bhutan, though Anthony’s story proves that extraordinary things are possible even under the weight of a serious diagnosis.
What separates genuinely useful caregiving narratives from feel-good platitudes is honesty. Anthony does not pretend the journey was easy or that running fixed anything. The disease progressed. The cure did not come. Life got harder.
But the running gave structure to grief. It gave two people a way to be athletes together, and then companions together, as the dynamic shifted. That is not a small thing. For caregivers who are looking for something real to hold onto, that kind of honesty is worth more than any optimized wellness routine.
Readers who pick up ‘Running All Over the World’ or ‘One Footstep at a Time’ will find a voice that does not flinch, a love story told without sentiment overriding truth, and a perspective on caregiving that endurance athletes and Alzheimer’s families alike will recognize as the real thing.
If you are a caregiver who has been neglecting your own need to move, consider this your reminder. Lace up. Go slow if you need to. The road does not care how fast you are. It just asks you to show up.
The post How Endurance Running Helps Dementia Caregivers first appeared on Running With Cat.
