I wrote an article a while ago about the disappointment in the cancellation of an international competition for PWP twice and how I decided that if I couldn’t go to the mountain, then I’d damn well bring the mountain to me.

I have been working to get this event going, it hasn’t been easy, and the struggles continue. I am getting somewhere though!

I have found a venue that is excited to help promote and host the games and I will meet with them soon to hammer out details. The new, and I hope, final date for the event is Sept 7, 2025. This is getting real!!! There is so much still to be done - pick board members and volunteers. Get permits and insurance. Raise money. So many things!

For a time, I thought I would just give up on this project, but I can’t do that. As PWP, we deserve to have something just for us, something competitive, but fun. It’s time to showcase PWP. Despite our disease, we are talented, athletic, intelligent and wonderful people. 

It should be a fun day and if it goes well, I hope to expand it next year, and the year after that, and so on. Our events will be 100 m and 1500 m races. Then in a nearby athletic facility, we will be running Pickle ball and Table Tennis competitions. Our last event will be boxing (just on a bag, not each other!)

I am hoping to be able to live stream the event, in the hopes that other places will start having their own games and at some point, we will be able to hold a World Parkinson Games!!!

Dianne Bramble is a Registered Nurse in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She left nursing and got her certification in Health Coaching, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Personal Training. Dianne’s focus is on people with chronic conditions like Parkinson’s. She’s 56, married with two kids, a dog, and a horse. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in September 2013. Her blogs will focus on mental and physical health.