The Long Road to a Cure: Three Races, One Goal
James Farnell
Fundraising for Run Your Way 2026
James Farnell
Imagine what it's like to breathe through a straw, every minute of every day. Imagine not knowing that this isn't typical. Now imagine adding two hours of breathing and nebulizer treatments daily, a minimum of 40 pills spread throughout the day just to survive, daily exercise to stimulate lung capacity, countless doctors' appointments, random unexpected surgeries, and constant monitoring of symptoms - all while avoiding germs at every turn. Imagine managing all of that while being a 17-year-old boy in his senior year of high school, excited for what the future holds. I don't have to imagine, because I watch my son, Tom, manage this and more every single day. He has Cystic Fibrosis. And there is no cure.
Cystic Fibrosis is a life-shortening genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other vital organs, making it hard to breathe and to fight off infection. Every person with CF walks a different version of this road, and for too many, it's still a short one. Research has extended and improved lives dramatically over the past decade - but there's real distance left to travel.
Tom has managed this disease every single day of his life - and he does it with a level of positivity and resilience that humbles me. His energy and joy are contagious, radiating despite the challenges he faces. Cystic Fibrosis does not and will not define his present or his future. With your help, we can make his future even brighter - but it takes more research and more funding before we can shout that CF stands for Cure Found!
Tom has motivated and inspired me to participate in three races in the coming months with Breathe Team: the Malibu Moves Half Marathon (Oct 25), the Diplo Festival 5K (Nov 8), and the LA Marathon (March 2027) - my first-ever half and full marathon. Watching my son continually conquer daily challenges with such grit and determination has changed how I think about my own limits. I want to be as inspiring to him as he is to me. So please help Tom and others who face the daily challenges of life with Cystic Fibrosis. Together we will change lives.
Will you help? A donation of any size makes a difference - thank you for considering it!
I'll be posting weekly training updates here between now and race day. Follow along on Strava, and thank you for being part of this with me!
AUG
23
23
Early morning meetings kept cutting into training time again this week, but managed to finish strong with the longest run yet — 17.5km on Saturday. That distance is starting to give me a real sense of what the half marathon will feel like. The knee and hips were definitely talking to me afterward — stiff and aching — but the run itself was great: down to the ocean and along the beach, with the steps at 'Strands' throwing in a solid challenge partway through. Also snuck in a quick run/walk and a strength session on Friday to round out the week. Tracking the trend: The numbers are quietly moving in the right direction. Easy-run pace has crept down from around 7:25/km a couple of weeks ago to under 7:00/km on recent shorter runs. More telling — the long run pace improved too, despite covering more ground: 8:03/km for 12.6km back on the 16th versus 7:13/km for 17.5km on Saturday. Going the wrong way in distance/pace terms would be normal with a recovering knee, so seeing both improve at once is a good sign. If Saturday's pace holds up over a full half marathon, that puts a rough finish time somewhere in the 2:35–2:45 range. Worth noting that run had close to 300m of climbing, whereas the actual race — Zuma Beach/Malibu — is pretty flat, so that estimate is likely on the conservative side. Very much a moving target either way — that run wasn't at race effort, and the knee still has a say in how race day actually goes — but it's a reasonable line in the sand to build from. https://www.strava.com/activities/19853476026/overview
AUG
19
19
Sunday Beach Loop - 12.6K
Week 2 . Good to be back out there this week, just to be moving again — though the knee is still weak I'm building back gradually rather than pushing pace. The numbers: A handful of runs totaling around 47km, plus a hike and two strength sessions. The long run of the week was a 12.5km run/walk on Sunday, kept mostly easy — most of that time sat in recovery and endurance effort rather than anything hard. Today's run was a solid 8.6 km. The struggle: Early morning meetings have been the main disruptor, bumping some sessions around during the week. Managing to work around it so far, just takes more juggling than usual. Looking ahead: The travel schedule over the next few weeks is going to be a bit brutal for a normal routine, but I've got a plan in place to keep some consistency going through it..always hardest traveling east for the early am starts - but fun to be running in new places & exploring other cities between meetings!
AUG
9
9
Week 1. Let's talk about the knee. In July, an MRI found a torn meniscus and real cartilage wear in my left knee. For a few weeks I didn't know if Malibu Moves — my first-ever half marathon — was even going to happen. No running, just swimming and weights, waiting for answers. Yesterday I got the green light from my orthopedist to start training again. No surgery needed — just a careful, phased plan to protect the knee along the way. So naturally, I went out and ran a 10K. (Kidding — mostly. It felt that good to be back out there.) Eleven weeks from today, I'll be on the start line at Zuma Beach. It won't be a straight line to get there — there's a real plan behind this, built around rest, strength work, and listening to what the knee tells me. But yesterday was the first real step. My son manages a much bigger setback every single day of his life, without ever asking for a pause button. If he can do that with the grace he does, the least I can do is show up for eleven weeks of training. I'm running this for him, and for everyone living with cystic fibrosis waiting on a cure that isn't here yet. 11 weeks to Malibu Moves. Let's go.
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