Green Bay Reporter

A retired Green Bay orthopedic surgeon is getting ready for the upcoming Boston Marathon and he's running for a very special cause: To honor the memory of his late wife, who died last year after a 45-year battle with Parkinson's Disease.

This won't be Dr. Rolf Lulloff's first marathon. In fact, it's the 80 year old's fifth. His first Boston Marathon was in 1974 when Lulloff was 32 years old. He began running to relieve the stress of medical school. Lulloff made his best time during his 1978 run while his most recent marathon in 2013 was nearly double that time.

"Is running for everybody? No," Lulloff said. "But taking care of your life is, and knowing yourself is. If you keep active, that is doing a lot for your overall health, but especially your brain health. It's easier to sit and watch television than get up and walk around the block. We can all find excuses to do things. The problem is that there are nasty diseases that if we will sneak up on us."

One such disease, of course, is Parkinson's, which snuck up on Rolf Lulloff's wife, Ann, at the age of 36 when she began losing her sense of smell. Lulloff said that while we can't change diseases, we can change how we live with them. Ann was able to live a long, fulfilling life despite the disease, filled with family and vacations.

While caring for his wife, Lulloff founded the Brain Center with several other doctors to spread awareness for neurodegenerative diseases. Each of the doctors had personal involvement with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, which 600,000 Americans are diagnosed with annually. 

To continue providing families with free education and coaching, the Brain Center is trying to raise $126,200. Donations can be made here.