Andrew Tomlinson has CP and has run the world’s six most famous marathons.

It is the BBC who writes about the Scot who last weekend completed the London Marathon in under four hours.

The long runs dull the pain from the disease with which he was born – cerebral parese. Cerebral palsy is an injury to the brain that occurs in the period from early fetal life to the age of two. The effect of cerebral palsy depends on the extent and location of the damage in the brain. The damage to the brain affects the signals the brain sends out to the muscles, but also the signals that “sensors” around the body send the other way, to the brain. Disturbances in the “central” (brain) mean that the muscles will not obey completely, and the movements you make do not always turn out as you intended them to. Photo: NHI.no

Tomlinson believes he is the first with the diagnosis to have run these six marathons – New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Boston, Berlin and thus London.

The diagnosis means that Andrew Tomlinson suffers from muscle weakness and regular spasms. This affects the mobility of the left side of his body and makes him visibly limp and also has slurred speech, according to B BC.

According to Tomlinson, doctors once said he might never walk. He states that running therefore requires enormous effort, but it is still the best way to keep the disease at bay.

Because when he runs, he notices less of the many symptoms associated with the disease, he explains.

Andrew Tomlinson started running ten years ago because he felt isolated from the outside world. He found it difficult to make contact with people because of his illness.

– The most important reason why I run is the community I get from running with other people, he writes in a blog post on Cerebral Palsy Scotland.

– It is impressive to complete a marathon – and with CP an even greater feat, says Eva Buschmann, secretary general of the Cerebral Palsy Association, to VG.

– You just have to take your hat off for this. He actually runs below the average time for marathoners.

Buschmann explains that training can be important:

– Being active is important for all of us, and it has health benefits. This also applies to people with CP, who due to the damage to the brain have reduced mobility and perhaps many other additional diagnoses. We experience that many people with CP exercise many hours a week, and experience benefits and perhaps also better pain control.

– Chronic pain most often accompanies CP, three quarters live with chronic pain from childhood. This can increase in adulthood.

– What about Andrew Tomlinson?

– Andrew belongs to the group with the lightest motor degree of CP. This group is also numerically the largest – more than half of all with CP. We also experience, as Andrew tells us, that the CP diagnosis affects not only health, but also the opportunities to participate in society, get a job, be in a community with others where one experiences meaning and mastery.

Buschmann believes that it is therefore important to ensure that everyone can get assistance and the adaptations they need to be able to participate in school, work and in all other social arenas.