Suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Michel Penhard broke the category hour record on Tuesday at the Tarbes velodrome with just over 115 laps, or 28.95 km.
Despite the heat of the sun, Michel Penhard, 70, suffering from Parkinson’s disease and member of the France Parkison association broke the hour record at the Tarbes velodrome, the lap of which is 250 m. The previous record, set in 2017 by another member of the association affected by Parkinson’s, Marcel Payllou, was 100 laps. Which is equivalent to 25 km in total. Michel Penhard almost reached 116 laps, a distance of 28.95 km in one hour. To break the record he was able to count on the support of three cyclists who supervised him throughout the event. The cries of the members of the association and its supporters carried him to victory. It is a feat and a pride for this Lourdais, suffering from the disease since 2016.
“I’m a little surprised, I didn’t expect to do so much”
Beating the record is a surprise for this septuagenarian, if he has the physical capacities for it, Parkinson’s disease complicates his task until a few hours before the start. “I’m a little surprised, I didn’t expect to do so much. I was very tired this morning, I wondered if I was going to be able to do the performance. After physical activity, I feel better, I am less tired. »
He drove at around 28 km/h. This feat, the retiree did not do for performance but for pleasure, “it’s another way of seeing things, it’s taking life on the bright side. »
Support from members of the association
“I was able to beat the record because I was helped by the three cyclists during the race and thanks to the solidarity within France Parkinson. We help each other to fight the disease. The purpose of his performance is above all to raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease. “Sport frees the mind, it is a very good remedy against depression. The disease cannot be cured but the disabling symptoms can be repelled through physical activity. »
For him, it is important not to remain alone in the disease, and associations like France Parkinson are a good way to meet people.
This is why with this event, he also wishes to publicize the association of which he is a member. “I did it for the France Parkinson association and to promote physical activity. The France Parkinson departmental committee has 50 members who meet every week to practice physical and therapeutic activities and to meet in support groups. They know each other well and support each other in illness. The members of the association came to encourage him. For Claude Bouhelier, president of the Hautes-Pyrénées committee, Michel Penhard is the pride of the committee. The president wishes to transmit this record at the national level so that the other committees of France Parkison try to establish a new one and thus promote physical activity among patients with Parkinson’s.