Jane Birkin’s 5-50-500 TRYathlon Challenge

On 5 May, Cure Parkinson’s supporter Jane Birkin will begin her 5-50-500 TRYathlon, a fantastic challenge she created to mark her 50th birthday, and to raise vital funds and awareness of our Parkinson’s research.

Jane is certainly no stranger to endurance events, as in March 2017, she took part in the N60 challenge in Norway, which involved completing four marathons in just four days in support of Cure Parkinson’s. Despite Jane’s past experience with endurance based events, her 5-50-500 TRYathlon will certainly be a test! From 5 May, she will be aiming to complete a 5km swim, a 50km run and a 500km cycle over the course of five days; an incredible challenge. Jane has kindly chosen to support us because her best friend Jo is living with young onset Parkinson’s.

“My best friend was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s over a decade ago. I’ve seen her go through so much on her journey,  learning to accept and live with the disease. I’m constantly amazed at what she can do and how the medicine and treatment is helping her. That said, I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge how upset it makes me when I see her struggle, slow down or just do something plainly unexpected because of the disease. That’s why it was never in question to support your charity. I want to ensure that your work continues to help her and others get new and progressive treatment.”

The 5-50-500 TRYathlon challenge goes global.

We are thrilled to announce that Jane has recently decided to go global with her TRYathlon and is encouraging everyone to get moving in support of Parkinson’s research.

The virtual challenge will be taking place between 5–10 May, and participants are encouraged to run, walk, swim or cycle as many kilometres as possible during this time. The aim is for every country around the world to cover at least 50km.

This incredible opportunity to get active for a cure is available to everyone. Simply download the GoJoe app, select the ‘5-50-500 challenge’, join your country’s team and use the app to track your activities. The country finishing with the most kilometres will win the challenge.

I am turning 50 this year, and given the strangeness of this last year, I realised I couldn’t rely on planning a “normal” kind of celebration… I invented “5-50-500” starting on the 5th May. It’s a virtual way of celebrating and creating community across the world.

Jane Birkin