20-Time Ironman Diagnosed With Young Onset Parkinson's
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Welcome to Episode 200 of the Mile 40 Podcast! This one is personal. We sit down with Greg Shafer, a father, husband, founder, and 20-time Ironman who was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson's disease in his early fifties, for a conversation more than a decade in the making.
Greg traces his path from a competitive basketball career on Long Island through a difficult decision to leave the family business at 35 and start his own insurance agency out of a rented closet in Manhattan, eventually building it into a company he sold to private equity. He opens up candidly about the phone call that changed his life on a Florida beach, the year of pain and misdiagnosis that preceded it, and what it actually took to get back on a racecourse two weeks after starting treatment. Greg also reflects on the tension between being an advocate for others navigating Parkinson's and refusing to let the disease define him, choosing the name Undefined for his platform as a daily practice rather than a resolved statement.
The conversation closes on fatherhood, legacy, and what it means to keep showing up with grace when the ending isn't guaranteed to be the one you imagined.
What We Cover:
Growing up on Long Island and the values instilled by his father
Leaving the family business at 35 to start his own insurance agency
Building a business on loyalty, service, and picking up the phone
Selling the business and adjusting to life under private equity
Finding endurance sports later in life and becoming a 20-time Ironman
The Ironman Kona race that first signaled something was wrong
Getting the Parkinson's diagnosis on a beach with his kids nearby
The year of pain, misdiagnosis, and frustration before finding the right treatment
Building the Undefined platform and navigating the line between advocacy and identity
What he wants his sons to carry forward as they watch him navigate this next chapter
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