Tom Yorke has completed two marathons and a dozen half-marathons. The Catonsville resident has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s in tourism and hospitality and is the chief marketing officer at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore.
But those achievements pale in comparison with a 151-mile, six-day run from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to Brookville, Pennsylvania, that he will undertake from July 28 to Aug. 2. The trek is part of a cross-country relay called “MS Run the US” that aims to raise awareness and funds for multiple sclerosis research.
Yorke, 39, is participating to honor his 41-year-old wife, the former Deanna Stolowski, and 42-year-old sister, Melissa Serrano, both of whom have multiple sclerosis.
“I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that this will probably be the most important thing I ever do,” he said. “I want to be able to point back 20 years from now and say that I did something that I personally never thought I could do and that I did it for the right reasons and that I did it for Deanna and Melissa, who are the two most important people in my life outside of my kids.”
Both women said Yorke’s gesture is standard but always greatly appreciated.
“I was honored that he was doing it because anytime he does anything for MS, it’s always for me and Deanna,” Serrano said. “He’s sending me pictures every morning when he goes for his run, and I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re a rock star.’”
Serrano was the first to experience symptoms related to multiple sclerosis with discoloration clouding her vision when she was working out at a gym in 2005. After visits with multiple doctors, she was referred to a neuro-ophthalmologist, who had her undergo an MRI and discovered optic neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve that is closely associated with multiple sclerosis.
Since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis on Aug. 8, 2007, Serrano’s vision problems and hand numbness have shifted to seizures, equilibrium issues that force her to walk short distances with a cane or use a wheelchair for longer distances, and what she called “brain fog.”
“It’s frustrating,” said Serrano, who, along with her husband George and their daughter Alison, lives with her and Yorke’s parents, Thomas and Nancy, in Toms River, New Jersey.
Thomas and Deanna Yorke have known each other since they were teenagers working at a children’s department store. Both attended Rowan University before getting married in 2010.
Yorke began experiencing what she called “heavy leg” when she went running in 2009. After giving birth to their daughter Sophie, she couldn’t walk and suffered vertigo until undergoing an MRI that confirmed the multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
Yorke juggles teaching English at Arbutus Middle School, pursuing a master’s in education administration at Towson, and coaching her daughter Sophie’s softball team. But she continues to deal with lethargy in her legs, bladder issues and general exhaustion.
“I’ve had days where I’ve slept 24 hours because my body has said, ‘If you’re not going to stop, I’m going to stop,’” she said. “But overall, I’m still doing all the things I want to do.”
That the same disease would affect two of the most important women in his life left Yorke reeling. But he said his wife and sister don’t complain about their health.
“They never have those moments where you hear them say, ‘Why is this happening to me?’” he said. “And you’ll see this with everyone in the community since we joined the MS Society and now with my run, but the folks that deal with this diagnosis never give up. I think I give myself more pity parties than they do.”
Seeking to do something meaningful to celebrate his 40th birthday in December, Yorke said he pivoted from the Boston or New York marathon to participate in the “MS Run the US” of which he will run the 19th leg of the 21-segment relay. For the last six months, he has followed a prescribed training regimen that includes 16-mile runs at 6 a.m.
Despite having what he described as “the creaky body of a 39-year-old,” Yorke said he is in the best physical and mental shape of his life.
“I have never taken a day to say, ‘I’m not doing this today,’” he said, adding that he skipped one day after fracturing two ribs during the ninth mile of an 11-mile run. “I get up, and I do it, and I think that’s really the key. It’s doing it every single day knowing that when you’re officially going to go, you’ve got six days for six marathons.”
Yorke, who is trying to raise $10,000 for the event, has partnered with Heavy Seas Brewery, which has coordinated a “Pints for a Purpose” promotion in which a portion of proceeds from sales in the company’s taproom in Halethrope on certain days are donated to Yorke. The brewery, which has raised more than $2,000, has scheduled more fundraising events for Thursday, June 13 and 27 and July 11 from 4 to 9 p.m.
Caroline Sisson, director of marketing and hospitality for Heavy Seas Brewery and daughter of founder Hugh Sisson, said Yorke’s dedication to fighting multiple sclerosis reminds her of her father’s commitment to building the company, which produced its first brew Dec. 8, 1995.
“A lot of people thought he was crazy, but he was really passionate about it,” she said of her father. “I read Tom’s story, and I was like, ‘I want to help this guy out.’ We know what our values are, and we just felt like this was a person that shared some values that we have.”
Yorke said he is anticipating hot and humid conditions during his portion of the relay and will try to avoid looking at his smartwatch. He will sleep in an RV and travel with three others during his segment, but will mostly run alone until the last 5 miles when Sophie joins him.
Yorke said his sister, wife and their 8-year-old son Brody will greet him at the finish line. He predicted an emotional reunion.
“I’m going to finish and see the two of them and know that I did it for the both of them,” he said. “So it’s going to hit me really hard when I finish.”