The Road Less Traveled Gets Him There

Roger Parnell in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles at the World Masters Athletics championships. He qualified for the finals and won the gold medal. It took 18 months of rehabilitation of a hip and knee to get him back in shape. Photo by Rob Jerome.

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By Ray Glier

Roger Parnell, 75, needs one of those “Made In…” stickers.

Roger’s label would be fixed to his tee-shirt, shorts, and running shoes.

It would simply say “Made In Roger Parnell” or perhaps “Made Right Here.”

For 18 months, Parnell worked at resurrecting his Masters Track & Field career without surgery. Geezer Jock first wrote about Roger in February, 2023 when he went to the doctor for evaluation of a hip injury.

It was an injury to the labrum. It was recommended Parnell get a hip replacement, and alien parts would have severely curtailed, or wiped out his jumping.

Roger chose the road less traveled. Rehabilitation. 18 months of physical therapy is why it is the road less traveled.

“It becomes your new job,” said Parnell, who was a school psychologist in his old job.
 
18 months! That's why he needs a "Made In..." label. Parnell made himself back into a world-class athlete. Not only was he dealing with the hip, but Roger also had a knee injury. 

The rigorous rehab set Parnell up for this at the World Masters Athletics championships in March (M75):

*Gold in the 60-meter hurdles (8.94) and gold as part of a mixed 4x100 relay.
*Silver in the Long Jump (13 feet, 4¾ inches).
*Bronze in the 200 meters (30.48).

“The long rehab was worth it and I'm proud of my effort,” Parnell said. 
 
Roger finished the 2025 indoor season No. 2 in the world and No. 1 in the U.S. in the 60-meter hurdles (10.82). He was No. 1 in the U.S. in the Long Jump, No. 3 in the U.S. in the 60-meter dash (8.81) and 200 (30.48)

“It has been quite awhile since I have had a hurdles race that I was proud of.....and there is still room for improvement,” he said. 

This story for Geezer Jocks is the value of taking the road less traveled. Parnell did not want to be stuck in the meh middle. He wanted to go for it, especially entering a new age cohort where he was among the youngest.

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I wrote this two years ago about Roger as he weighed options of surgery or rehab:

Parnell’s story should resonate. Most doctors are well-intentioned, but we have to be clear what our goals are, not theirs. We shouldn’t try and walk backward in time, but we should be masters of our game going forward.

Roger became his master. He adopted a strident physical therapy regimen, which takes him an hour to complete. 

“The reason for a lot of my success is that I followed the protocols they gave me and I asked for more,” he said. “I was well aware it doesn't happen overnight. So don’t stop working. A lot of people will just give up. I don't do that. I put in the work.”

Did I say “Takes” not “Took”? Yes, present tense because Parnell is still in therapy. He still does the workouts.

This is some of the routine:

What was the one exercise that made a difference? 

“It was not just one,” Roger said. “He would put me through, probably at least 10 exercises a session, and I did the same exercises at home. I was doing them twice a day.

"I don't think it is something I can stop."

Geezer Jocks, if you are coming back from an injury...

,,,is this something you can start? Is this something you can keep up with?

Don't sell yourself short. Many of you are already accustomed to taking the road less traveled, like Roger Parnell.