Cochrane's 'Marathon Man' Martin Parnell will be sharing his inspirational journey at the Cochrane Public Library.

Parnell's newest book, Running to the Edge, picks up his quests from 2011, and includes his journey in Africa as well as some notable Cochrane moments.

"I just come back from Benin in West Africa,  and I  was visiting the kids we fund raised for, for Right to Play, very inspired to try and do a bit more; so this book talks about the other nine quests that I did during that period. From a Cochrane perspective, what is interesting, is two of those are the Guinness World Records that we did, the longest soccer game and the biggest hockey game ever."

Parnell also describes his 20 month journey of being diagnosed, recovering, and overcoming the challenges of a brain clot, which could have been life threatening.

Life hasn't slowed too much for Parnell, who will talk about his latest adventure of running the second only 'Secret Marathon' held in Afghanistan. Parnell spent 11 days in the war torn country and was inspired to do so by the women and girls who are taking a stand and running for freedom.

"Look how lucky we are in the west, men and women, we can sign up for a marathon almost any weekend, and yet over there especially for women and girls it is a huge challenge. At that point I decided I want to go over to Afghanistan and support the women and the girls in their run to freedom."

For Parnell, his running adventures have little to do with where he is runs but why he chooses to run where he does. If you are looking for a way to ignite your inner passion, you can join Parnell from 1-3 pm, December 10, at the Cochrane Public Library for an inspirational talk, book signing, and Parnell's favourite food...cake.