Nice little blog interview here (sorry I know you've heard it all before many times!) https://encephalogirl.substack.com/p/an-ally-for-the-long-run-literally
I'm going to be meeting with Nicole Spillmann from ME CFS Verein Schweiz in Lucerne on race day (Oct 29th). Gracemarie and Nicole are helping me to find Swiss ME patients to interview and then we'll approach local media there to see if we can raise awareness. They've also very kindly offered to add me to their member newsletter (500 people) with a link to my sponsorship page for Invest In ME. Looking forward to seeing if we can raise awareness a bit over there and raise some much needed funds.
Good to hear, thanks again. I was wondering, do people contact you to run a marathon or do you go places on your own and contact people there?
Thanks for the q. I pick a race/country generally. But on occasion if enough people want me to come then I try and get there! My rough plan at the moment is to keep on trying to get to new countries but I'll soon run out in Europe so am looking at races that maybe look a bit unusual (and not too hot!)
I think the further you go down the equator the more the weather shifts to similar patterns as in here again. At least that's according to two Argentinians I used to know! So with that n=2..
Fly out to Zurich next Friday to run Lucerne/Swiss City Marathon for people with ME there. I've managed to interview 1 ME patient there so far. Trying to reach some media but it's proving tough so I'm not sure how much good I'm doing really but I'll give the race everything I've got. http://www.mikeseumarathons.eu/switzerland.html Hoping to meet a couple of people there after the race which is exciting. If you know of anyone with ME in Switzerland then please do connect me!
Hi Mike if you do get in touch with any people/organisations there maybe you could mention the petition to them?
Wonderful, Mike. 47 people in Switzerland have signed the petition which is pretty good. We'd love to have a Swiss organisation join the campaign. It would be great if someone there wanted to give us updates on their activities in the News from Switzerland thread from time to time too. I look forward to reading your race/visit report. Good luck.
Hi all Race report here: http://www.mikeseumarathons.eu/othe...rYGOSns4CDsQ8hYefPQ4pswjiuGC2tr5PDP1N-gLB-lFE You'll need to scroll to the bottom, Apologies the website has got a bit messy. Very happy with the trip. Raised £1400 so far from it for Invest In ME Research. 30 European countries done ✔ Only 14 to go (according to the UN's list of European countries). I can't currently enter Russia, Ukraine, Belarus or Moldova. Remaining countries with marathons: Iceland San Marino Serbia Bosnia Montenegro North Macedonia Vatican (yes they def have one! 2 miles x 13 laps) UK Countries without: Andorra Monaco Back with news on next year's races soon.
Go @Mike Harley!!! A run in 30 countries what a triumph, I feel honoured to be amongst those you’ve dedicated yourself to advocating for in this awesome way. Thanks man
Quick update from me I'm training hard for my 31st country marathon for Invest In ME. I'm running this year in Serbia (April 28) and Albania (Oct 20) For Serbia, I'm going to be meeting Dijana and the ME Association there, hopefully with some media coverage to help raise the profile of ME there. They are already a member of the Euro ME Alliance and it looks like they're pretty active with campaigning and raising awareness which is great to see. Albania is a complete unknown -if you know of anyone there with ME or an association/charity, please let me know! I'm only £906 short of £50K fundraising in what is coming up to my 10th year running for ME research. I really hope I can get to that target by the end of this year, it'd probably be the biggest achievement in my life. www.justgiving.com/mikeseumarathons Catch up soon
@Mike Harley, 10th year wow what an amazing achievement and dedication to standing with us and running for us It’s true to say that you were the first person I ever came across who chose to publicly support a friend with ME instead or either blaming them for getting sick or feeling sorry for them but also feeling helpless to help. There are many things I would like to do with my life if the burden of this illness was reduced or removed. But the most important thing for me would be to make a difference to others who have been excluded from society. I would use you as my role model! For now, for the future as far as I can see it will still be me needing the steadfastness of your presence out in the world. Sending much love to you and your family who’ve supported you to support us. Maybe we can celebrate the decade with a push to get you over the line funding wise. But if not that, a decade of your life keeping up momentum for us is absolutely priceless.
I've managed to interview 1 person so far in Serbia with ME. Hoping to add more shortly. SERBIA - Mike's EU Marathons (mikeseumarathons.eu)
