Hi Friends, Family and all other nice people who are interested in sponsoring me to run a marathon and finding out more about M.E (myalgic encephalitis) also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

Yes! I’m going to run a marathon (26.2 miles) on .  The run is from to Portobello, starting at and likely to finish about on Portobello Promenade. The route follows the old A1, going through Tyninghame, East Linton, Haddington, Macmerry, Tranent, Musselburgh and finally ending at Portobello.

Why run for M.E/C.F.S? Well as many of you may know, my daughter, Jodie has suffered from M.E/C.F.S for the past 6 years.  She has a constant daily battle just staying well.  She is constantly tired – actually tired is as good as it gets.  Often she is very tired, exhausted, nauseous, knackered, washed-out but hey ho – never down.

M.E/C.F.S is a very debilitating and misunderstood illness, which leaves its victims, exhausted and sometimes bedridden.  The main purpose of the marathon is to raise awareness, but if we can also raise some money all the better.

Sometimes having M.E/C.F.S is described as running a marathon everyday.  Just getting through a normal day, doing everyday normal tasks is so exhausting. Simple things like washing your hair becomes a mammoth physical challenge – walking 200 meters to the shops and back can leave you washed out for days.

runners especially first timers, often experience ‘hitting the wall’ during the marathon.  This usually happens at about 18 miles when the body has run out of fuel  - you feel fatigued, you want to stop and it takes a great deal of effort, physically and psychologically to keep going.  This is the reality everyday for M.E/C.F.S sufferers.  They ‘hit the wall’ everyday – it is a fight and a battle (and success) just to get to the end of the day.

I am not suggesting that running a marathon is a true comparison with M.E/C.F.S, but it is possibly as close as we well folks can get.  It has been suggested that if I ran a marathon everyday for a week I would get a closer experience! Or a suggestion from Jodie was to run the marathon while having the flu!!! Which would allow me to feel really fatigued with a big dollop of nausea thrown in – (thanks but no thanks)

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Anyone who wants further information on M.E/C.F.S can go to www.meassociation.org.uk

An excellent article from the perspective of an M.E sufferer can be found here:  Putting up with an abusive Partner – Rachel Miles

Thanks for looking

Colin