A teacher in the North East of England will be marking his successful participation in the world’s biggest half marathon earlier this month with a follow-up cricket match in his home town.
Adam Doyle, who was a member of the 12-person team who raised well over £11,000 for the ME Association in the Great North Run on 10th September, will be putting on his whites as a member of a local cricket team in Whitley Bay.
Weather permitting on 1st October, Monkseaton Cricket Club have offered him the proceeds of their charity end-of-season friendly to celebrate his first-time run in the Great North Run – inspired by his love for his wife Christina, who has been suffering with M.E. since Christmas 2020.
Club treasurer Malcolm Anderson has arranged for them to play King’s School Old Boys from nearby Tynemouth.
Remembering his Great North Run a couple of weeks ago, when he personally raised over £2,000 for the MEA, 46-year-old Adam said:
“It was a great event. I'm not a natural runner and I came somewhere in the first 32,000 runners. it was a huge thrill to be taking part and joining what were some of the best bits of humanity out there that day.
Although Adam is a handy all-rounder at the wicket, he says he’s been unable to play as much as he would like since Christina became ill. But “when they heard I had entered the GNR, some of the committee members thought it would be nice to show a bit of support for the charity.”
The couple have a 15-year-old daughter called Jess and Christina, who received her medical diagnosis a year after becoming seriously ill, remains a pretty handy wordsmith. She wrote this poem on the right, which she dedicated to Post-Exertional Malaise – “a cruel addition to a horrid illness”. It was published on ME Awareness Day.
On his Great North Run fundraising page, Adam wrote this about his wife's illness:
“Christina suffers with significant pain daily, suffers significant post-exertional malaise, is often bedridden and misses out on many of life's simple pleasures. Mental health challenges are paramount as a result of the physical impacts and unimaginable changes to life.
“Running a half marathon won't even scratch the surface but might raise a few quid to hopefully help research into care and treatment.”
If you would like to recognise Adam’s continuing support for the ME Association, please chip in with a pound or two on his Great North Run fundraising page:
Adam Doyle is seen second from the right in this group picture taken on Great North Run day and with his family – wife Christina and daughter Jess.
Tony Britton
Senior Fundraising Consultant, The ME Association
tony.britton@meassociation.org.uk Mob: 07393 805566
