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.
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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.
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![](https://i0.wp.com/meassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Adam-Doyle-family.jpg?resize=481%2C483&ssl=1)
Tony Britton
Senior Fundraising Consultant, The ME Association
tony.britton@meassociation.org.uk Mob: 07393 805566
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