Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. We are two friends, James and Suzi, one who’s an actual Ironman and one who has ME.

Feeling helpless as Suzi suffers from a severe relapse of ME, James has decided to try to help to raise awareness of this horrible illness in the only way he knows how….by going running .   He will be attempting to complete 'Lakes in a Day', 50 miles on foot with 4000m of ascent, from the very top of the Lake District at Caldbeck to the very bottom, at Cartmel, via the Helvellyn Ridge and the western shoreline of Lake Windermere, an area of the country that Suzi loves and would be stomping up and down herself if it wasn’t for ME.  Although this sounds extreme, this is nothing compared to the pain and endurance Suzi has no choice but to go through each day to do simple tasks such as sitting up on the edge of her bed, or giving her husband, Rob, a hug.

Whilst James runs crazily up the hills, Suzi will be ‘training’ with him as she tries to recover from a relapse which has currently left her completely bed-bound for 3 months and counting, only able to walk far enough to get to the toilet each day. Suzi’s goal = 50 steps with ME. This ME Marathon will hopefully be a 50 step walk outside having had a shower, got dressed and walked downstairs - all things Suzi can’t do at the moment. She might not be running up a mountain but 50 steps to someone with ME can sure feel that way.

So, as is the way with ME, time and recovery might not permit this...but fingers crossed it will, otherwise, James, sorry you’ll have to run another 50 miles.

We want to show the physical extremes of this ruthless and destructive illness. While James’ Ironman stamina and strength isn’t exactly normal for everyone (sorry James!) neither is being so debilitated that you can’t stand long enough to brush your teeth or hug someone, hold your arms up with enough strength to wash your hair or sometimes even feed yourself. This is the harsh truth of ME. Suzi should know, she’s had it for 13 years.

You can follow our training on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/50stepswithME

What is ME?

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) causes suffering to over 17 million worldwide and 250,000 in the UK alone. 10% are young children. 25% have severe ME, which means they are virtually bed bound, suffering from extreme physical exhaustion, dizziness, vertigo and nausea as well as severe head and joint pain, tremors, muscle twitching and intermittent paralysis. ME is essentially a neurological illness, and for many, any light, sound or touch to their body triggers excruciating pain, so they have to live in a world of darkness and silence without even the comfort of a hug from their loved ones.

Why Invest in ME?

Despite its harsh rule over its patients, ME as an illness is not taken seriously by many in the medical profession, many write it off as being psychological, which to any true ME sufferer is a total insult. There is no known cause, no effective treatment and no cure. There is no official funding either, which is why we want to help the charity Invest in ME, as these guys are raising money to build and fund a biomedical research centre to focus purely on finding a cure for this horrific illness.

Some of the long-standing research into treatment has been discredited and can actually make patients worse, leaving both patients and GP's confused over what to do. However, there have been some really encouraging results from studies across the world into new treatments which Invest in ME are supporting further research into.  There seems to finally be some real momentum building to get to the bottom of this horrible condition. There is no better time than now to support this charity.