The Run for MS team has set its objectives for 2015 and we are looking forward to continue encouraging people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to include sports on their rehabilitation agenda, as far as they are able to.
We will soon be launching a competition aimed at creating a higher degree of awareness on the importance of physical exercise in the management of MS. Stay tuned!
On 5 October, the Run for MS team completed the 21 km race from the Brussels Marathon, for a second consecutive year, building on our 2013 performance.
The crisp weather – 12 degrees Celsius at the start of the race – and brief drizzle didn’t stop our team from enjoying a good run and spreading the core message of this initiative: “Run for MS…not from MS”.
Find Emma Rogan‘s spirited account of her race experience here.
Ten runners joined our cause for this edition but perhaps even more noticeable is the fact that, in the build up for this race, we managed to raise over 1,500 euros for the production of an awareness raising video which will be included in our Under Pressure project – highlighting the sharp inequalities of MS management throughout Europe.
After what was a very positive Brussels Marathon 2014 experience we are really looking forward for the next race. Join us!
The Run for MS team was in Cologne on 14 September to participate in the half-marathon and we are delighted to have had the chance to take the Run for MS initiative all the way to Germany.
Getting there was quite an adventure: as the race was scheduled to start at 08:30, we left Brussels at 5:00. In the morning! After a two-hour drive we finally reached Cologne and immediately felt the positive energy spread around by more than 20,000 runners from all around the world.
We are very happy to have successfully completed this race and also to have enjoyed a lovely day of autumn, with plenty of sunshine and good vibes along the way. Thank you, Cologne, for your warm welcome!
For our supporters, see you all in a few of weeks at the Brussels Marathon – 5 October.
In the meantime, we are still welcoming donations for our Under Pressure project at http://www.ulule.com/run-for-ms/.
The Run for MS team participated in yet another exciting 10 kilometers race last weekend, on 31 May, and we’re delighted that, by doing so, we were able to support a great initiative organised by Fundación Privada Madrid contra la Esclerosis Múltiple (FEMM) with the collaboration of Esclerosis Múltiple España (EME).
On a warm Saturday morning in Madrid, EMSP’s Andreea Antonovici and Claudiu Berbece , joined by valuable supporter Julia Stark (all pictured below), lined up together with other 3,000 participants for the 4th edition of the annual running event “Corre por la Esclerosis Multiple“. Which, in plain English, conveys the same message as our initiative: “Run for MS”. The co-organisers, EME, are an associate member of EMSP and one of the most active MS societies in Europe. So everything was in place for a memorable run.
The Run for MS team is proud to announce that we will be producing our first brochure this week.
It’s called “Run for MS…not from MS” and it features our objectives, agenda and call to action. It can be visualised by clicking on the image below.
Special thanks to our graphic designer Jan van Son from Studio van Son for his pro bono work.
Celebrating Labour Day by dashing through the cold, pouring rain towards personal records in the traditional 10 kilometers race in Knokke, Belgium. This was – in a nutshell – the experience enjoyed by “Run for MS” team members Julia Stark and Claudiu Berbece (pictured below) on a textbook “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” 1st of May.
Why the reference to Robert Luis Stevenson’s book? Well, it was warm and sunny when we left Brussels on Thursday around noon, only to find ourselves emerging from the train into a stormy seaside resort, two hours and 100 kilometers later.
‘Rainy Inferno’ would be another way to put it, especially since Claudiu’s race reservation had conjured up the universally dreaded number: 666.
Run a 10 km in Dublin city, at night? Who would have thought such an event would work out and that thousands of people would want to attend?
On Sunday the 27th April at 21:00, I joined 6,000 other runners on Custom’s House Quay, Dublin as we attempted to ‘beat’ Cork and get the best average time over a 10 km distance. The day had been beautiful- bright sunshine, big blue skies and finally some warmth in the Spring air. I didn’t recognise it at the time but I was nervous. Training has been on and off, mostly off, in recent months and this was a way to get back to it.
There I stood in my bright luminous top and looked about- we were a swollen sea of super yellow bodies under the dusky Dublin sky. The mass turned into a human-snake, winding its way past the Custom’s House, past the Irish Financial Services Centre, across the harp-shaped Samuel Beckett Bridge into the Grand Canal Dock district, running along the Quays past the 02 and Gibson Hotel before making our way back along the Liffey to the Custom’s House area along the river (AGAIN!) and finally, back to the IFSC for the finish.
Find Emma’s profile here.
I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2007. For three years I really struggled, both mentally and physically, and thought my life was over.
In 2010, after researching the condition, I put a plan in place to get back my mind, my body and my life.
Today, I am winning my MS WAR, and over the last four years have been getting stronger and stronger. Exercise has been one of the key ingredients that have helped me beat MS. When I started exercising, I did it 30 minutes per week. This year I will compete in all sorts of adventure races including three marathons. Dreamers move mountains!
Find out more about me from my book “Attitude Is Everything”.
Stay in contact through my website www.conordevine.com.
Running clears my mind and though it may only be endorphins running around in my brain, after a long run everything seems right, everything is at peace.
Now the only thing that feels better than running for yourself is when you are running to support and inspire others. That’s what the “Run for MS” project is all about: running can really change people’s lives for the better. I started running in July 2013 and for this I have to thank Emma Rogan, as she was the one who inspired me. Our lunch in Dublin was the moment when we decided to start the “Run for MS” campaign and here we are today, ready to embrace new challenges.
Join our ‘’Run for MS’’ team and run not only for people with MS, but for yourself. It will put a smile on your face.
I am 29 and in April 2014 I will celebrate a year of being part of the EMSP team.
This is where I started learning about the complex problems posed by multiple sclerosis. And this is also where I found that running can be more than just exercise for your own good health. In the right company, it can become a tool to build communities and inspire others. And I am in the right company: colleagues Emma Rogan and Andreea Antonovici, MS athletes Ramon Arroyo and Conor Devine, and other valued supporters whom we will name separately.
“Run for MS” is a growing team and we’re waiting for all those interested in supporting our cause.
Stay in contact on Twitter @ClaudiuBerbece and follow EMSP’s website.