I met a lovely cheerful couple Richard and Joanne back in March 2024 while doing the “Great Walk For Parkinson’s”. Since then, there have been nearly several other hikes with the Lanzarote Living With Parkinson’s Association. On the last walk I joined I learned about Richard’s ambitious challenge which prompted this interview.
Where are you from originally, Richard? I was born in Leicester, United Kingdom and lived there until I was 20 before moving to Nottingham in England to live and work.
What brought you here in the first place? I bought a holiday apartment in Costa Teguise in 2007 and have been holidaying on Lanzarote ever since.
…Until you decided to move here permanently. Exactly, we retired early and moved to live in Lanzarote on 7th August 2022.
What is it that you like about the island? I love the climate and the ability to do all kinds of sports with the beautiful weather. I love to run, cycle and play tennis so I can play all year round.
It’s perfect for it, isn’t it? What’s is your favourite place in Lanzarote? I love Famara for the beach and the running/walking and the Chiringuito in Arrieta!
Beautiful places indeed. Tell us a bit about your fund-raising challenge. I have always admired people who take on challenges and have seen others do the 7 marathons in 7 days. I love running and have completed a number of marathons previously so doing something like this for charity in retirement seems like a great idea!
Why did you choose Living With Parkinson’s Association? I got involved with LWP a year ago when they advertised doing the GR131 walk across the island which I had always wanted to do.
Me too! It’s funny how opportunities like that come about, isn’t it? Indeed! I joined the group then and have loved being part of the group ever since. I have made some great friends and memories and want to help raise the group’s profile and some money if possible.
What is your involvement with this charity? I am a volunteer and have been supporting those affected by Parkinson’s over the last year and plan to continue to do so.
Fab! Your challenge is not a mean feat. How are you preparing for it? I am following a 7in7 training program and have been doing a lot of training both in Lanzarote and mainland Spain with Joanne. We are currently doing around 200 kilometers per week in preparation.
Impressive! How can people donate? Donations can be made on https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/7in7onlanzarote.
Thank you. Any other way people can support your challenge and the cause? Yes, we are hoping that many people will join us for the 7 days. We are starting from Costa Teguise at 8am each morning from the 1st of December (this could change to 9am for days 2-6) and following the official Lanzarote Marathon course each day. We expect each marathon to take around 5 hours each. People can run or cycle parts or all of the route any day. Contact myself to arrange on richardmeek@icloud.com.
Wow, that is really impressive. How can our readers keep up to date with your challenge? We have the 7in7 on the LWP Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552254976025) and we are going to do a daily video with updates for people to watch. Anyone is welcome to join us on the seafront route and support the effort by cheering us on.
Anything else you’d like to tell our readers? This is very much a team effort and everyone at LWP is supporting this both in training and during the 7in7.
Best of luck and we hope you raise loads of funds for the charity, Richard!
