Meet me at the 2022 SIOP Fun/Run

by Neil Ranasinghe

I hope to see many of you at the SIOP Fun Run/Walk at Barcelona, on Friday, September 30, 2022. Details to be confirmed but it will probably be starting from the entrance of the Congress Centre (CCIB) at 6.30 am. Each runner will receive a special limited-edition sport t-shirt and small refreshments at the starting point. Registration for this run is required and places are limited. For further details and availability – you can register via the registration page when you register for the Congress. If you have already registered, please contact reg_siop22@kenes.com.

Many of you will be thinking that:

a.) It is too early – I can’t deny that, but there is so much going on, and that’s the only time it can be. Who needs sleep anyway? (said no-one ever)

b.) I can’t run fast – there are people of all abilities taking part, there will be a small group going off very fast and then after that everyone else will be going at a leisurely pace.

c.) I can’t run. – At SIOP Kyoto, there were quite a few people who walked the entire route. It is genuinely a Fun Run/Walk. If you are worried about coming in last, then get in touch with me and I’ll cross the line with you at the very end, so you won’t be alone, and you won’t be the last. Email me - Neil.Ranasinghe@lseg.com

### Me and former SIOP President Eric Bouffet at the Lyon Fun Run/Walk

One of the things about SIOP and the Annual SIOP Congresses is the sense of community and belonging. Having these events are great for people attending the Congress and friendships are formed and built upon. You might be thinking how can a run be a networking event – how can a run ever be called fun? For some people, the networking doesn’t take place during the run but afterwards. I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Morrissey after the Kyoto Fun Run/Walk and she told me an interesting fact about nurses (this might be obvious to many of you), nurses are the biggest single group looking after children with cancer. This really shaped how I thought about nurses, and it has been a privilege to ensure POINTE became big supporters of the SIOP Nursing Network, the SIOP GHN Nursing Working Group, and paediatric oncology nurses in general. As an aside, nobody needs to tell me how awesome paediatric oncology nurses are after the great treatment we got from them when my daughter was being treated for leukaemia.

### This is me in Kyoto for the SIOP Congress

If you see me around Barcelona, then come and say hello, I might be wearing Pink Adidas (although, not when running as otherwise they would get dirty), or come and say hello after the run and tell me how wonderful, awful, horrible, early, unexpectedly brilliant it was. And for those hardcore runners, there will be people running every morning – get in touch if you fancy some company. Neil.Ranasinghe@lseg.com. 

### Look out for someone wearing trainers like these with a pink phone case.

If you have already registered for SIOP but didn’t register for the fun run, don’t worry, it isn’t too late – just email reg_siop22@kenes.com.

RUN/WALK AGAINST KID’S CANCER – 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF FULL MOON NIGHT’S CHARITY RACE

For those of you that enjoy walking or running for a good cause (that’s all of you), there is a fundraising event on the Saturday of the SIOP Congress (October 1).

SIOP is supporting a local fund-raising initiative and is giving you the opportunity to help an extraordinary group of professionals and their research projects on childhood cancer. This is a non-competitive event, open to all ages. You can either run or walk the distance of 4.6km.

• Meeting point (start & finish lines): Sitges (40km from Barcelona), Institut Vinyet de Sitges (School). Mestre Manel Torrens, 2
• More information about Sitges: https: www.visitsitges.com/en/
• Starting time: 9:00 pm

Each runner will receive a sandwich and a drink after the run & will be participating in a lucky draw with plenty of prizes.

Registration for this run is required and places are limited. Please mind you need to register directly to the organizer’s website – Run/Walk against Kid’s Cancer – 10th anniversary of Nits de la Lluna Plena Sitges – Entradium

Registration fees: EUR 14 (full donation to childhood cancer research)

Neil Ranasinghe is the parent of a survivor of ALL, his daughter was treated in London, England and has made a good recovery and is currently at university. He is co-chair of the SIOP Global Health Education and Training Working Group, (we operate under the name of POINTE). He is also active in other areas of SIOP Global Health including the other Education and Training Committee and the SIOP Global Mapping Programme. Neil does various other patient advocacy work in the UK, and is part of a group of parents that review paediatric oncology trial documentation given to parents.