The Marathon warms up engines for a 35th edition with a record of testimonies

BarcelonaLa Marató, the annual event of 3Cat, is now ready to face its 35th edition, which will be dedicated to neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. Led by Roger Escapa in its radio version and by Raquel Sans and Miki Núñez in the television one, the solidarity and informative event will feature the participation of more than 40 witnesses, a figure that the organization highlights as a record. The television program, which will be broadcast on December 13th, will focus on 750 diseases (600 neurodegenerative and 150 neuromuscular) that affect up to 300,000 people throughout Catalonia, most of them adults but also children and young people. One of the main stages of this edition will be the Collserola Tower, from where the presentation of the special was held this Tuesday. The communications center was inaugurated in 1992, the same year that TV3 held the first edition of La Marató.

From the La Marató Foundation, they remind us that neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases are a broad group of pathologies that affect the brain, the nervous system, and the musculature. They all have in common that they are incurable and that, in many cases, they are detected late and their causes are unknown. The loss of autonomy associated with most of these diseases causes a change in the life of those who suffer from them, but also in that of their closest environment. In this sense, this year's edition will give special importance to families and caregivers, who often have to face a physical, emotional, and social burden.

The search for empathy

During the presentation, Roger Escapa acknowledged that this year's cause, which includes diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, hits close to home for him. "I always say that it is a day with higher expectations, more focus, more people watching you, and you have to prepare yourself a lot to know what you will encounter and what testimonies you will have, but then you have to let yourself be carried away a little by the emotions. The testimonies are so powerful that it is also worth, in a way, empathizing with them, and letting what needs to happen happen," explains the host of El suplement about how he approaches La Marató. Raquel Sans, who already presented the 2008 edition, seconded Escapa's opinion: "What we are looking for is that emotional connection, and that day we are professionals, but we also have to let ourselves go, we are also people. What makes La Marató beautiful is that there is no need for armor".

For his part, Miki Núñez, who makes his debut as a host of La Marató after having presented entertainment formats such as Eufòria and Zenit, recalled how neurodegenerative diseases have affected his family. "My grandfather died a month ago and suffered from Alzheimer's, so I will definitely remember him. Neurodegenerative diseases have affected many people in my family closely," he explained.

The 35th edition of La Marató will kick off with a special edition of El suplement,which will be broadcast from the University of Lleida. The television program will begin at 9:30 a.m. from the Torre de Collserola, which will host the charity event until 2:30 p.m., when the news programs begin. Once they are finished, the main part of the program will arrive, which will last until one o'clock in the morning and will be broadcast from the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya, in Terrassa. During the program, there will be scientific dissemination with specialists and connections to solidarity activities throughout the territory, with well-known faces from 3Cat such as Helena Garcia Melero, Toni Cruanyes, Marc Ribas, or Elisenda Carod acting as reporters.