Running Across All EU Capitals to Highlight Professional Barriers for People with Diabetes

A young man with type 1 diabetes, Hakaroa Valé, plans to run 27 kilometers each day for 27 consecutive days from July 27 to August 22, visiting all 27 European Union capitals along the way. The run will start in Madrid and finish in Paris, with Riga included on the route. In total, Valé, who is now 21 years old and founder of the association "Just did it," intends to cover 729 kilometers.

In each capital, he plans to meet with media, associations, elected officials, and representatives from the health, transport, defense, employment, and sports sectors. He aims to highlight the varying restrictions across EU countries for people with type 1 diabetes in regulated professions. In his view, people with diabetes should not be automatically excluded from a profession before their abilities, medical supervision, and disease control are assessed. He is not calling for an end to health checks or a reduction in safety requirements, but advocates replacing blanket bans with individual, medical, and objective evaluations.

Valé particularly wants to address opportunities for people with diabetes in aviation, air traffic control, armed forces, police, and rescue services, as well as other professions with specific medical requirements. He notes that continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps, predictive alerts, and automated insulin delivery systems have significantly changed the management of type 1 diabetes, yet regulations for some professions remain based on medical understanding from decades ago.

Valé was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 11 when he was hospitalized in critical condition due to diabetic ketoacidosis. Two years later, he ran 101 kilometers in 24 hours. In 2018, he crossed France by running and cycling, meeting nearly 200 deputies, senators, ministers, and other officials. In 2020, he organized a march around the French National Assembly to raise the issue of professional discrimination, and in 2021, he completed the Tour de France route on a tandem bicycle. Since 2022, he has also met with European Commissioners and Members of the European Parliament to discuss professional restrictions for people with diabetes. His initiative is supported by the health department of the French President's administration and the French Ministry for European Affairs.