Nathan Farrugia, right, has currently taken his training regime to its peak as he gears up for the 27 consecutive marathons in 27 EU countries over 27 days as part of the Kinder 27marathons challenge.
The event will see Farrugia covering 8,000kms in mainland Europe on a camper van that will take him through a different country every day.
He will be flying out to the more distant countries including Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the UK. Each 42.2km marathon will be run on a specific route in a major city where he will be accompanied by local running clubs as a show of solidarity and to strengthen awareness of the cause – that of promoting the value of volunteering and to encourage people to give up some of their time and money to help others.
“There is no book that can tell you how to physically prepare for such an extreme event so I am using a mix of exercise physiology, nutrition, physiotherapy and extreme endurance knowledge with a pinch of common sense,” said Farrugia. “At most I have been running 20km 12 times a week, morning and evening, so as not to overload the body. Running 42km straight daily in training might not be a good idea due to the fact I am relatively new to ultra-running, but I have previously built up to a week of 30km runs back to back without any major problems.”
“Getting to the starting line in another country within about 18 hours is going to be very difficult. Resting on a moving vehicle will seriously affect my recovery, so the impact of this is all yet to be discovered. Thankfully I am supported by a great crew, by Ferrero, and by a number of other sponsors and Maltese ambassadors overseas. All we need now is to see donations come in! It would be terribly disappointing if we don’t raise the funds we have set out to collect!”
Ferrero partners in each country have selected a local charity that supports children within their community. These charities will keep 75% of the funds raised by people in that country while the remaining 25% will go to the overall cause – children with disabilities and children in long term hospital care in Malta. The Maltese charities chosen by Ferrero are Inspire and the Daniel Delicata Memorial Association.
Main corporate sponsor Ferrero is supporting this ambitious attempt through a direct monetary sponsorship as well as through activities being held in each country by the company’s staff and partners.
Clyde Attard, Marketing Manager at P. Cutajar & Co Ltd who represents Ferrero in Malta, expressed his admiration for the bravery of the challenge and for the noble cause it seeks to address. “Ferrero in Malta has joined all other Ferrero partners in the 26 other countries to support this pan-European initiative that has so many positive values going for it – participation, charity, sport and fitness, awareness raising, inclusion, volunteering, initiative. We are proud that this challenge has been born in Malta and we encourage the public to participate in any way it can.”
The event will mark the European Year of Volunteering. The marathon kicks off on 11 September in Malta and will continue in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, England, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece to finish in Cyprus on 7 October. All detailed information is available on www.27challenge.com.