Maltese athlete Steve Sammut Nurminen later this month will run 365km from one side of the island of Sicily to another to spread awareness on mental health.

Sponsored by PragmaticPlay, Sammut Nurminen has partnered up with mental health NGO Dr Klown that provides aid to hospitalised children and offers distraction and stress relief through fun and laughter.

Contacted by The Malta Independent on Sunday, Sammut Nurminen, a self-described “huge advocate for mental health”, said that he has been following what Dr Klown does for over a year.

“I became aware of them online and I was curious to see what they do. The work they do is fantastic, anyone who is hospitalised is going through a lot, let alone a child, so it was a no-brainer to collaborate with them,” he said.

Sammut Nurminen says that he always tries to combine fitness and mental health together, whether it is using his social media platforms to raise awareness or directly working with charitable organisations which focus on mental health issues.

“This time round, because I am doing the biggest challenge I have done to date, it made sense to use it to try and collect funds for mental health,” Sammut Nurminen said.

Sammut Nurminen has also run the length of Malta three times non-stop only last year. This amounted to a total of 110km within 12 hours in the middle of Malta’s scorching summer heat. This time, the goal is 365km across Sicily non-stop in the span of two days, from 22 to 24 July. He is also planning on doing it with no sleep, taking only a few micro-naps for a maximum of a minute each.

Asked about the training process and preparation for such a long distance, Sammut Nurminen said that while he prepares physically, training and running four to five hours a day as well as working on his core, he also prepares mentally, through meditation.

“I am excited to see how my body is going to react, but I am more interested at how my mind will react. Getting my body to adapt to all scenarios such as sleep deprivation will be interesting,” he said.

Sammut Nurminen said that he is currently preparing by running 140km a week and doing other exercises, even if it is just walking, as long as he spends time on his feet.

He spoke about his last challenge, during Christmas time, where he ran a 400-metre track for 400 laps. Sammut Nurminen said that the mental side of it is the most challenging as “we can train our bodies as much as we like, however it is only capable of so much, but it is our mind that takes us a step further”, he said.

He said that during the challenge his body was in pain only halfway through as he convinced himself that there were only a few kilometres left.

Asked if he thought mental health is being given increasing importance nowadays, Sammut Nurminen said that increasing importance is being given, however enough importance is not.

“I don’t think it’s taken too seriously unfortunately and there is still a stigma around mental health which is why people do not feel comfortable speaking up about it,” he said.

 “Personally, I took on running when the Covid-19 pandemic hit two years ago. Most of us were forced to work from home and so I was working, eating and sleeping in the same room,” he said.

 He said that this started to weigh on his mind and he decided to do something about it.

“I was always an active person and I used to play basketball. Initially, I always hated running, but decided to go for a run and forced myself to go out. Once I went on a few runs, I realized that my productivity improved and it turned into a habit. I won’t say I always look forward to running every day, but what motivates me is that afterwards I always feel better,” he said.

Sammut Nurminen was asked what society at large can do to improve the mental health situation in Malta, to which he replied that there are two things to continue on: raising more awareness and promoting fitness and remaining active.

“The obesity rate in Malta says a lot about our level of activity; we need more awareness around that. If people are more active, it will definitely take care of the mental side of things. It will not solve the problem fully, but I am sure that the numbers will decrease. It can be something as simple as going out for a walk,” he said.

Sammut Nurminen said that the goal is to raise €10,000 for Dr Klown. At the time of writing, €1,800 has already been collected. With the funds, Sammut Nurminen plans on helping to improve the organisation’s facilities to create a better and more suitable atmosphere for the children, as well as their support systems, such as parents who often stay overnight.

He said he also plans on organising several virtual events for the children, including a virtual treasure hunt set up with a camera which acts as a “video-game”. He would run in a specific place, searching for gifts for the children, while they have access to the camera.

Asked why Sicily was his pick for the run, Sammut Nurminen said that the distance was fitting, as he originally planned to run over 300km. He said that upon doing his research and finding out that Sicily is a 365km run from one side to another, it fit perfectly with his plan.

Sammut Nurminen said that going further, he would like to run across Europe, as well as go for a Guinness World Record in Malta.

Will he continue focusing on mental health? Sammut Nurminen said that he will always focus on mental health as he wants to help as much as he can.

“When everyone does their small part, it makes a massive difference. Even helping just one person is a big deal, so we should continue to do it,” he said.

One can donate to raise awareness about mental health on: https://gogetfunding.com/365km-run-across-sicily-powered-by-pragmatic-play/ or on Revolut on +356 7902 3975