27×3 Kinder European Endurance Challenge in its 8th day

by Gozo News · September 18, 2011

The 27x3 Kinder European Endurance Challenge Maltese athlete, Nathan Farrugia is running 27 marathons in 27 days, across 27 different EU countries. He is running 42.2Km every day and by the end of it he will have covered a total distance of approximately 1140Km. That’s equivalent to running in a straight line from Birmingham to Milan.

The Kinder European Endurance Challenge aims to spread a message of solidarity while raising funds to support charity projects in Malta as well as every other country that is providing local support along the way. “This is a really huge challenge that’s never been done before,” explained Nathan, who gave more details about the complex logistics and scale of this adventure. After running for about four hours every day, he then joins his two-man crew as they drive their motor home to the next country for another full marathon the next day. Meanwhile a backup team in Malta is looking after general logistics and raising awareness and support mainly through the web and social media.

After a very successful opening marathon in Malta and an uneventful day 2 in Helsinki, the challenge hit its first major snag on day 3, when their motor home was broken into in Tallin. Thieves stole vital navigation equipment and a digital camera, which had to be replaced that same day losing precious time. Encouraging messages on Facebook and the steady flow of donations lifted the team’s spirits to put the mishap behind them and move on to the next marathon run in Riga the next day.

Ferrero, the main corporate sponsor of the event, is supporting this ambitious endeavour through a direct monetary sponsorship as well as through activities being held in most countries by the company’s staff and partners. Other sponsors include Garmin Malta supplying GPS equipment, Urban Sports supplying Nike footwear and gears, The Fitness Centre and Ice Watch.

Nathan Farrugia is a 38 year-old father of two, who took up endurance events after a successful career in basketball, playing with the Maltese national team for 12 years and winning a number of championships and personal awards. He retired after winning the league MVP and recovering from his second anterior cruciate tear of the same knee. As a physiotherapist, it was clear that swimming, cycling and running would help recovery, and so he took up triathlon.

Nathan is a member on the Malta Council for Voluntary organisations and heads the National Federation of Maltese NGOs. Nathan, together with some other athletes, raised over Euros 40,000 for Inspire and Facing Africa at MDS and quickly drew up plans for an even more extreme challenge with a more ambitious fundraising target – “27” was born! The marathons

Each 42.2km marathon is being run on the specific marathon route of the particular city where possible. Detailed information and maps of each marathon route are available here: http://www.27challenge.com/the-event/countries/

The charities

The local charities supporting 27 Challenge 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. Other charities include the Ronald McDonald House Charities, DPS Wadowice, Ciniclowns, The Children’s Society and Enable Ireland. More information, live GPS tracking and donation portal are available at http://www.27challenge.com.

THE CHALLENGE – 27 marathons – 27 countries – 27 days

11 Sep 2011 MALTA Mdina

12 Sep 2011 FINLAND Helsinki

13 Sep 2011 ESTONIA Tallin

14 Sep 2011 LATVIA Riga

15 Sep 2011 LITHUANIA Vilnius

16 Sep 2011 POLAND Warsaw

17 Sep 2011 GERMANY Berlin

18 Sep 2011 DENMARK Copenhagen

19 Sep 2011 SWEDEN Malmo

20 Sep 2011 NETHERLANDS Rotterdam

21 Sep 2011 BELGIUM Brussels