Ultrarunner Stephen Sammut Nurminen has completed a 24-hour ‘charity run’ around the university track in Msida, covering three marathon distances to donate hundreds of meals to those in need. 

It was a gruelling attempt for Sammut Nurminen who had to stop running after 13 hours after feeling unwell, but persisted in walking and jogging lightly for another nine hours. 

For every kilometre completed, Dr Juice will donate one meal to Soup Kitchen OFM in Valletta, with additional meals supplied for every kilometre ran by other athletes lending their support. 

Sammut Nurminen’s efforts alone will provide almost a quarter of the 600 meals anticipated to be served by the soup kitchen on Christmas Day.

A further 639 meals were raised by other runners, giving a total of 770.

"It's been fun, I didn't expect so many people to turn up to support so that's been amazing. I think we had over 100 people, so that was really nice to see,” Sammut Nurminen said after completing his feat on Saturday afternoon.

By around 4.30am, the challenge was taking its toll and he was forced to stop running. However, by 10am he was back on track, walking and jogging. 

“I can't run, I haven't been able to run since 3am. But I've been trying to move whenever I can. I’ve been doing a lot of walking and very slow jogging. I wasn't really expecting it but you can't really plan for these things when you do these kind of runs, you never know what's going to happen.”

I was never alone, and especially when I was struggling

Despite running through the night, Sammut Nurminen has not been alone, receiving moral support from friends, family and other runners joining him for the challenge.

"Having a support team with everything you do is key. I was never alone, and especially when I was struggling. If those people hadn't been here I might have had to pull the plug. It boils down to having the right support network."

His efforts have clearly inspired others and made an impact.

The athlete's friends... and dog gave him the necessary support. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Two sisters from Colombia, Diana and Stefania, said the challenge had inspired them to push their running limits.

“We’re regular runners but after we heard about the event and that it was being done for a good cause we were more motivated than usual,” they said.

“I normally do two kilometres, but today I managed five,” said Diana.

Completing over 130 kilometres, Sammut Nurminen has run the equivalent of over three marathons.

He first did the challenge last year, and has been training hard ever since. Earlier this week, the athlete told Times of Malta he had been jogging, cycling and practising strength training to prepare, as well as having participated in a 174-kilometre ultra-run and a full marathon.

He had also reduced his sleep to three hours per night to help with fatigue throughout the event.

Soup Kitchen OFM provides freshly prepared meals three times per week, as well as offering reading, meditation, music and computer tuition sessions. To find out more about their work, visit www.soupkitchenofmvalletta.com.