Sunshine and warm temperatures gave a real boost to a team from Diespeker taking part in the GIG Malta Marathon Challenge on March 1 to fundraise for teenage mental health charity, stem4.
Diespeker Managing Director John Krause, who has completed over 169 marathons many in aid of stem4, had previously organised a 30-strong team in the Malta Marathon raising over £7,500. Diespeker & Co is a long-standing supporter of stem4 and the work they do for teenage mental health.
This year John determined to raise even more! So, a team of 36 including representatives from the Diespeker’s marketing agency Terra Ferma Media and stem4’s design and tech partner HMA came together with the aim of raising £10,000.
There were three levels for participants to choose from: the 42km marathon or 21km half marathon or ‘Endo’ walkathon. All races started from Mdina, Malta’s old capital in the north of the island, finishing on the waterfront at Sliema. The full marathon started at 7.30 am followed by the half and walkathon at 9.15 am. The route was mainly downhill, the start at 200m above sea level and the finish at sea level.
The top runner for the team was Diespeker consultant Charles Hampden-Smith with an impressive time of 3 hours 17 minutes. Next up was our very own marathon man, MD John with 3 hours 49, followed by Chris Demetriades in his first marathon, achieving 3 hours 53. In the half marathon, Cole Demetriades was top performer, completing the course in 1 hour 37, with Diespeker’s Sydney Robertson coming in at 1 hour 46 and John’s daughter Lily in an impressive 1 hour 47 – in her very first race.
In 2019 25% of stem4 income came from community fundraising like the marathon, so the team was delighted to learn that the fundraising total topped £10,300, a superb result enabling the charity to continue its important work promoting positive mental health in teenagers and those who support them including their families and carers, education professionals, school nurses and GPs through the provision of mental health education, resilience strategies and early intervention.
On top of the fundraising, Diespeker provided additional sponsorship enabling many of the participants to take part in the event.
