On Monday 18 April, representatives from Malta University Holding Company and BRND WGN met the Hospice Malta fundraising coordinator. They were excited to hand over €2750 which was raised from this year’s BRND WGN & University Ring Road Races.
The Malta University Holding Company has been organizing these races since 2013 and in each edition has donated half the race fees to Hospice. This year, the races were given a bit of a facelift having secured title sponsorship from BRND WGN as well as through the support of several other companies. This led to a record number of participants signing up for the races which also meant more money being raised for Hospice. Furthermore an online campaign called 'Murphy Runs for Hospice' was set up to encourage more people to donate. In fact Murphy, the mysterious guy in the pink morph suit, built quite a reputation for himself by participating in both the Malta Half Marathon and the BRND WGN & University Ring Road Races.
Last March approximately 370 participants braved the tough weather conditions and made their way to the 5th Edition of this annual road running event. Records were smashed, trophies and medals were won but more importantly everybody ran for a cause to show their support to Hospice Malta.
Hospice Malta is a voluntary not-for-profit organisation, today caring for over 1000 patients and their families. Their services are offered free of charge to patients suffering from cancer, motor neuron disease and end life respiratory, cardiac and renal disease.
In an interview with Johanna Galea, the face behind these races, she stated, 'It’s always great to help a worthy cause and I'm also really happy that everyone seemed to have a good time at the races. We would like to thank BRND WGN for their support throughout the entire race planning process. We would also like to thank Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club, Emergency Fire & Rescue Unit, San Ġwann Scouts Group and the Hospice Malta volunteers for their support on the day as well as the numerous sponsors who all helped to make this possible. The success of this event has inspired our team to plan further events to help raise additional funds for charity whilst promoting health and fitness. In July we are planning to hold a Dragon Boat Race & BBQ. Furthermore, we are all already looking forward to the next edition of these races to be held on Sunday 12 March 2017.'
For photos and official race results, please log onto Facebook University Ring Road Races page or the University Sports and Leisure website.