Emerson Junior School teacher, Chris Winter, caught the marathon “bug” while living and teaching in Japan several years ago. Since then, he has been working towards breaking the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon run by a person with Type 1 diabetes.
“Last year in the Melbourne Marathon I was only two minutes off the then world record of two hours and 30 minutes,” Chris says. “Since then, the record has been lowered to two hours and 28 minutes. It’ll be incredibly tough, but I’ll be running again in October this year in another attempt to break the record.”
Chris says Diabetes Victoria has been extremely supportive of his marathon efforts. Last year he raised $2,500 for the organisation, and he intends to fundraise again this time round.
To support Chris in his efforts to break the record, please click here: https://melbmara2026.grassrootz.com/diabetes-victoria/run-as-type-one
Chris began his working career in the AFL industry before heading overseas for two years to teach English. He met his now-wife in Japan before they came back to Australia with their then 10-month-old daughter to resettle in Melbourne.
His love of athletics and his 20-year involvement with his local club indirectly led to his current role at Emerson, where he has worked since 2017. He met Emerson principal John Mooney while volunteering with the Glenhuntly Athletic Club at a cross country event for special schools. He started at Emerson as a volunteer, then moved to an Education Support role, before transitioning into classroom teaching.
Chris has continued his passion for athletics and cross-country, coaching squads at Emerson as well as being instrumental in setting up a scholarship for one Emerson student each year at the Glenhuntly Athletic Club.
“I wanted to strengthen connections between the two organisations, as well as honour the late Nicholas Hum, a former Emerson student and Glenhuntly Athletic Club member, who won bronze for Australia at the Summer Paralympics in 2020 among many other achievements,” Chris says.
Last year’s scholarship recipient was former student Cain Christie, who graduated at the end of 2024. Chris says Cain is following in the footsteps of Nick Hum. “Like Nick, Cain is a long jumper with incredible potential. In his first season with Glenhuntly, Cain qualified for the Victorian team for the National Championships where he was tenth Australian and second in the T20 classification.”
At Emerson, Chris is also the representative for Garfield camp, involved in decision-making around funding, fees and activities for Garfield.
Another initiative of Chris’s is the Emerson Breakfast Club which he helped establish with Ben Parker in 2018. He liaised with Food Bank Victoria who were happy to come on board and donate a range of breakfast foods. The club is now managed by Georgina Georgalli and frequented by 15-20 students each day.
“It’s not just about providing food, but also about helping to build connections and teach skills around socialising and chatting together over a meal,” Chris says.
His pride in his students’ achievements is evident when he talks about them. “Emerson feels like a family,” he says. “I love the students’ curiosity, kindness and their appreciative nature. It makes working here extremely fulfilling.”
[interviewed June 2026]
Photo credit: photos in this article supplied by Chris Winter
