Athletes' hurdles at Marsa track

I enjoy doing some exercise to keep fit and healthy. One safe and sure way of keeping fit is to do some regular jogging and where best if not around the Marsa track?

Arriving there spoils my dream every time. First, where to park the car? A new parking project started two years ago but is still under construction, lying there abandoned, creating an eyesore. After touring the area for 10 minutes I manage to find a parking space.

The athletics track and field is quite an amusing place, to say the least. Athletes are in the minority and one could well define the facilities as a no-man's-land. It appears to be a nice meeting place for all sorts of people. Some enjoy a walk there to avoid the traffic or meet up with a few friends to have a chat in the middle of the track! Children and grown-ups play football on the track and the field and shoot balls in all directions! Football, rugby, volleyball, basketball and what have you are played on the track with an "I own the track attitude"!

On a typical evening last week, a group of children and their parents started playing football on the track, got bored after 15 minutes, moved on to the field where they shot the ball in all directions and, getting bored again, started target practice on the dustbins!

After spending thousands of liri on surfacing the track and on the athletics facilities, the competent authorities ought to at least have adequate personnel to keep watch over the facilities, seeing to it that they are used with care, informing people of their proper use and making sure it is a safe place to be.

Perhaps one day athletes will be able to go to the Marsa athletics track and field to do their workout while not having to duck a football, not having to be extra careful of the little child left wondering alone in the middle of the track, not having to stay on the lookout for a stampede of football and rugby players and not having to figure out how to keep on running when people are walking on the track. Perhaps one day we will be able to go there with peace of mind to enjoy our jog!