Over 1,000 runners to start Feb. 24 races

The 2008 BMW Malta Marathon will set a new record for participation after the organising committee announced that over 1,000 runners will be at the starting line for the marathon and the half marathon on February 24.

Joe Micallef, the chairman of the organising committee, told a news conference at Muscat Motors in Gzira, that applications for this year's 23 edition have already exceeded 1,000, significantly beating last year's record number of 882.

"So far, we have received 380 applications from Maltese athletes and another 650 foreign entries, an increase of 63 per cent on last year when 399 overseas runners took part," Micallef said.

"These figures are testimony to the growing popularity of the BMW Malta Marathon. Due to this unexpected rise in participants, the organising committee will not be able to accept late entries for the marathon as we only have a certain amount of medals available and our suppliers cannot send us more in time for the race.

"We are exploring the possibility of accepting late entries for the half marathon only, on the condition that the runners receive a different medal to the one specifically minted and produced for this year's BMW Malta Marathon. But a final decision has yet to be taken."

The record entry field for this year's races has also led the organising committee to finally introduce a chip-controlled timing procedure.

"The record numbers for this year's races left us with no choice but to adopt the chip-timing system to log the results of the finishing athletes," Micallef revealed. "This was a last-minute decision aimed at ensuring that the times of all participants are recorded correctly.

"Each athlete will be given a chip which is to be tied to the shoe lace before the start of the race.

"As the athlete crosses the finish line, the chip will beam the time and position to a database which will be controlled by two Italian operators who will be brought over specifically for the race."

The organisers have retained the routes used in 2006 and 2007. The Malta Marathon will start at 8 a.m. from Saqqajja, Rabat and the runners will cover a 42.2km route that also includes a flat loop in the area of Ta' Qali, Attard and Mosta (Independence Avenue) before heading to the Ferries in Sliema where the finish line is located.

The Half Marathon will get underway at 10 a.m. It will be preceded by a minute's silence in memory of Emmanuel Formosa who died last month after being hit by a car while training for the race.

The 21.97km route takes the runners through the Rabat town centre, through the Ta' Qali Crafts Village up to Zebbug and all the way to Sliema.

For this year's full marathon, the organisers have enlisted two leading athletes. These are Kenyan Philemon Serem Kipketer, who has a personal best of 2:13.52, and Joachim Nshimirimana of Burundi whose best time is 2:13.30.

Moroccan runner Marchane Abdelkebir, four-time winner of the Malta Marathon who holds the race record of 2:19.08, will again be a special guest of the organising committee. He is set to run the half marathon.

With regards to local participation, Malta's leading runners have all registered to take part, including Jonathan Balzan, Charles Cilia, Carol Walsh and Carmen Hili.

As in past years, there will also be a 2km fun run which starts from the Ferries at Sliema. This year's run is open to parents as well as children and should prove to be an enjoyable family experience. The run, starting at 9 a.m., will be co-ordinated by Pembroke Athleta.

The official partners of the Malta Marathon are BMW, Powerade, Urban Jungle and the Malta International Airport.