The number of home participants in next month's Malta Marathon and Half Marathon is again on the rise but hopes of breaking the record entry of last year have been dashed by the global crisis which brought about a drop in foreign runners taking part.
The 24th edition of the races was launched yesterday at the Muscat Motors headquarters in Gżira.
This year, the main sponsors are Land Rover. They will be the race's title-holders for the next five years. Bay Radio joins the group of Official Partners along with San Michel, Powerade, Urban Jungle and eworld.
Race Director Joe Micallef, so synonymous with the marathon, told reporters the organisers are expecting about 500 locally-based runners to be at the starting line on March 1 at Mdina.
Micallef added, however, that the current credit crunch has had a negative impact on the international sports scene as well, resulting in a drop of foreign athletes.
"After last year's all-time record of 1,098 entries, this time we estimate to have the second highest number ever - around 1,000," Micallef said.
"The bad news is that the number of visitors has gone down to 500, a reduction of 200. The good news is that we have 500 Maltese, a new record in this respect.
"When we started the marathon, way back in 1986, there were only a handful on the line. But, we never gave up as our objective was to see more locals joining in.
Seeing these figures, I guess we can easily say that our objective has been reached."
Micallef said the struggling German market has left a negative effect on the entry field.
He acknowledged the valid work done by the Malta Tourism Authority but reckons that more promotion would help to make the numbers bigger.
The number of German runners, in fact, went down from 300 to 160 and that of the US also dropped from 68 last year to 13. Most of the US runners are usually Germany-based.
However, figures were stable for the UK with 150, five more than last year, coming over for the races.
"We believe that the Malta Marathon has enough potential to attract more foreigners as there are various aspects which we can exploit," Micallef said.
"Some European nations are not even represented by a single participant. This year, Spain and France, two countries relatively close to us, have only one and 10 runners respectively."
Meanwhile, as already mentioned in John Walsh's build-up articles in The Times on Saturdays, the Malta Marathon Organising Committee will be introducing new routes this year with the aim to reduce traffic congestions, particularly in busy junctions.
The main changes will see runners heading to Marsa through Attard and the Mrieħel by-pass instead of Żebbuġ and Qormi.
The route, with added loops at Attard and Ta' Qali, will descend to Pietà from Sa Maison, allowing athletes, again with chip timing attached to their numbers, to proceed to the finish line in Sliema along the water's edge.
Meanwhile, Kenyan Joshua Kipchumba, winner of the 2008 marathon in 2:18.38, still has to confirm his participation but Jonathan Balzan, first Maltese home in the 42km race, will shift to the half marathon. He is currently focusing his training on the GSSE 10k race in Cyprus this year.
Last year, Balzan recorded the best ever timing for a Maltese runner in the marathon in 2:26.27.
Carmen Hili will again defend her marathon title for a fourth year running and so will Carol Walsh in the half marathon.
The local entry will see nine women and 45 men in the full marathon and a further 100 women and 356 men in the 21km race.
Overall, there will be 240 in the full marathon and 760 in the half.
The registration of local runners will be held next Saturday at the Muscat Motors showroom between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Overseas runners may collect their numbers on Feb. 26 (5-7 p.m.) and Feb. 28 (5-8 p.m.).
Entries (last five years)
2004: 439 Maltese, 305 foreigners (744); 2005: 394 Maltese, 307 foreigners (701); 2006: 398 Maltese, 381 foreigners (779); 2007: 483 Maltese, 399 foreigners (882); 2008: 407 Maltese, 691 foreigners (1,098).