Walkathon details

I think we might have awoken a sleeping giant with our decision to add the Walkathon in next year's Malta Half Marathon.

It seems like everywhere I turn I am meeting people who are, either forming walk-training groups together or are individually following the schedule published in this paper some weeks ago, or runners who have talked their spouse into taking part.

All of which is fantastic news.

As is the following: the event organisers are pleased to announce that the Hospice Movement will be the Official Charity for the Land Rover Malta Marathon 2010.

This agreement becomes perfectly relevant when you learn that the Hospice Movement recently organised a midnight 4km charity walk and amassed a very encouraging total of 300 participants and generated much-needed funds.

Questions on Walkathon details are coming in by email, as well as when I meet up with interested participants.

If it has taken some time for me to reply, I apologise, but since the addition of the Walk is new to us, we have been finalising the details on exactly how it will work within the existing marathon and half marathon events.

Here's what we can say so far.

1) The Walkathon is officially part of the Half Marathon and is not a separate event in its own right.

Thus there will be no first, second, third, places in the Walkathon. Neither will there be separate awards in the Walkathon category based on time or position.

The main reason for this is that in a Walking race participants must keep contact with the ground at all times (ie: one foot must always be on the ground, unlike jogging when the individual is actually in the air for short periods during each stride).

In walk races this criterion is very closely monitored, and competitors are given two warnings for "lifting" and then disqualified for a third.

We have neither the trained officials nor the resources to monitor all walkers continuously for 21km to such an extent.

As all runners, walkers will receive an official race number with a timing chip attached to it to record their official time.

Walkathon participants will have different coloured numbers from the regular HM runners.

2) Since the event is not a "race-walk" in the true competitive sense of the term, it is therefore perfectly okay for anyone taking part in the Walkathon to jog for parts of the event if they are fit enough and wish to do so. It is also perfectly okay to walk the entire distance.

3) The organisers must dismantle the Finish Line gantry at 1 p.m.

For most runners starting at 10 a.m., this three-hour event window is ample time for them to arrive safely in Sliema.

We understand that many walkers cannot walk 21k in three hours, therefore the Walkathon will start at 9 a.m., one hour before the half marathon runners.

This will thereby give them a four-hour window of time in which to reach the finish gantry.

4) Since walkers have a four-hour maximal event window, how come the schedule I published only showed a maximum of three hours as the longest walk in training?

There is no need to actually walk four hours in training to be able to walk four hours on a special one-off day. Consider how you feel when you finish the three-hour walk in training, you are not exhausted or completely spent. If you had to, you could continue that day.

Also, when you do your normal training you have made no special preparations (as you will before half marathon day). No special taper week of training (which I will advise details of), no special nutrition plan in the final three days, no early night the night before. All of these will make Walkathon Day actually feel easier than many training days for most of the distance.

Final point: few marathon runners (even elites) ever run a full marathon in training. Hope these make things more clear. Be careful out there and enjoy your training.

johnwalsh42195@yahoo.it