The 2009 Malta International Challenge Marathon will take place on the weekend of November 27-29.

At the launch of this year's event, held at Palio's Restaurant within the Westin Resort, Barry M. Whitmore, founder and race director, gave details on the three-day challenge and confirmed that the routes will be the same as in previous years.

The first stage of the 42.195 km marathon will start from in front of Mdina Gardens and finishes in Rabat. The second leg will be in Birżebbuġa and the final run, starting at 7 a.m., will take runners from St Paul's Bay to Freedom Square in Valletta.

Around 125 runners are expected to take part in this year's race, an increase of 30 participants on last year. The local entry is up from 54 runners in 2008 to 94 this year.

Whitmore put this rise down to two factors, namely that the event now enjoys great respect among the local athletics community, and the promotion drive of the Challenge organisers who, this year, have sponsored six local road races through Hilly Clothing. Whitmore is also optimistic that the number of local participants will reach 100.

During the event's launch, Whitmore announced that President George Abela has written a message for the event's official programme.

He also thanked the four local councils involved - Rabat, Birżebbuġa, St Paul's Bay and Valletta - for their support.

"These councils are very important to the success of the event," Barry said.

The winners last year were Carol Walsh (2:50.39) and Jonathan Balzan (2:26.29).

The prize-giving ceremony is scheduled for November 30 at the New Dolmen Hotel.