John Walsh

Joe Micallef writes...

My weekend could have hardly started worse, when last Saturday early in the morning I received a call with the tragic news that John Walsh had died while out on his regular morning run.

The sad news sent shockwaves around the Maltese athletics community, not least among the members of the Malta Marathon Organising Committee of which John had been a member since the inaugural Malta Marathon in 1986.

John’s passing away brought fond memories of a few stories he liked to tell about how the marathon started. He loved to refer to how the seeds were sown in a long conversation he had with Edwin Attard on a bus ride from Ċirkewwa to Mosta. He often mentioned a photo that Peter Borg Costanzi had once hung up in his office: it was of 13 runners at the start of the 1984 Mdina to Spinola Road Race.

The current MMOC members were all there: John, Edwin Attard, Mario Chetcuti and yours truly. John would point out that in pre-marathon days that was the typical size of the field of runners in local road races. But he would proudly state that today the Malta Marathon and Half Marathon attract 2,000 participants while the Mdina-Spinola now has an entry of 400.

The growth of the popularity of road running in Malta owes a lot to John. His regular articles in The Times have been a source of inspiration to many a reader and many runners claim that they took up running thanks to him.

Although John’s name will inextricably be connected with the Malta Marathon and Half Marathon, many will remember him as an athletics coach. John took his coaching seriously and was utterly dedicated to his athletes. He wasn’t satisfied with just getting coaching qualifications but also obtained a Masters degree in sports science.

He put his knowledge to good practice. He guided his then future wife Carol to a silver medal in the marathon of the 1997 Mediterranean Games as well as other gold, silver and bronze medals in various editions of the Games of the Small States of Europe. Only this year, one of his athletes, Lisa Marie Camilleri, won two silvers in the 2011 GSSE.

Without knowing it, hundreds of participants of the Malta Marathon, Malta Half Marathon, Walkathon and Mdina-Spinola events over the past years have a piece of John somewhere in their homes. John had designed the majority of the medals presented to the finishers of these events. Besides memories that will never fade, he has left us with the medal designs for the 2011 M2S and the 2012 Malta Marathon. These will be awarded to the participants of these two events in his memory.

John’s sudden death will certainly leave a great void. His energy, knowledge and enthusiasm will be difficult to replace. John, we will all miss you. My condolences as well as Mario and Edwin’s, go to his wife Carol.

Joe Micallef
Race Director
Malta Marathon Organising Committe