First marathon according to IAAF rules (2)

Charles Casha (The Sunday Times, October 2) claims that the first Malta Marathon was held in 1969.

While commending such events which over 40 years ago promoted physical, philanthropic and allied activities, when such events were rare, it must be pointed out that a marathon, to be described as such, has to follow clearly defined rules as outlined by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

A marathon, as the Malta Marathon Organising Committee has held for the past 26 years, must be exactly 42.195 km long (+ up to 42 m) as defined in the rules of the IAAF.

This distance was established in the 1908 London Olympics and ratified by the IAAF in May 1921.

The distance is one of a number of rules that have to be observed for an event to be classified as a marathon. The Malta Marathon is run under the Malta Amateur Athletic Associations competition rules, which follow those of the IAAF. Any other event held outside these rules cannot be considered as a marathon and would be termed under a different category.

Therefore, the sponsored walk referred to by Mr Casha cannot be classified as the first Malta Marathon since a number of these rules were not observed, thus making Charles Cioffi’s claim correct (The Sunday Times, September 25) unless there was another event which observed these rules and of which we are unaware.

Mr Cioffi missed out on two other members of the first Malta Marathon Organising Committee. These are Ray Cassar Torreggiani and his son Chris. In fact, Ray was the first designated Malta Marathon race director, I was just a member of the MMOC. Ray and Chris, who were deeply involved in athletics at the time, the former as an official and the latter as an athlete, were the only two committee members who did not participate in the first Malta Marathon. Their assistance both in the preparation for the event and on race day was extremely valuable.

Another person who must be mentioned, although not forming part of the MMOC, is Peter Borg Costanzi. He also contributed in various ways, not only to the organisation of the first Malta Marathon but to subsequent Malta Marathons.

Furthermore, there were also a few other athletes who also gave a helping hand at times, one person who comes to mind is Joe Farrugia, who for a number of years was Malta’s top marathon runner.