More than 3,500 participants will verge towards Mdina Gate in two weeks’ time to embark on their adventure of the year – taking part in the Malta Marathon and Half Marathon runs.

Some will run while others will walk and, possibly, jog but for for the entire distance. Whatever it is, every single participant will have his/her own objective to reach.

The seasoned and more dedi-cated athletes will be looking to finish among the top positions, many trying to improve on their best time. Others won’t bother about positions and it won’t matter if they don’t improve their times.

Again this year there will be a good number doing the event for the very first time. Their only goal will be to reach the gantry at Sliema safely.

There will also be a handful of invited ‘professionals’ running the marathon whose aim will be to win prize money... the faster they run the more cash they make.

Whether running for the honours, a personal best time or just to complete the distance, everyone will have their own personal challenge.

On February 23, many will also be participating to raise funds for charity, Inspire being the Vodafone Malta Marathon official charity this year. On race day, there will be hundreds of participants running or walking for various good causes.

More often than not when we talk about the marathon we mention participants, particularly the entry list in contrast with the previous year.

This it is very encouraging for the organisers and says something about the quality of the event.

So, I think a mention is appropriate to the hundreds who in one way or another help out either on the days leading to the event or on the day itself.

With an average of 20 assistants for each sponge station, 50 marshal points each manned by two officials, some 50 start/finish helpers and a multitude of persons giving all types of support, the overall number easily tops 400.

The organisers have always been most grateful to the scout groups, Inspire, St John’s Ambulance, Malta Red Cross, Athletics Malta and other friends and work colleagues.

Over and above the helpers and volunteers, there will be others giving contribution in their pro-fessional capacity, most notably police officers and wardens who will be deployed in practically every road junction of the marathon route.

Although not competiting, the helpers and professional personnel will also be involved in the marathon in a very important way.

With the inclusion of these peo-ple, the number of ‘participants’ will easily surpass the 4,000.

Whatever the goal, the runners and walkers would have gone through a number of weeks, or months, preparing themselves for the big day.

Some take it more seriously by rigorously sticking to a strict training schedule while others opt for a leisurely programme which they manage to fit in with their work and social life.

Whichever way is pursued, the challenge remains the same. Each and everyone’s ultimate goal is to start and finish no matter what kind of training regimes they had followed... every runner or walker is a hero/heroine in their own right.

And with just two weeks to go what should one do until race day?

It is no use trying to gain lost ground if you haven’t trained as much as you think you should have.

Trying too hard now may only lead runners to injuries.

You should do one last, long run or walk over this weekend but, very importantly, reduce the intensity.

In the last week distances have to be rather short and also less training sessions are advised. You need to be as fresh as possible on February 23.

Coaches always warn not to explore something new before your next event.

Share your views on the Vodafone Malta Marathon 2014 facebook page to keep updated with the latest news and happen-ings and maybe share something which might be in-teresting to your fellow athletes.

Over 1,500 foreigners will be participating with more than 2,000 locals in Malta’s favourite international annual sporting event.