The walkathon is a relatively new event in our local sporting calendar.

In previous years, if one was not fit enough to run the marathon or the half, then taking part in Malta’s largest sporting event was not possible.

The introduction of the walkathon gave the non-runners an opportunity to join in on the day and also the chance to become relatively fit as walking for 21.4kms is no easy feat at all. It requires, among many things, lots of stamina and determination.

When the first Malta Walkathon was held 200 participants were on the start line.

That year, the start of the walk was at 9am, the full at 8am and the half at 10am. All went well and the following year we had 500 walkers with 2,000 marathon and half marathon participants.

This is where we started to encounter problems. After the event I had several complaints from the faster half marathon runners who said that they found ‘walls of walkers’ in front of them. Some walkers had headphones on and others were in groups, gossiping as they strolled towards Sliema.

Many walkers were oblivious of the ‘wild horses’ that were let loose from Mdina.

So the following year the walkathon started at 8.30am in the hope of having the walkers spread out by the time the half marathon runners came galloping down to finish line.

This didn’t really work either as the number of walkers increased again to 700 and so did the number of half marathon participants. Furthermore, the lead car of the full marathon found the walkers obstructing its path after exiting from Ta’ Qali.

The first walkathon participant, who must have run all the way, nearly stole the show for the eventual winner of the full race as it was only at Ta’ Xbiex where he was overtaken.

So, it was back to the drawing board and the next try was to have the walkers start exactly after the half marathon participants.

This was in 2013 and we thought we got it right as we didn’t hear any complaints that year even though the number of participants was still on the up.

Last year, we realised that we hadn’t got it all that right, however.

Whereas the walkers were well managed at Mdina Gate and did start after the half marathon participants in 2013, this did not work all that well in 2014.

Due to the car park’s open space some walkers moved up and mingled with the half marathon participants.

When the gun went off some half marathon participants could not get past the walkers for quite a distance, hence the complaints.

We had other objections from some faster full marathon runners.

Their problem was that when they came out of the Ta’ Qali and joined the half marathon they found the famous wall of walkers. For this reason the full marathon will this year start at 7.30am instead of at 8.00am. This will allow more of the faster Full Marathon participants exit Ta’ Qali before the walkers.

The walkathon has made the Malta Marathon bigger and we are seeing many more Maltese run and walk which is very positive.

Also, the walkathon has encouraged many Maltese to run the half marathon after having walked it the first time. This is a good enough reason to ensure that the walkathon remains an annual event.

All we can do as organisers is juggle around with start times and encourage participants to follow some basic rules, including:

– walkers (who will have yellow numbers) must start behind the half marathon participants (who will have red numbers);

– walkers should not form large groups along the route and should remain at all times as close to the pavement as possible;

– walkers must be aware that runners will come from behind and must make sure that they do not obstruct them;

– walkers should encourage runners that pass them, the likelihood is that they would be full marathon participants and would have already covered 21km more than the walkers. Some clapping and words of encouragement can really help along the way; and

– all participants should encourage others to observe the rules.

The half marathon and full marathon participants also have rules to follow.

A critical one is similar to the walkers, slower runners should not move up to the front.

They may trip someone and spoil the day for him/her besides causing frustration.

Keep up that training but taper down in the last seven to 10 days especially if you are doing high mileage.