Contrary to the rest of the country, Darren Gilford and Martina Xuereb will have other things than the general elections on their minds this weekend as they will be competing in the World Indoor Championships in Valencia.

As always, the lack of indoor facilities is a hindrance to the athletes, particularly for Martina who will be taking part in the 400m. "It is quite a challenge," she admitted.

For those without much of an insight into the sport, there shouldn't be any difference between running indoors and outdoors but that isn't the case. An indoor track is tighter than an outdoor one and has rising banks. It necessitates a special technique for an athlete to maintain balance while running at speed.

So far, Xuereb's only experience of running indoors came earlier this year during a trip to Sheffield.

"In training I'm using mainly the first line so as to get more of a feel," she explained. "However, other than that I'll have to rely on what I learned in Sheffield."

Making matters worse is a tight schedule that will see the Maltese duo arrive in Valencia the evening before they're due to compete, leaving them with little time for acclimatisation.

Given the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that Martina isn't focusing on a particular time.

"I can't really aim for any specific result because I have so little experience meaning that I can hardly evaluate where I stand. All I can do is promise to give it my utmost to obtain the best result possible," she said.

Xuereb will also have to cope without having her twin sister Francesca with her even though she insists this won't be a problem.

"Obviously, it would have been better if she were present as it is always easier when you have someone you know so well alongside you. However, it won't be a problem because how I run doesn't depend on having Francesca with me."

The situation as far as Gilford is concerned is significantly better seeing that he already has plenty of indoor experience.

"This won't be the first time I'll be running indoors in a major championship so I know what to expect," he said.

Already this year he has taken part in the Birmingham Indoor Championships where he ran a time of 7.03 seconds, a decent enough result even though not what he expected.

"I wanted a better result even though I had planned to take in some additional competitions."

Nevertheless, Gilford is confident.

"I know how I'm feeling, what I'm going to find and how to prepare," he said.

"I want to go for a time of 6.90 seconds. If I have a good start and finish I feel that I can still go down to 6.80 secs."