[WATCH] 15km obstacle course lands in Malta on 28th May

The Grid obstacle course

A 15km obstacle course was launched at Madliena Tower, Pembroke earlier today. The event will be held on the 28th May, with registrations still open for the coming two weeks.

Organisers of 'The Grid', Omar Said and Ryan Calleja said that it was the first time such an event was being held in Malta and that many Maltese athletes travel abroad for such events, with interest in the events being expressed over the years.

“The events are very popular team building exercises abroad and we hope that the event will be such a success that the event becomes an annual one,” Said said adding that there were already some 200 people registered so far.

Said added that the course, which would be built over two days, would include some 40 obstacles including walls to climb, hurdles, slides that lead competitors into the sea, as well as mud pits and monkey bars among others.

"Some people hae been preparing for is and getting physically fit for the race itself, but it can be taken at any pace, and it can be taken as a team-building exercise rather than a test of speed or stamina," Siad added.

Malta tourism authority (MTA) chairman Gavin Gulia explained that sports tourism had become an important component of annual tourism with the number of sporting events held on the island including trainign camps, running events, yachting regattas, and marathons and triathlons among others. 

Gulia explained that Malta's climate made it ideal for year-round sporting events, and that the authority was dedicating a substantial part of their budget to marketing Malta as a sporting destination, even through the choice of having Javier Zanetti as the country's ambassador, promoting Malta as a destination for sporting event.

"Large scale sporting events are important both because they attract groups of tourists interested in the sport, and because of the economic impact they will have on the local economy during months that are not necessarily very popular with tourists.

Tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that the govrenment had recognised the importance of the sports tourism sector, giving it a specific place in its policy document  about tourism released last year.

“Events like these are important to increase tourist presence in shoulder months,” he said adding that he hoped the event would remain popular beyond the current administration as an annual event attracting droves of tourists to the island.

He added that the government  sought to increase the number of tourists in Malta as well as the quality of tourism by reaching specific niches.

Video is unavailable at this time.