Final preparations for the 30th Vodafone Malta Marathon 2015

On the 22nd of February 2015, approximately 4,500 runners will be taking part in the 30th edition of the Malta Marathon which will be seeing a considerable increase in local participants.  The event for this year will include some new features which include a Marathon Village offering various facilities to the participants aimed at creating a comfortable and pleasant experience.  This new feature will provide a much needed allocation for the participants to recover and adjust before going out to celebrate their achievement.  It will include changing areas, a massage area, a chill out zone as well as a designated area for anyone wishing to have any photographs taken.

The start of the event goes to some 30 years ago when a small number of individuals together with the remembered John Walsh came up with the idea of organising a marathon with the aim to increase mass participation in the sport.  Following the growth of the event year after year, the pinnacle of its success was reached two years ago when the event had 3,000 participants taking part.

This year’s event will have another record number of participants with over 4,000 in total, 1,900 of these being foreigners.  Over 750 entries have been registered for the Full Marathon and 3,300 for the Half Marathon which is the most popular amongst the local runners.  A further 850 participants take part in the Walkathon.

Malta Marathon Director Joe Micallef said that the number of Maltese participants is the same as last year with 20 Maltese females and 77 males having applied for the Full Marathon whilst 954 Maltese females and 1,196 males having applied for the Half Marathon or Walkathon.

The highest number of participants come from Britain with an expected 612 runners this year and for the 6th consecutive year being the most represented country in the event.  With an increase of 299 participants the Italians replaced the Germans in 2nd place.  The other countries with large numbers are Poland with 94, France with 90, USA with 72, Sweden with 72 and Japan with 58.  Participants coming from far off countries like Canada, China, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil and South Africa will also be taking part.

Four time winner Mohamed Hajjy is the favourite to win this year’s event having also established a course record of 2:16:06.

Jonathan Balzan who holds the National Best time for the Marathon has won the event in the last two years and will be amongst the favourites for another victory.  Andrew Grech is expected to challenge Balzan for first place.

Vodafone wil be sponsoring the event for the second year running together with the close collaboration of the Organising Committee to ensure a most memorable experience.

This year’s event will start at 7.30am covering the distance of 42.2km starting from Mdina finishing at the Sliema Strand.

More information on this event can be found on www.maltamarathon.com