St. Patrick’s AC Duo Triump in Latest 5k

Despite the hot weather, the road running season is slowly limbering up with the number of races increasing in the frequency.

The latest race took place in St. Julians were the traditional 5k was held as part of the feast celebrations. This might not be the most significant of road races yet it is quite popular with this year’s edition attracting more than 80 athletes.

As always, St. Patrick’s AC’s athletes made up the bulk of entrants so it was fitting that athletes from this club were to win the leading categories.

Pre-race favourite Jonathan Balzan confirmed his status by winning with a certain degree of ease in 15.48. He was followed by Pembroke Athleta’s Mario Pisani 18 seconds later with Mellieha AC’s Stefan Borg third in 16.23.

In the women’s category it was Carmen Hili who worked well with a group of St. Patrick’s male athletes to come home in a time of 19.15. Donatelle Callus of Cynergi was second with 20.43 whilst Paula Vella, also of St. Patrick’s, cam third in 20.59.

Balzan currently heads the standing at the Birkirkara St. Joseph Running Series where Carmen Hili is also doing well having won the second race of this series after finishing fourth in the first one. Both athletes are sponsored by Ronhill and http://www.enjoytherun.com/.

Top Five - Men
1. Jonathan Balzan (St. Patricks AC) 15.48
2. Mario Pisani (Pembroke) 16.06
3. Stefan Borg (Mellieha AC) 16.23
4. Andrew Grech (Mellieha AC) 16.36
5. Fabio Spiteri (Mellieha AC) 16.40

Top Five - Women
1. Carmen Hili (St Patricks) 19.15
2. Donatelle Callus (Cynergi) 20.23
3. Paula Vella (St Patricks) 20.59
4. Charmaine Pisani Grixti (Athleta Pembroke) 23.29
5. Margaret Sciberras (None) 24.39

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Athletes Stress the Importance of World Championships

Other than the Olympics there is no bigger stage for an athlete to compete in than the IAAF World Championships. Yet with the peak of the Maltese season being the Small Nations’ Games the impression has been that, once they were over and done with, it was simply a case of doing the minimum necessary.

Put that idea forward to Darren Gilford, who will be one of the two Maltese athletes making their way to Osaka, and you’ll promptly realise that isn’t really the case.

“These games are very important because they are like the Olympic Games. This is an opportunity to compete against the world. In this competition the level is very high and sometimes I’m enthralled with some performances.”

“However I will be there competing with them. I know my limitations, I am not a professional athlete and I cannot compare the support they get with mine.”

Charlene Attard, the other Maltese athlete, shares the same view. “There’s no hiding that the Small Nations’ Games were very important for me and I worked very hard to do as well as I did.”

“But this is also my first major outdoor international competition and it is quite exciting for me. To be able to run alongside such world famous athletes is quite an emotion.”

For both athletes, this is above all an excellent opportunity to see how others prepare themselves and continue their learning curve. “Every competition is an opportunity to learn, be it a minor competition or the world championships. It’s always a thrill to race against world class athletes but I try to focus on my race and give my best,” Gilford confirms.

“My target is to break my own national record for the 100m. I know I can do it sometime or another. Although I am happy with my performance so far I know I can do much better. At the recent Small Nations Games I managed to win a silver medal. I must stress that winning requires many sacrifices, dedication and most importantly support.”

Taking part in the World Championships is important for the MAAA as an association even though they are realistic enough in their expectations. “The World Championship is what the name indicates,” MAAA President Tony Chircop reflects. “We do not expect them to proceed into the semi-finals. They will be against the world best here and no, I do not expect them to make miracles but I do expect them to register good times.”

Francesca Xuereb’s progression to the final of the 400m in the World Youths put a certain element of pressure on the MAAA to choose her for the World Championships but, as Chircop confirmed, a look at the results confirmed that Attard was better placed.

“We base our selection on the athletes' best performances and we gauge these on the Hungarian Tables where points are attached to best performances, precisely because we expect that people, like you are doing now, will come up to query our selection.,” he explained.

“Charlene's performance in the 100m is graded slightly higher than that of Francesca. Again, the selection was made prior to Francesca's run in EYOF as we had submit to the IAAF, the names of our athletes before a certain date. Unfortunately people outside the Council do not understand the many constraints that we have to put up with and frequently judge us wrongly and suspect a lot of negative things on us.”

“Francesca's results would not have changed our selection anyway. However, I certainly do not want to under rate her performance of 55.10 - a great performance from such a young athlete.”

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New Logo For Popular Race

Ever the innovators, the St Vincent de Paul Running Group have just launched Vincenzo 07, the Official Mascot for the St Vincent de Paul 5 Km Race and 1 Km Fun Run, which will takes place on the 29th September.

Vincenzo 07 was designed by Mauro D’Amato, an MCAST Art and Design Student. Anyone who wishes to know more about SVPRG and this athletic activity can find it on the website http://www.svpathletics.org/.

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Tecnology Highlights Gap Between Football and Athletics

The first step towards solving a problem is admitting that it exists. By overhauling much of its marketing department, the IAAF is acknowledging that athletics has to be promoted in such a way as to make it more appealing to a wider audience.

The ultimate target has to be that of avoiding being further overtaken by football. Yet a comparisong between the two sports highlights just how massive that task really is.

Over the past couple of weeks, the U20 World Cup was being played out in Canada, an event that despite falling in the football off-season, still manages to attract a fair share of attention so much that most matches were broadcast live on various stations.

But that wasn't enough for FIFA who streamed all games live on their site and, once the games were over, offered highlights of each game. And everything was free of charge.

Compare this with the IAAF World Youth Championships held in Ostrava where the only feature available to enthusiasts was the prompt publication of results.

The technology to broadcast such events on the internet is widely available and it is a great way of keeping people interested. Not to mention a must when all research shows that more people are increasingly relying on the web, rather than television, for their entertainment.

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