Balzan Runs Into The Record Books

Whatever the future of the Malta Marathon holds, Jonathan Balzan has ensured that his name will forever be remembered as one of the greats of this event and Maltese long distance running.

Yesterday, he ran home in a time of 2 hours 26 minutes and 29 seconds, the fastest time ever registered by a Maltese in a marathon. So good was his result – the first Maltese was expected to come in some four minutes later – that it took a lot of those present by surprise.

Temporary astonishment, however, soon turned into elation upon the realisation of Balzan’s achievement.

The athlete himself broke down crying after crossing the finishing line, overcome by the emotion. “When I started running, it was a dream for me to be the fastest ever Maltese marathon runner. To achieve this is fantastic,” he said once he had calmed down.

In truth, Balzan has seen a number of dreams come to life since making his breakthrough in the sport that he started to take with added seriousness five years ago when he was already thirty.

“I’ve worked extremely hard for this result and it was my intention to run a very fast marathon time. My coach altered my training as I’ve had less time to train but also because he was convinced that my preparation needed a change to take in more recent theories of long distance running,” he explained. “Even the way I paced myself during the race was different and I have to say that it worked brilliantly.”

Of course, every marathon is different from another so it is hard to compare the results achieved over different courses. This, however, should not diminish Balzan’s achievements as John Buhagiar – another great of Maltese athletics who himself set a time of 2.26.46 at the London Marathon back in 2000 – agreed: “it is a fantastic result and I’m very happy for him.”

Yet no one in Sliema yesterday could have been as happy as Balzan. “I’ve got to thank my coach Roger Zammit for his faith in me as well as my sponsors http://www.enjoytherun.com/, Ronhill and Diadora. Above all, I have to thank my family for their support.”

Although so much attention was justifiably focused on Balzan, it would be disrespectful to forget the fantastic achievement of Joshua Kipchumba (pictured above). The Kenyan athlete not only won the marathon but also set a new record, lowering the overall best by 31 seconds.

Kipchumba had already been in Malta two years ago and on that occasion he had also won the marathon albeit with a much slower time of 2:21 flat. At the time, he admitted that it was possible to run much faster and he proved that yesterday.

“It was much different this year from last time,” he said afterwards. “Two years ago I ran the whole route on my own but this time I had Julius (Kirwa Choge) with me for most of the race so it was much better.”

The two constantly run together all over Italy so it was no surprise that they helped each other out. Yet both were keen to stress that neither one acted as a pace maker for the other. “We spoke about the race beforehand,” Kirwa Choge, who came in second with a time of 2:20:35, admitted. “But both of us were determined to go out and win. I didn’t hold anything back but Joshua took the lead from early on and I couldn’t haul him back.”

Similarly, both were in agreement that the marathon’s time can be improved. “Oh, it most definitely can,” Kipchumba confirmed. “And I intend to be back next year to do so.”

Third place went to Joachim Nshimirmana (pictured right) of Burundi with a time of 2.20.59.

Back to Back Success for Hili
Winner last year, Carmen Hili (pictured with Jonathan Balzan) confirmed her status as the strongest Maltese athlete in the marathon distance when she too registered a great time of 3.01.48 which was just marginally worse then the marathon’s record.

Nevertheless, it still meant an improvement of almost five minutes from last year’s winning time and her personal best over the distance, making Hili’s joy at the finishing line more than understandable. “I owe all this to God,” she said. “I have to thank my family, my sponsors of http://www.enjoytherun.com/, Ronhill and Diadora for all their support. But above all I have to thank God because he gives me the strength to run.”

“It was very hard out there because I was all alone so I had to focus completely on my time. Yet I stuck to it and managed what for me is a special result.”

“During the race I was thinking of the record and of going below the three hours but ultimately I didn’t manage that. Yet it isn’t a huge disappointment and is something to aim for next time.”

Another Maltese athlete, Marisa Muscat, came in second with a time of 3.16.17 whilst Petra Schiesewitz was third with 3:28.27.

Emotions Overflow as Walsh Wins Half Marathon
Carol Walsh, normally such a jovial character at the finishing line, broke down in tears after once again winning the Malta Half Marathon (1:22:17) and with good reason. “My son had a very bad accident two weeks ago,” she explained “so I’ve been spending most of my time in hospital. It has been a very tough time for me but I couldn’t miss the half-marathon partly, perhaps, because it is also a distraction for me.”

“However, I also want to dedicate this win to my son as well as all the surgeons who operated on him and who have done a fantastic job.”

Angela Sammut was the second female athlete in which was a pleasant surprise seeing that injury has greatly restricted her activity in recent months. “I’ve barely had any training,” she admitted “so I didn’t expect to do well. At first Joelle (Cortis) opened up a gap on me but I tried to keep that to a minimum. Then when we came to the final climb I knew that I could overtake her which I managed to do.”

The overall winner of the Half-Marathon was Briton James Douglas who returned to Malta to defend the title that he won last year.

“I don’t mind the heat,” he said when asked about the day’s warm weather joking that “my knees are getting older so they need a bit of warming up!”

“This past year has been tough on me. I’ve changed job, moved house twice and haven’t been able to dedicate as much time as I wanted to running particularly over these past two months.”

“Yet my coach Ivan Rozhnov had a lot of faith in me and said that I had to do a time of sub 1:10 and I’m happy to prove him right. My thanks go to him as well as my sponsors http://www.enjoytherun.com/ and Ronhill.”

Second place went to Ciaran Doherty ahead of the first Maltese in the form of Brian Magri who just preceded Robert Attard.

In fact, the two local athletes gave way to an interesting duel all along the route with Magri starting the race with a much faster pace than Attard. His experience, however, allowed Attard to eat away at Magri’s lead but ultimately he couldn’t completely overhaul him and had to make do with fourth overall.

Read more...

Records Tumble In Malta Marathon

Jonathan Balzan (pictured with Carmen Hili) set the fastest ever time for a Maltese athlete in the marathon when he registered a time of 2:26:29 in today’s BMW Malta Marathon.

The athlete himself broke down crying after crossing the finishing line, overcome by the emotion. “When I started running, it was a dream for me to be the fastest ever Maltese marathon runner. To achieve this is fantastic,” he said once he had calmed down.

In truth, Balzan has seen a number of dreams come to life since making his breakthrough in the sport that he started to take with added seriousness five years ago when he was already thirty.

“I’ve worked extremely hard for this result and it was my intention to run a very fast marathon time. My coach altered my training as I’ve had less time to train but also because he was convinced that my preparation needed a change to take in more recent theories of long distance running,” he explained. “Even the way I paced myself during the race was different and I have to say that it worked brilliantly.”

The marathon was won by Kenyan Joshua Kipchumba who also set a new record time of 2:18:37. Fellow Kenyan Julius Kirwa Choge was second (2:20:35) with Joachim Nshimirmana of Burundi third (2:20:59)

Carmen Hili was the first woman in the full marathon with a time of 3:01.48. She was followed by Marisa Muscat (3:16:17) and Petra Schiesewitz (3:28:27)

In the half marathon it was the Briton James Douglas who repeated last year’s success with a time of 1:09:20. Irishman Ciaran Doherty was next in with a time of 1:10:30 and Brian Magri was third with 1:11:33.

Carol Walsh was the first woman in the half marathon (1:22:17) with Angela Sammut and Joelle Cortis behind her.

Read more...

Spiteri Dominates Sprint Duathlon

On a windy and bitingly cold day, the Malta Triathlon Association held its 2008 season opener on Sunday 17 February at the Mtarfa by-pass, with a Sprint Duathlon which consisted of a Run of 3.4km, a Cycle of 15km and another Run of 3.4km.

It was clear from the start that the trio of front runners, Keith Galea, Brian Magri and Fabio Spiteri, would dictate the pace for everyone else. In fact, they came in after the first run with a few seconds separating them. In the Cycle segment of the Race, Galea immediately pulled clear of his two pursuers, reaching the second transition 45 seconds ahead of his closest rival. In the final run, Brian Magri’s whittling away at Galea’s advantage was not enough to prevent the latter from winning the Race in a time of 51m:23s, with Magri coming in just 7 seconds behind. In third place was Fabio Spiteri in a time of 53m:08s.

In the Women’s Category, Danica Spiteri’s dominance was uncontested as she came in from the first run in a time of 13m:49s, over 2 minutes ahead of Donatelle Callus; the latter, however, had a better cycle time, but this was not enough to help her get close to her rival, who went on to have another fine run and win the Race in a time of 1hr:00m:12s; Callus was second in 1hr:03m:22s while in third place was Debbie Caruana Dingli in 1hr:18m:15s. The Men’s Senior Race was won by Daniel Callus in a time of 58m:04s; Second Senior Men was Manuel Bezzina.

Read more...

ITU Endorsement to UK Coaching System

Dermot Galea, Triathlon National Coach, will this week-end be attending the first session of the UK’s 1stFor Sport Coaching Course, organized by the British Triathlon Federation at Loughborough University. The Level 3 Course is spread over 3 week-ends from February to April, with a final written exam in May. Galea, who in 2006 attended the Level 1 Course thanks to a grant from the Kunsill Malti ghall-iSport, was given a scholarship from the International Triathlon Union (ITU) which enabled him to attend Level 2 in 2007 and will also fund his present Course.

In the meantime, the ITU has taken a big step towards establishing an internationally accredited triathlon coaching system by sanctioning the one organized by the British Triathlon Federation. To date, only Australia and the UK have produced coaching courses of a high enough caliber to receive the prestigious ITU accreditation. (For more information, see the front page of the ITU’s website: http://www.triathlon.org/)

On completion of his Course, Galea will be expected to spearhead the Malta Triathlon Association’s drive to attract more athletes to triathlon as well as to organize a Training Week in preparation for the Triathlon Championships of the Small States of Europe, scheduled for Luxembourg later this year.

Read more...

Marathon Gets Malta Running

As a group of some one hundred and ten athletes stood huddled together at St Lucija on a grey and windy February morning in 1986, little did they imagine that they were about to kick-off what would eventually become one of the biggest sporting events in Malta.

Today, the BMW Malta Marathon and Half Marathon have become an institution that regularly attracts around nine hundred athletes. The two races’ popularity continues to increase and participation records are annually nudged upwards: apart from football, no other sport can claim to attract as many individuals.

Back in 1986, however, the marathon was very much a novelty appealing only to a few die-hard runners.

Charles Darmanin is one of just four athletes – the others being Konrad Ciappara, Paul Gardner and Carmel Herd – who has taken part in each of the twenty-two editions held so far and has seen the event grow.

“No one knew what to expect from the marathon, at least as far as the local runners were concerned,” he recalls. “At the time the longest race was just 10.8 miles long which doesn’t even reach the half-marathon distance. So no one had any experience. Personally I brought over a pair of Dunlop running shoes from England. I reasoned that if they’re good enough for car tyres then they must be good for running a long distance. I was wrong: for three weeks after the marathon I could barely walk!”

As with Darmanin, Joe Micallef was also there on the first edition of the marathon albeit as part of the organising committee. Today, Joe is the marathon’s Race Director which is rather ironic given that he didn’t expect the event to succeed.

“It was Charles Cioffi, a well known and long time road runner, who in 1985 came up with the idea whilst other, myself included, supported the idea. However I must admit that I was rather pessimistic about its viability.”

“Up till 1985, there were only 6 road races organised each year which ranged from one mile to six and even these normally attracted just twenty people. My thinking was: who is going to run 26 miles when so few can run six miles.”

“Fortunately I was wrong. To my great surprise there were sixty Maltese athletes together with another fifty foreigners. The number of Maltese participants has since exploded and last year we had a record of four hundred eighty three applicants for the Malta Marathon and Half Marathon, besides a further four hundred foreigners.”

Indeed, such has been the demand in recent years that Micallef has had to reject applications. An additional one hundred spots will be made available for 2008 but, even so, the expectation is that some people will have to be turned away.

One of those whose place on the starting line must surely be reserved is Darmanin. “Each year it is getting more difficult. When I set out I said that I wanted to do twenty five editions of the Malta Marathon and so far I am on track.”


“However, work pressure has eaten up most of the time that I used to dedicate to training so now I take part simply because it is in my blood rather than to achieve a set time. Today you have every excuse not to go out training and you have to be quite strong willed. That said, I wouldn’t dream of missing the marathon.”

As you would expect, Darmanin has plenty of stories to tell about the Malta Marathon. “I remember that in the first edition one particular foreign runner decided to run the marathon bare-foot. Unfortunately for him, we passed through a particular road full of loose pebbles which was quite painful,” he chuckles.

“On another occasion I was coaching a group of six first time marathon runners and we had decided to run together as a group. This meant that we had to take out toilet breaks together. Before the race we identified a particular spot where there were some shrubs and agreed to stop there which is what we did.”

“However, we hadn’t planned for a couple of female foreign runners who were just behind us and continued following us up to the shrubs. They must have wondered about the strange detour but only realised what we were about to do when they saw us stop!”

Once heavily focused on results, today Darmanin tries to find other challenges to motivate him. He convinced his wife to join him on one edition whilst on another year he teamed up with a slower runner to help him improve his time, a target achieved by over thirty minutes.

But at least he can take part, something that John Buhagiar is prevented from doing due to injury. In the 2000 edition of the Malta Marathon, Buhagiar emerged as the overall winner and to this day remains the only Maltese to have won the marathon outright.

Understandably, he gets all dreamy when asked to talk about that win. “Amazing,” is how he describes that day, “by far my best experience in running.”

“The time wasn’t particularly impressive but a win is a win. That day’s experience is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It was such an incredible high. Afterwards people started talking about me as the one who had won the marathon which was always a great boost.”

One of the main attractions of long distance running is the camaraderie that is prevalent, particularly after the race where athletes mill about and talk about their experiences. Buhagiar is no different and over the years this put him into contact with many foreign athletes.

“You get to talk to them and the overall feeling is that they really enjoy the experience.”

As someone who has taken in the London Marathon, he is in an ideal position to compare the Malta Marathon with one of the world’s major marathons. “Obviously we don’t get people supporting you all along the route and you don’t get as many runners taking part. Then again, I think that is one of the attractions for most foreign runners. Apart from our weather, that is.”

Whatever the reasons, the BMW Malta Marathon’s appeal is spreading. Apart from traditional countries like England, Italy and Germany, last year’s edition included athletes from Japan and America. That trend is expected to increase.

“In general foreigners rate the Malta Marathon highly,” Micallef admits with justifiable pride. “The BMW Malta Marathon is minute compared to bigger marathons such as London, New York, Boston and Paris, however the services given in our marathon compare well with other marathons.”

“We also offer great weather compared to what many used to at the time of year. A negative comment that I occasionally hear of regards the traffic. To aid athletes run their race with the least interference from traffic, we deploy as many police and wardens at fixed points along the route besides a good number of traffic police. With the cooperation of the traffic police, some sections of the route are also made traffic free whilst others are lined up with traffic cones to separate the athletes from the traffic.”

Traffic or not, many athletes have been preparing for the past months so as to be able to run the BMW Malta Marathon. Injury means that Buhagiar won’t be joining them. “The thought of taking part once again in the marathon is what keeps alive in me the dream of being fit enough to re-start training,” he says in a determined fashion.

“Irrespective of the time that you achieve, completing the marathon proves your ability as a long distance runner.”

That view is shared by Darmanin. “For a long distance athlete that is the ultimate challenge. It is a massive satisfaction when you cross the finishing line and the truism that every finisher is a winner really does apply to a marathon.”

“For most normal athletes the last four miles are tortuous and it comes down to mind over body. At that point I think that everyone starts thinking that this will be their final marathon; that they’re never going to go through the pain once more. The euphoria upon finishing, however, more than makes up for it and by the end you’re already dreaming about the next edition.”

Read more...

Maltese Sprinter Featured in British Magazine

Maltese sprinter and national record holder Darren Gilford has been featured in the most recent edition of the British magazine Athletics Weekly.

The article focused on the invitation by English club Bolton United Harriers for Gilford to join them and his subsequent participation in the Birmingham Games in their colours. Gilford is quoted as saying that “it was quite an honour for me and I accepted without hesitation.”

Gilford, who runs in Malta for Pembroke Athleta, is hoping to qualify for next month’s World Indoor Championships to be held in Valencia.

The piece was written by Maltese sports writer Paul Grech who has already contributed to the same magazine on a number of occasions in the past few months and who also writes for a number of local as well as international publications.

A digital magazine on athletics is due to be published shortly and anyone interested in receiving a copy should leave a message on this blog to register their interest.

Read more...

Mtarfa Duathlon

The Malta Triathlon Association will be organizing its first event for the 2008 Season this coming Sunday, 17 February, at the Mtarfa By-Pass. As usual at this time of the year (when the sea temperature makes sea swims a matter for the brave), the MTA takes the opportunity to hold the ‘dry-tri’ or, as it is better known, the Duathlon. A Duathlon race involves 2 disciplines: running and cycling but the run is divided into 2 parts and the cycle segment inserted in the middle. The Duathlon is favoured by those whose weak discipline is the swim or who feel that swimming is alien to their concept of training or racing. Internationally, Duathlon is a big multi-event sports, attracting national and corporate sponsorships. Yet it still falls under the umbrella of the International Triathlon Union and, although Triathlon made its triumphant entry into the Olympic fold 8 years ago during the Sydney Olympics, there is little chance that Duathlon, despite its growing popularity, will follow suit. There are several reasons for this, not least of all is the IOC’s determination to shed sports rather than add new ones.

Sunday’s Race will start at 7:30a.m. and is meant to attract beginners as well as give a timely reminder for those who had a long break that it’s time to don those training shoes again. The distances are: Run: 3.4km; Bike: 15km; Run: 3.4km. With Dermot Galea (2007 Triathlon and Duathlon Champion) out of the running because of a lingering chest infection that scuppered his hopes to set a national record at Ironman Australia last December, Sunday’s winner is likely to prove an interesting tussle between Brian Magri, Fabio Spiteri and Keith Galea. Fabio is clearly the favourite, with his recent success at the two cycling races organized earlier this year; however, it would be a mistake on his part to underestimate Keith’s determination or Brian’s well known ability to come from behind to overtake potential winners in the last few metres of the race. The Woman’s event should be equally fascinating, with the current Champion, Danica Spiteri facing stiff opposition from last year’s rookie and runner-up, Donatelle Callus. The Race will be a ‘warm-up’ for the Duathlon Championships scheduled for the end of March as well as a test for the National Team who will be taking part in the African Triathlon Championships in the first week of March in Tunisia.

The Mtarfa Duathlon is sponsored by Kristal Water and The Plum Tree Restaurant, while the safety aspect will be in the hands of Saint James Hospital. The Malta Triathlon Association is also assisted by the Mtarfa Local Council.

Read more...

Team Unity Leads to St. Patrick's AC Win

Marsascala was once again the setting for the Athletics Malta Road Relays and, even though there wasn’t a large turnout, those who did witnessed the latest installment of this season’s face-off between St. Patrick’s AC and Mellieha AC.

St. Patrick’s AC surprisingly started off with Jonathan Balzan, their strongest runner, who admitted that he had been the one to ask to go first.



“I wanted to put off pressure so I asked my coach to go first. Thankfully, it had also been his plan for me to open a gap with the hope that the others on the team could maintain it.”

It was a gamble that paid off. “I think it influenced the others because they had to keep it in mind and try to push harder to cut the gap. Mentally I felt better rather than having to wait although not having the usual runners besides me was a bit confusing.”

“Ultimately, it was a good team effort so I have to thank Michael Gellel, Drew Lang and Haitem Kesheim for their effort as well as the club’s coach Roger Zammit and our sponsors at Ronhill and http://www.enjoytherun.com/.”

Despite the initial gap, Mellieha AC’s athletes never gave up and ended with a fantastic run by Charles Cilia. Yet this wasn’t enough to stop them from finishing second 42 seconds behind St. Patrick’s

Robert Attard, who ran the second leg for Mellieha, acknowledged Cilia’s effort. “Even though Cilia did fantastically well for us in the last leg, running 11 seconds better than Haitem, the gap was too much to overtake and St. Patrick’s were comfortable winners.”

“The Road Relay is a different race from the others, in a way it is a bit more fun as well. As a team we always have a chance to win it so it is an important race. It doesn't bother me that it is so close to the marathon. I need races and at the moment I am doing every race,” he said. The other two athletes on the Mellieha team were Johann Galea and Robert Chetcuti.

Pembroke Athleta, with a team made up of Nigel Camilleri, Mario Pisani, Brian Magri and Simon Camilleri came third. Sadly, the Ladies Running Club (Francesca Arrigo, Liz Said, Elizabeth Pisani and Agnes Bonett) were the only ones to present a team in the women’s category.

There was a better turnout in the youths where Savio AC provided three boys’ teams whilst Pembroke Athleta put forward a girls’ team.


'We did not approach this race in a professional manner '

Malta Athletics: What does the Road Relay mean to you? Given that it is so close to the marathon, is much importance do you give it?
Jonathan Balzan: This year I attached great importance for the relay, give that it was a title missing for St Pats, and the last time we won it was when i took part, so my presence proved crucial and beneficial for the whole result. Last year still recovering from injury, i was still not fit for a fast 5k, this year after the greta 5k results i obtained which helped me win the bkara 5k series, plucked up courage to go for it convincingly. As you said, being close to the marathon, i used to see it as an extra( inconvenient race).
Robert Attard: The Road Relay is a different race from the others, in a way it is a bit more fun as well. As a team we always have a chance to win it so it is an important race. It doesn't bother me that it is so close to the marathon. I need races and at the moment I am doing every race. I need confidence and sharpness, which can only be achieved through races.

MA: Can you describe how the race developed?
JB: Race condtions were good, at least i always say no rain and wind is the best, this might not be the same for all athletes. I started first, openend a gap, and all st pats runners maintained forst postion, even though at times gap was reduced. I wasnt shouting victory until i saw our last man home, anything could happen in a race.
RA: Jonathan gave St. Pats a healthy lead of 48 seconds in the first leg even though our runner Richard Chetcuti did what was expected of him. In the 2nd leg I managed to reduce the deficit from St. Patricks (who had Drew Lang as their second runner) from 48secs to 32 secs. Unfortunatley for us Johann Galea did not have a good day by his standards and Michael Gellel managed to increase the lead again to 51 secs. Even though, Charles Cilia did fantastically well for us in the last leg, running 11 seconds better than Haithem, the gap was too much to overtake and St. Patricks were comfortable winners.

MA: St. Patrick’s started with quite a fast runner and immediately opened a gap whereas you left your fastest runner for the final leg. In hindsight, how much did the gap influence you and were you expecting St. Patrick’s to adopt such a tactic?
JB: I wanted to put off pressure..and i asked my coach to go first, ( i wish to thank him for his support and our sponsors Ronhill) incidentally it was his plan too, for me to open a gap with the hope of my colleahues maintaining it and give them a boost. I think it infleunced the others because they had to keep it in mind and try to push harder to cut the gap. Mentally I felt better rather than having to wait and increase my tension. However not having the usual runners besides me, tends to confuse you which pace or how to plan the race.
RA: Yes, I knew from before how St. Patricks were joing to run (I mean the order of the runners) but unfortunately we did not approach this race in a professional manner which was very dissapointing. Balzan and Cilia did cancel each other out in a way as there was only one second between them, but the fact that Balzan was the first runner, it did give them a phychological edge. However, in my opinion St. Patricks deserved to win everything that they won this year, as they have much better team work even though they have a lesser pool of runners.

MA: On a personal basis, are you happy with your form at the moment?
JB: Im happy that im being consistent follwing a series of wins, even on distance not my favuorites and esp with this result, as I achieved a pbest and it was the best result on the day , and managed to land victory yet again and get back the title of relay which was missing for some time.
RA: On a personal basis, I know that I can run much faster as I used to be so in the past. At the moment I feel very comfortable running at marathon pace like 3:30/km but the speed have really deserted me and I am working a lot on that at the moment. Obviously I never thought that it will take me so long to reach the level of my personal bests but I have to remain patient and wait for my time.

Read more...