Malta Marathon
Sliema, Malta
- Marathon, Half Marathon
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Both the Malta Marathon and Half Marathon pass through countryside and built up areas and finish in Sliema, a popular town promenade. Both routes include a drop of 200 meters from start to finish.
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Nice race with some inadequacies
Malta Marathon is a pretty international event. Runners from many different countries run either the full or the half marathon. The organization is not the best one: there is no … MORE
Malta Marathon is a pretty international event. Runners from many different countries run either the full or the half marathon. The organization is not the best one: there is no expo, runners have to pick up the race package at the Le Meridien Hotel and when I showed up there was a long queue. The pick up was definitively not suitable for a race with almost 5000 participants (4000 half and almost 1000 full). At the race day runners were taken to the start by busses .The start is in Mdina, which is the old capital of Malta. Unfortunately there are not enough toilets at the start which means standing in the queue again for a long time. The start of the half marathon was a bit crowded but after 500 m it was ok and once I was on my way I really appreciated the race. The first 10k are downhill. In the second half of the race there are some pretty bad uphill parts but all in all it´s a course to run good times. The last part of the race is very scenic as runners run along the seaside. The finish is gorgeous and the medal is huge! All runners also get a T-Shirt (not really a nice one) and they get all photos taken along the course for free! Water and energy drinks are provided every 5k – once along the course oranges were given to the runners!
Charming with some cracks
After running the halfmarathon last year with a personal record time, I came back this year in hope to smash my full marathon pr. The netto elevation drop of about … MORE
After running the halfmarathon last year with a personal record time, I came back this year in hope to smash my full marathon pr.
The netto elevation drop of about 200m from the start in the former capital of Mdina to the finish line at the coast in Sliema supports good times if one can adjust from downhill and flat parts to short ascents especially towards the end (some bridges and smaller hills).
In the 33rd edition of the race participated roughly 1000 marathoners and 3700 runners in the half distance. Starting times were 7:30 am for the full and 9:15 am for the half. Bus Transport tonthe start (6:00 am for full; 7:30 am for half) had to be purchased. Trucks take your clothing to the finish. A lot of people struggled with a shortage of portapotties (about 30). The full marathon parts from the course of the half marathon at km 5, makes some loops and connects back at km 26- meaning the runners of the different distances might meet at some point. The pavement is partially really bad though and most streets of the extra loop of the marathon are not entirely closed for traffic, but some traffic Marshall’s and volunteers were present. So following the “perfect line” was though when you weren’t not sure if you should expect a car coming behind the bend or not. One sees the iconic silhouette of Mdina a couple of times, later the entry gates of Valetta, a fortress and the waterfront but the scenery is for most part pretty full. Water was provided every 5km/ 3 miles. Some Gatorade and sponge stops but only one stop that provided oranges, no gels. The finish area was flagged with red Vodafone flags and in that area there were finally some cheerful spectators. water, banana, cereal bar, cover foil after the race.
Tshirt and medal come with the registration fee of about 45€ for the full as well free (! And I love that) race photos- you only got to give Vodafone the permission to post them into your Facebook account (that’s why I gave it 5 stars for swag)
In the end I really struggled with the ups of the course – the last 4 km are flat. I still improved my marathon best time by almost 5.5 min.
Other information
– the expo is only a bib/ Tshirt pick-up, no vendors
– I forgot gels at home as my on course supply: couldn’t find any in all sport shops and gyms where I asked
– 33 music bands along the course
A hidden race gem
Malta in early spring offers perfect running conditions. Temperatures around 15-20 degrees C make the race a perfect start for your running season. The marathon was held in its 32nd … MORE
Malta in early spring offers perfect running conditions. Temperatures around 15-20 degrees C make the race a perfect start for your running season. The marathon was held in its 32nd edition, in later years the halfmarathon and 21km walkathon were added. The capacity is 4000 runners in total and has been reached for the last two years.
Race start is in 200m elevation in the pitoresque town of Mdina. The finish is at sea level on the promenade of Sliema. So there is a fair amount of downhill but also some uphillish parts. A shuttle brought racers to the start line, where the number of porta potties was not suffiecent/ long queues. The race even started 5 minutes early for no obvious reasons and so one of the buses was still blocking part of the way which made the first part are bit more narrow adding to the fact that there were no start waves (I really like start waves!) the rest of the race was very smooth. 32 music stops, enough water and sponge stations and free race pictures!!! One could sign up for on time race picture posting on Facebook and so I got like 13 free pictures of the race which I really appreciate. A cotton Tshirt, finisher medal, massage at finish were offered as well. I ran a halfmarathon PR and will definitely consider to run again or maybe switch to the full marathon next time which starts 2 hrs before the halfmarathon, is mostly ran at the same course but with some added loops