The 20th edition of the Żurrieq Half Marathon

This year’s edition of the Express Trailers Żurrieq Half Marathon, 10K run and walk will be held on Sunday, 12 November.

This event belongs to Żurrieq Wolves Athletic Club and is organised by the Malta Marathon Organising Committee on its behalf. Since the MMOC took over the organisation of the event the numbers have increased dramatically. From a usual field of just over 100 participants the experience brought over by the MMOC and the introduction of the 10K has increased the numbers to reach 1,000 participants.

It has been customary for the Żurrieq Half Marathon to start from in front of St Catherine's parish church, and from this year even the 10k will start from the same place.

The organisers have declared that they have already received well over 900 applications and the indications are that there will once again be over 1,000 applications by race day.

“Today, we are delighted to be supporting the Żurrieq Wolves Athletic Club as the club celebrates 20 years of this annual race. When we started sponsoring this roadracing event five years ago, we decided to do so because we wanted to redress the existing imbalance due to our heavy presence on Malta’s roads with our trucks and trailers. Although we are doing a necessary job by transporting food, pharma and cargo for the local market consumption, we also acknowledge that our fleet puts a burden on all the other road users, especially the more vulnerable ones such as runners and cyclists,” said Franco Azzopardi, chairman and CEO of Express Trailers.

Clifton Caruana, treasurer of Żurrieq Wolves Athletic Club said: “We are delighted to see that this event is again confirming itself as one of the most popular road races in Malta. We are happy to learn that 40 foreign athletes are purposely travelling to Malta to participate in this year's event.

Żurrieq Wolves Athletics Club is proud to collaborate with the Żurrieq Local Council, Express Trailers and the Malta Marathon Organising Committee to deliver one of the best races on the island.

The Malta Marathon Organising Committee strives to present a professional event in which the safety of the participants is given utmost importance by using traffic cones along the route where possible, placing Race In Progress boards at appropriate places along the route, having wardens, traffic police or marshals at every junction along the route and having sufficient ambulances with medical doctors along the route and at the finish.

San Michel water, Powerade and sponges are given to athletes as they are running to keep them hydrated. As each participant finishes more refreshments will be handed out together with a specially minted medal to commemorate the 20th edition of the Żurrieq Half Marathon.

The sponsorship and support given by Express Trailers make this remarkable event possible. Needless to say that the support given by the Żurrieq Local Council and its residents cannot go unmentioned as without it, it will not be possible to hold such an event.

The organisers would like to thank the local councils of Qrendi, Mqabba, Kirkop and Safi as well as their residents for the understanding and cooperation given to help this event take place. A kind mention must also be given to Transport Malta, Malta Public Transport, the Traffic Police and Zurrieq Scouts.