Around 1,800 athletes have registered to take part in the 2024 LifeStar Malta Marathon which is scheduled to take part on February 25, 2024.
This will be the 39th edition of the annual race which had seen its inception in 1986. That first edition had seen the participation of 109 athletes and the number of participants continued to grow each year since then.
Race organiser Joe Micallef said he expects the number of participants for this year’s race to rise to 3,000.
“At the moment, 1,800 athletes have so far registered to participate in the 2024 LifeStar Malta Marathon,” Micallef told a news conference.
“So far, the Maltese contingent is formed by 525 runners while 120 are foreigners living in Malta. On the other hand, we have 1,150 that are foreigners who are coming to Malta purposely for the 2024 LifeStar Malta Marathon.
“Our predictions are that by race day, the number of participants will exceed 3,000 with over 1,500 of these being foreigners coming to Malta for the event.”
Redouan Nouiri, the winner of the 2023 Malta Marathon and course record holder with a time of two hours 13 minutes and 18 seconds, will be back to defend his title.
Micallef announced that for the first time, the Malta Marathon organisers have invited a professional female to participate in the 2024 LifeStar Malta Marathon.
“This is Moroccan Rabab Halbi who has a personal best in the Marathon of 2h, 35m and 33s,” Micallef said.
“We are currently negotiating to get over a couple of other professional athletes for the Malta Marathon.”
Jemima Farley, the winner of the Ladies Marathon last year and holder of the course record, will be on the starting line for next year’s race. She will be joined by Andrew Grech, the first Maltese runner in last year’s race.
Micallef said that over 70 countries will be represented in the 2024 Malta Marathon, with the largest contingents coming from the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Germany, France and Greece.
Charles Darmanin, who has finished all editions of the Malta Marathon since 1986, will also be taking part in the Malta Marathon.
Strong partnership
On his part, Sports Minister Clifton Grima praised the organisers for their commitment to keeping the Malta Marathon alive over the past 38 years.
“It is very rewarding to see so many athletes take part each year, as well as hundreds of foreign runners who have made this marathon part of their annual calendar. I thank the organisers, LifeStar, partners and officials who keep making this marathon a success,” Dr Grima said.
LifeStar chairman Paolo Catalfamo, an ex-athlete himself who was the under-18s 800-metre champion in Italy, said his organisation would be giving its support to the Malta Marathon for the next three years.
“At LifeStar, we are focused on health and wellbeing, and supporting this longstanding marathon ties in with our values to promote sports and healthy lifestyles. We look forward to a strong partnership with the Malta Marathon in the years ahead,” he said.
Inspire has once again been selected as the beneficial charity of the 2024 LifeStar Malta Marathon.
An exceptional testimonial will also be present at the finish line of the Malta Marathon, for former world marathon team champion and former captain of the Italian team, Osvaldo Faustini.
Victor Camilleri, of Pembroke Athleta, will once again be organising the popular children’s fun run as the 2024 LifeStar Malta Marathon will be in progress.
During the conference, awards were presented to Grech, winner of the international road running circuit, Running Sicily-Trofeo Nissan Comer Sud, and the Evolve Endurance Club, second overall in the men’s team classification.
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