The 2023 Eurosport Mdina 2 Spinola Traditional Xmas Road Race – Sunday 24^th December

Organiser of the event:
Malta Marathon

Applications open: 
8^th July 2023

Official application closing date:
30^th November 2023 including receipt of the application fee or earlier if no more applications can be accepted. Applications are only guaranteed and confirmed upon receipt of the application fee which conform to the eligibility regulations, which will be on a first come first served basis. The Organiser reserves the right to change the Official closing date at any time without prior notice. To Apply, go to the Application Forms page, late applications may not be accepted.

Registration: 
Participants must register and collect their race number, timing chips, pins and prebooked transport tickets from Eurosport B'Kara from 1100 to 1600 on Saturday 23^rd December.

Race numbers can only be collected by giving the registration official the applicant’s ID number or Passport Number, whichever was used to apply for the 2023 Eurosport Mdina 2 Spinola.

Race numbers can be collected on behalf of an applicant by another person, however the ID number or Passport Number, whichever was used to apply for the 2023 Eurosport Mdina 2 Spinola must be given to the registration official.

There will be no need to have the ID or passport in hand, the number will be enough.

Eligibility:

The first 1,000 males or females who apply and pay the application feeand who are at least 17 years old on the day of the race.

Application Fees:
€25.00 for applications & fees received by the 10^th December 2023.
€30.00 for applications and fees received and accepted after the 10^th December 2023.

Application fees for participants registering on-line may be paid either by credit card or by sending a personal cheque by post. Cheques must accompany a printout of the filled in application form or a printout of the email received acknowledging that the application form is processed otherwise the cheque could be sent unaccompanied as long as the Application Code received by email is written on the back of the cheque.

When paying the application fee by bank transfer, the Application Code must be included in the transaction details of the bank transfer.

Application status:
Applicants applying on-line will automatically receive an email with the participant details as submitted, the application status at this stage would be Processed Not Paid.

Applicants paying on-line by credit card immediately after having applied on-line will automatically receive an email with the participant details as submitted, the application status at this stage would be Confirmed.

Applicants applying and paying the application fee by bank transfer will receive an email with the participant's details as submitted or with any adjustments requested by the applicant. The application status at this stage would be Confirmed, as long as the fee is received before the race is full and the applications are closed.

Transport to the start:
€5.00, transport can only be booked on-line and will leave from Spinola at 0545 sharp. Participants who do not book, can only pay and board transport after all booked participants have boarded and only if there remain any empty seats, so don’t risk.

Baggage transport from the start to the finish shall be provided by DHL for everyone. There will be DHL vans at the start marked with a range of running numbers. Find the DHL van in which your running number fits in the range and place it in the van. You must provide your own bag, do not use and expensive bag but try to use an easily identifiable one. Do not put any valuable objects, just the necessities. We are not responsible for the loss or damage of any baggage or contents. Use this service at your own risk. The DHL vans will be in the car park close by the finish.

Transport tickets are to be presented before boarding the transport.

Application and Transport fees:
Application and Transport fees are non refundable and cannot be transferred to another event, even if in the unlikely event that the event is not held for whatever reason or the applicant is not able to participate.

Race numbers, pins and timing chips:
Race numbers, pins and timings chips will be given out at registration. Do not remove or tamper with your timing chip. The timing chip is embedded in a white strip at the back of the number.
Under no circumstance should you ever cross the start and finish lines with somebody else’s timing chip on you. Do not give your race number to anyone else, this could lead to your disqualification from future races.

Route:
The M2S route used for more than 40 years will remain unchanged. The distance is 10.8 miles or 17.4 km. As this is a traditional race, the route shall be marked in Miles

The route starts from outside Mdina and finishes in Spinola, there is a drop of 200 metres from start to finish.  The route passes through Attard, Hamrun, Blata B-Bajda (through Gattard House parking), along the waterfronts of Pieta, Msida, Ta’ Xbiex (up the ramp near Whitehall Mansions), Gzira, up Tower Road Sliema, the Sliema water front and all the way to the finish in Spinola.

Start time:
The M2S, will start from Mdina gate at 0700 and has a 2.5 hour time limit.

Finish line:
Spinola bay, the finish line will close at 0930, San Michel water and Powerade will be provided at the finish.

Commemorative medal:
All athletes finishing before 0930hrs will be presented with an M2S commemorative medal as they cross the finish line.

Awards:
1st 5 Males, 1st 5 Females,
1st 3 Male Teams, 1st 3 Female Teams
1st Male U23, 1st Female U23
1st and 2nd M/F over 40, 1st and 2nd M/F over 45, 1st and 2nd M/F over 50, 1st and 2nd M/F over 55, 1st and 2nd M/F over 60,1st and 2nd M/F over 65,1st and 2nd M/F over 70

Note: The age group category of each individual wil be based on the age of the individual on the day of the race, as allowed by the World Athletics Competition and Technical rules (See footnote of Rule 141).

Special awards for 2023:
- 

Award ceremony:
Awards will be given out after the race at the finish, please hang around as you may have won a prize. The organser is not responsible for awards not collected in person by the winners during the award giving ceremony.

Team competition:

A team may represent any club or group, a team will consist of 3 runners.  Every 3 same sex, members of a club or group, who finish the event will be classified as having participated in the team competition.  Runners who do NOT name their team on their application form will NOT be classified as having participated in the team competition. Requests for team changes after an application form has been sent in, may only be made by the participant himself or herself. Team names deemed offensive or otherwise may not be accepted by the organisers. Team awards will be based on the overall positions of the individual team members. If 2 or more teams finish on equal points the top places will be awarded to the first team/s whose last participant finishes before the other team's last particpant.

Results:
Results will be available from the Malta Marathon website once they have been made official, participants who registered on-line or by post and who have given a valid and clear email address will be advised by email when the results are available.

Other race information:
The following are some important race details.

1. Public toilet facilities are available close to the start as well as the finish.
2. Athletes who in any way deface or fold their race number are liable to disqualification; numbers are to be worn on the front and are to be clearly visible.
3. Athletes who are not clearly behind the start line at the start of their race are also liable to disqualification.
4. Faster athletes should be given preference to stay at the front of the starting line, please do not hinder faster runners.
5. There will be 2 water stations at approximately 5.5 miles and 9 miles.
6. Miles will be marked along the route.  Markers are not necessarily precise but may only be indicative.
7. There will be police and LESA offciers to control traffic in various parts of the route but remember the route is not traffic free, so we urge you to be cautious and where possible run on the pavements. Better to be safe than a couple of seconds faster.

Brief description and important notes about the route.

• The start is just outside the bridge into Mdina. After roughly 100m the route turns down Saqqajja hill, on to Triq L-Imdina heading from Attard to Hamrun along the main roads. The route passes right through Hamrun heading out to Blata L-Bajda.
• At Blata L-Bajda the route passes through the car park of Gattard House from near the Petrol station which is by the Peugeot showroom. Athletes will find the first water station at this point.
• From beyond the car park of Gattard House and along Marina road till the traffic lights at the Pieta yacht marina there will be cones dividing the 2 traffic lanes, allowing athletes to use the outer lane of the traffic heading towards Msida exclusively. Athletes are to keep to the outer lane until directed to change sides of the road at the Pieta traffic lights. Police will stop traffic as athletes cross from one side of the road to the other. Athletes should not change lanes before directed to do so. More cones will divide the 2 lanes from the Pieta traffic lights to the next set of traffic lights at Msida.
• The route near Whitehall mansions in Ta’ Xbiex veers onto the ramp, unlike the marathon route. Athletes are to cross the road and run up the ramp and down it again from the other end.
• Once down the ramp, athletes are again to cross the road. Athletes are not to pass through the Ta’ Xbiex yacht marina.
• The 2nd water station will be found at the Sliema ferries, after which the route veers up Tower road from where it passes along the waterfront till the finish in Spinola.