Just a few hours after landing in Malta, I put on my running gear and took a lift from Spinola Place to Mdina, to take part in the race that I have done most of all, the 10.8 mile Mdina - Spinola. This was my 14th participation in the event, that I had done for twelve successive editions, with a three-year interruption due to my move to Belgium, to be resumed in 2007 - who knows, maybe for another run of twelve successive editions... ...
It was the first time I raced since 2 May, and the result was quite evident as I ran just like a beginner - way too fast in the first half, fading away to a jog in the last part. At least I did manage to overcome the urge to stop running. That would have been too awful. I also managed to recover part of my strength to resume competing with my rivals in the last kilometre, for a finishing time that is not too bad, and which I know can be improved next time by adopting a more cautious approach.
AND I managed to put on a big smile as I saw my good friend Derek Moss, who had promised to lurk close to the finish with his camera to immortalise various participants' last few metres of this race. Thanks Derek!
It was good to meet so many of my old Maltese running friends :-)
Mdina - Spinola 21 December 2008: Official results
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