Early morning, Sunday 26 July, 2009. Swieqi - Pembroke - Paceville - St Julian's. Another success from my running point of view, as I managed to do my second 2h45m run in July in Malta, this one in the middle of a heatwave with maximum temperatures reaching 40 C. So, I'm very satisfied that my run-up towards the October Brussels marathon proceeds without interruption, in spite of the difficult hurdle posed by a three-week stay in an impossibly hot climate.
But from a more general perspective, I can only cry in dismay. This time I left several water bottles to pick up at different stages of the run outside my own home in Swieqi, from where I ran a number loops in the surrounding neighbourhood. Most of these went through Swieqi towards St Andrew's Road, into the new Pembroke bypass towards the Radisson Hotel, and back.
On one occasion I decided to break the monotony, and do a detour through the picturesque coastline of St George's Bay towards Paceville and then to St Julian's. It was a bad mistake. The scene was pretty enough. The early morning sun was rising, lighting up the calm waters of St George's Bay in many hues of yellow, orange and fiery red. It was a beautiful sunrise. Around me, on the ground, there was vomit and rubbish, while the air had a strong smell of piss, complemented by a background sweet chirping of loud drunken louts.
I skirted Paceville, and moved on towards more familiar terrain - the St Julian's promenade. For a couple of hundred metres, it was the same old well-worn path that I know and love so well. Then I reached the morning-after scene of the Madonna tal-Karmnu feast. More rubbish, untold quantities of rubbish, plus a nauseating stink. I turned back to Swieqi in disgust, and from then on stuck to the monotonous but relatively clean Swieqi - Radisson route.
As I pounded the hot pavement, I couldn't help pondering the sorry state of our society. To honour the gods of entertainment of Paceville, and to honour the Madonna tal-Karmnu of Balluta, so many people have to behave just like animals. Most of them are probably very concerned about protecting Maltese "culture" and "values" from what they consider to be an "invasion" of African illegal immigrants. But if this is the "culture" they wish to preserve for our children and grandchildren, then all I can say is, God help us.
My next long run will be in the peaceful, quiet, car-free, clean, shaded cool of a forest in Belgium. What a relief that will be.
No comments:
Post a Comment