Mark Anthony Sammut

5am. Like the other 409 athletes running this morning's Malta Marathon, I wake for a light breakfast: toast and coffee. By 7am, Warren and I are on our way to Mdina, where the start-line awaits. We meet a few friends around, I get my first birthday wishes for the day, and after a few minutes (very few minutes) of warm-up, we get off our warm clothing and get ready for the start. I join Ruben, with whom I ran most of my long runs, with the intent of making the first few kilometres together before I try to get off at a slightly faster pace. As we make our way in the midst of the crowd towards the start-line, my emotions are already on a high. This is it. The day I've been dreaming of. This is my first Marathon. For the first few kilometres, it feels good. Apart from the fact that most of the start is downhill, I am still fresh. All through the first loop in Ta' Qali, both Ruben and I manage to keep pace with Charmaine, Steve, and some other runners we know. But by the the t

8 May 2010: While training for my second ever 10km race with Cyp Dalli, he jokes that my number plate (and my date of birth), reflect the Marathon distance : 26.2 miles. It was the first time I learned the length of the Marathon distance, and my only reaction was: "Kemm baqaghli!" But on that day, a dream was born. 26 February 2012: That dream can come true.  More than 600km of training in the last 3 months, and all the running before that, have all been leading to tomorrow. 409 athletes will tomorrow be standing at the Marathon start-line, "one of the most daunting places on Earth", with 409 different reasons for being there. Some will be chasing a medal, some will be chasing a personal best, some will be doing it for the first time. Some will be trying to prove something to the world, some will be trying to prove something to themselves. For 26.2 miles they will run. They will struggle. They will endure. And at the finish-line, they will have 409

"When you cross that finish-line, no matter how slow or fast, it will change your life forever." Dick Beardsley 's words in the documentary " Spirit of the Marathon ", which I had the opportunity to watch yesterday, courtesy of a friend who has kindly lent me the DVD. The documentary follows five different runners, coming from very different backgrounds, as prepare for the Chicago Marathon. It captures all the drama, aura and magic surrounding the legendary Marathon race. And I couldn't have watched it at a better time. The anticipation has now fully kicked in, and next Sunday's run is the only thing on my mind. Actually, it has been on my mind for a year and a half now, but suddenly it seems very close, too close maybe. It's not that I don't feel prepared. The schedule was tough and intense. It took hours of time, hundreds of kilometres of terrain, and a great dose of sacrifice and determination. As the end of it approaches, I reali

This article was first published in the Times of Malta on Tuesday 14th February 2012. Added at the end are some further comments and clarifications. A recent assault on two lesbian teenagers has sparked quite an emotional appeal for a review of hate crime legislation to also cover acts motivated by gender or sexual orientation. I have also read with interest Claire Bonello’s contribution to the matter in an article entitled All Crimes Are Hate Crimes on Sunday and I would like to add my views on the topic. I am sure of the good intentions of all the NGOs supporting this call and participating in the protest last week, but I believe that our society is consistently missing the wood for the trees, continuously reacting with calls for law changes whenever something happens which sparks public opinion. While I deplore this incident and express my solidarity with the victims, I think that, unfortunately, our politicians seem consistently prone to enacting patched-up laws in r

The hardest part of the training period is now over, and now it's time to taper for the big day. Yesterday morning I did my last long run, a distance of 28km - 7.5km shorter than last Sunday's but at a faster pace of 5:47min/km. In these last two weeks before the Marathon, training intensity and mileage are reduced in order for the runner to be in his optimum shape for the event. In fact, this week's training involves only a tough hill session on Tuesday, an easy 8km run on Wednesday, a 5km tempo-run on Thursday and an easy 6km run on Saturday before a final 15km run on Sunday. The last week then just involves one 8x400m speed session and a very slow 6km run. Looking forward for the last week for my favourite part of race preparation: carb-loading! Basically, the countdown has now started. 13 days left for my lucky birthday with a milestone. One last reminder, if you haven't already done so, below are the details  for making your small contribution to Inspire. M

An interesting discussion developed on my blog-post last Friday, which I feel duty-bound to share again since it made me change my views on a couple of points. Logic beats logic, and since I realized that my analysis had overseen issues which can make a big difference, I will not hesitate to admit that I was wrong, and that in reality ACTA does leave an element of vagueness without proper safeguards which makes it worrying, though a far cry from the "death of the internet as we know it" propagated in some media. Apart from that, the most worrying part is that the Committee established by the treaty gives unto itself the power to amend its rules and procedures after ratification (Articles 36.4 and 36.6). This point on its own already creates a big loop-hole in the agreement. The other point concerns free software. I will quote my friend Andrea on this point: The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has published "Speak out against ACTA", stating that the ACTA threa

Like many avid internet users, I have followed with interest the debate about ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). After reading numerous articles, watched sensational videos, and discussed ad nauseam with friends, I have realized that what I have come across is a campaign hi-jacked by lies, myths and misconceptions as to rival Malta's misinformed divorce referendum campaign. I have to say that the videos on Youtube   got me worried. I quickly signed the petition, joined the Anti-ACTA groups, and prepared myself for a full-blown fight against the big-governments who want to intrude on our privacy and freedom of expression. Like our MEP Edward Scicluna invited us to do in the University debate last Wednesday, I did not try to understand the details of ACTA but rather saw who the players behind it were. But as usual, my logical instincts took over, and his call to not try to understand ACTA actually pushed me to read the text. And here's what I now know: ACTA is

It's 3 weeks away from the big day now, and yesterday was the day for the longest run in my Marathon training schedule: 22 miles (around 35.5km ). It was the furthest I've ever run, and the furthest I'll go in my training. The last 7km will be left as new ground to tread on D-Day. Once again, I have to thank Ruben for company during this run. I find it very difficult to run for more than 3 hours alone and keep going. We met up at Spinola at around 6am, and left towards Valletta, going round Tigne Point. Reaching the Waterfront, knowing we had to add up more kilometres than our last long run, we kept going to Marsa and ran back up towards Valletta from Blata l-Bajda. We did a further loop round Valletta, this time going up the steep hill near Boffa Hospital, and went for a loop inside Valletta through Republic Street. Then it was back down towards Spinola. It was not such an easy route, since it included some very steep inclines, and the weather did not help either.