The second edition of the University Ring Road Fun Run/Walk & Relay was organised on Sunday 13 April 2014 by Malta University Sports & Leisure, with the support of the Birkirkara Scout Group, Emergency Fire Rescue Unit (EFRU) and Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club. The event was also sponsored by Kellogg’s, Garmin, Medcomms Limited, San Michel, GO Business, Raysun, Pfanner, Sunshine Snacks, Devon, Xerox, Delta Media Services, Jeffrey Cassar Photography, Foto-ish the Studio and Horace Enterprises Ltd. Half the proceeds from this event will shortly be donated to Hospice Malta.
Hospice Malta recently extended its Palliative Care services and is now offering End of Life Care and Support not only to persons suffering from cancer or motor neurone disease, but also to persons with terminal lung, heart and kidney disease. Hospice sees over 900 patients every year and supports their families that are passing through this difficult time. Donations such as these ensure the continuation of Hospice services in Malta and Gozo, all of which are provided free of charge.
An individual 5km run/walk, 2km run/walk, 5km relay (teams of 4) and 800m children’s fun run were held and a total of 163 participants took part in the day’s events. Prof. Juanito Camilleri—University Rector—officially started the 5km run, following which he also took part in the 2km event and at the end presented the awards to the winners.
Fabio Spiteri won the 5km event in a new course record of 17minutes 4 seconds. Dermot Galea was second in a time of 17:59 and Nicholas Micallef was third (18:35). Dr Kevin Cassar won the award for first University employee and Ian Sammut was the first University student to cross the finish line. In the female category, Nina Zammit was the overall winner and also first University student in a new course record of 22:52, followed by Christabelle Attard (23:56) and Christabel Saliba (24:03). Dr Claire Azzopardi Lane won the award for first University employee. This award was even more notable as Azzopardi Lane had run the 5km distance as a guide for Michael Debattista, who participated in this event despite being visually impaired.
The 2km event was won by nine year-old Thomas Woods (8:10) and ten year-old Mikela Martinez (8:22). Groups of participants – including a group from FCM Bank Ltd. – walked the distance together, with the event serving as a very good team building exercise. The 5km relay was also in itself an excellent team building exercise. This event was won by Savio AC in a new course record of 15:42, followed by DG Tri Team A and Capoeira Malta team. The Engineering team won the award for the first team of University employees.
The 800m children’s fun run was all about participation and enjoyment, with children from the ages of 3 to 13 running around the track, encouraged – and in some cases accompanied – by parents and other relatives. Prizes were also awarded for the best fancy dress costume to a child and adult, with the colourful costumes adding to the fun atmosphere on the day.
The results and photos of the event are available at http://www.universitysportsandleisure.comand on our Facebook page (Malta University Sports and Leisure). You may contact us on [email protected] for further information.
The next edition of the Ring Road Fun Run/Walk & Relay will be held in October/November 2014.