Following the three-star certification awarded to the Teamsport Gozo Half Marathon by European Athletics, the organizing committee was invited to attend the first ever European Running Business Conference, which took place in Frankfurt, Germany.

The central theme of the conference was that a change in the mindset of the runner is crucial for the future development of the sport. Furthermore, special focus was given to the new movement of athletes who strive to complete a marathon rather than compete against other athletes to finish first.

Great insight was also given by some of the most prominent marathon organizers on earth, such as London Marathon CEO Nick Bitel and Tokyo Marathon Race Director Tad Hayano, who shared detailed, first-hand accounts of how they take-on the massive challenge of organizing two of the biggest and most attended marathons in the running calendar.

Apart from these extremely informative general sessions, which served as the perfect platform for new ideas and innovative practicalities in the running world, several one-to-one interventions took place which solely focused on the specific improvement of our own half marathon.

These tailor-made meetings offered us the chance to learn how to further improve the overall experience and efficiency of the Teamsport Gozo Half Marathon, which in April of this year attracted more than 800 athletes, coming from all over the world.

Finally, this conference served as the perfect opportunity to meet with countless other marathon enthusiasts from all over the world who were also extremely interested in visiting Malta to experience our challenging route and get a taste of what the Maltese Islands are all about.