On 25th and 26th July Claudio Camilleri and I, Patrick Tabone, ran 187.8 km round the coasts of Malta and Gozo, in temperatures that went as high as 36°C, in a total elapsed time of 1d 11h 52m 1s. As far as we can tell no-one has ever tried it before. The run had the objective of raising €15,000 to help refugees and migrants in Malta get better access to education and training. In fact we collected €45,000 so far, and are trying to hit €50,000 by the end of August 2020. Because we did this during a heatwave, and because of the cause, the event drew a great deal of attention and was repeatedly covered in the national press. For this reason I would think there will soon be an attempt to beat it - very possible for anyone clever enough to avoid the Summer sun :)
The run was about 70% trail, much of it harsh and very rocky. It started in Independence Gardens in Sliema, hugging the coast for 39 km Northwestwards to Cirkewwa. A speedboat made the 10 minute crossing to Mgarr, and we then went 51 kms clockwise round the coast of Gozo. This section included many highly technical trails with a few steep ascents at the hottest part of the day.
Once we got to Mgarr again, we took the boat back down to Cirkewwa and set off down the West coast of the island, with darkness falling just before we got to Ghajn Tuffieha. We ran through the night, including the steep climb up to the top of Dingli Cliffs, before briefly getting lost between Ghar Lapsi and Wied iz-Zurrieq. Dawn broke when we were somewhere near Hal Far, and by the time we went round the Southern tip of the island at Birzebbuga the sun was blazing fiercely with little or no wind to help cool us down. We ran through Xghajra, Kalkara, round the 3 cities and Valletta, and then the final stretch to the Independence Gardens in Sliema once again.
We were supported throughout by Teams that met us along the route every 1-1.5hrs, giving us access to food, clothes changes, water, and very importantly, lots of ice. We also had runners joining us for different sections, including Nik Micallef who stayed with us for 100km - thank you Nik :)
www.1run.mt is the site that gives information about the run and the cause (you can still make a donation if you like :)
https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/watch-cheering-crowds-greet-runn…
https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/athletes-raise-40000-in-gruellin…