The newly branded the Garmin Ocean Lava Malta 113km Triathlon, which is also designated by the Malta Triathlon Federation as the country’s Long Distance National Triathlon Championships, will take place on Sunday 15 May – with a new race venue.
After calling Birzebbuga its home for nearly a decade, the tenth edition of the Garmin Ocean Lava Malta 113km triathlon moves to a new base this year. Scheduled to be held on Sunday 15th May, the Bahar ic-Caghaq Coast Road has been chosen as venue for this year’s race and combines all the necessary ingredients for a challenging route that includes flat stretches, undulating hills and steep turns that require a strong focus by those taking part.
Thanks to the support of the Malta Tourism Authority the race will welcome athletes from Slovenia, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Italy. A strong Maltese participation should also see a good mix of familiar and new faces joining in the foray.
“It is very encouraging to see the growth of this race” said Charlie Demanuele, Race Founder and Director.
“This year has been full of milestones – we have joined the international brand Ocean Lava; we will introduce electronic timing; we are celebrating ten years and once again it has been designated as a National Championship race by the Malta Triathlon Federation.
Demanuele continued, “We are also pleased to see a number of athletes moving up from relay participation last year, to full distance this year. This reiterates our belief that this race is a great opportunity to test one’s performance in endurance racing, building up gradually as they progress in the sport.”
The race will kick off on Sunday 15 May at 06:30 local time with a 1.9K swim in Palm Beach, Bahar ic-Caghaq, followed by a 90K cycle – consisting of 7 loops of approximately 13km each along the Coast Road, heading up to Pembroke and going all the way to Salina.
A 21km run will complete the distance; here athletes will run three loops of 7km each from the transition area in Palm Beach towards Salina.
Participation in the race is either on an individual basis, where athletes undertake the full distance of 113km or through relay participation, which sees three athletes teaming up to undertake one of the three disciplines.
“The Malta Triathlon Federation is pleased to have once again designated this race as the National Long Distance Championships once again. Previous years’ success prove that such races aid the growth and development of triathlon, especially in the endurance category,” said Cyprian Dalli, President of the Malta Triathlon Federation.
This year the race will also see the introduction of electronic timing. The ARRTS Timing System will use a transponder and timing points at transition and the finish. These are connected wirelessly and will ‘ensure accurate timing for each athlete’.
The Garmin Ocean Lava Malta 113K triathlon is once again being supported by Garmin, represented in Malta by Medcomms, alongside Go & Fun, The Cyclist, Urban Jungle, Malta Tourism Authority, and emvigee pr & marketing. The race is sanctioned by the Malta Triathlon Federation and logistical and timekeeping assistance is being provided by Agones SFC.
Commenting on the alliance with Ocea Lava, race founder and director Charlie Demanuele said “We are proud to have joined this new and yet ever growing family of triathlon events. Ten years have passed since the Malta 113K Tri kicked off. We have grown locally and we have already started to make our mark on an international level – being part of Ocean Lava Planet will further grow our network and reinforce our efforts to make Malta’s position in the international triathlon scene stronger.”
