Characters of the Marathon

Andrew Grech will be another type of character standing at the starting line-up on Sunday, 26th February.

33 years old, married and a police officer, cometh the hour he will be swapping the blue collared shirt of his uniform to the blue vest of Mellieħa AC. Be it 5km, 10km, or in the unorthodox race distance of 17.4km in the locally popular Mdina2Spinola race, he has been notching one personal best after another. These personal bests have got him on the podium. He’s currently high flying. But for the first time he’ll be challenging the whole distance of the marathon.

Andrew, am sure you’ve played the old police and thieves game in your childhood. Now you are a police officer. In a race, do you prefer chasing or running away?

Every race carries its own story. It’s important not to get carried away by being over enthusiastic. You should get the right pace being either a 5km or a full marathon.

A little bit more serious now, you’re going through a real positive season at the moment. But, do you believe that it is actually the marathon that will test your athletic credentials?

Yes, I think the marathon is THE race I’ve been dreaming about since I’ve been running and doing a good time in the marathon will give me more self-belief in my abilities for the future.

So far, which particular race do you cherish the most?

So far I guess last September’s 5th place in Macclesfield Half Marathon and this year’s 4th place in a time of 58min39 secs in the Mdina Spinola (17.4km) were the highlights of my career so far. I was looking for a sub 60 for quite some time.

What made you decide that 2012 will be the year you will shun the half marathon (a distance that historically you have done well in) and raise to the challenge of the whole 42.2 km of the marathon?

It was in the month of October when speaking to my coach Has Kesra that we decided that this year we should train for the full distance. I have to admit that last year I intended to run it but got injured in January and had to skip it.

Going now a bit back, what got you into running? Were you in another sport?

Robert Vella ex Mellieħa AC President and an active member himself got me into running some ten to eleven years ago. I used to do a couple of kilometres on a treadmill in a gym where he used to instruct, and he encouraged me to do the old Mellieha 11km race which I completed. From then on, I never looked back. I used to play second division football in Malta during that time. It was then that I switched into running.

Having the times that you have, you must definitely dedicate a lot of your time to running. What running means to you? Do you mostly see it as a way to win or as a lifestyle in itself?

Running for me is a way of life, it’s a passion. It gives me time to relax especially when I’m running a long run on my own. Honestly positive results give a big boost to train harder and harder.

Preparing for the marathon for the first time, I am imagining your long runs have been the longest ever. Do you usually do them on your own or share them with someone else? What was the most challenging aspect of them? Learnt something new about the sport or yourself through them?

My working shift doesn’t allow me to have Sundays off so often so I had to do most of my long runs alone. Waking up early or doing a run in late evening in cold dark days may be the most challenging of them all.

Finally, any mantra that you have been carrying through your preparation for the marathon?

My coach Has Kesra has been very motivational. I think without his good advises I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this season’s results and being in such a good form for the big day.