The Express Trailers Żurrieq Half Marathon 2013 launched

Express Trailers Ltd is the main sponsor of the 16th edition of the international Zurrieq Half Marathon organised by the Zurrieq Wolves Athletics Club  (ZWAC) in collaboration with the Zurrieq Local Council.  This year's event is due in a month's time, on Sunday the 3rd of November 2013. The 21 km road race which starts and finishes in Zurrieq's main square takes runners through some of the most quaint villages of the south namely Qrendi, Mqabba, Safi and Kirkop, and again in Żurrieq, making this athletic event, one of the most picturesque road races in Malta.

Express Trailers' sponsorship through its ShipLowCost.com online service, was announced and presented during a press conference at Express Group's head office in Qormi Road Luqa during which, details of the event were announced.

"This is Express Trailers' first association with an athletic event and our association with Zurrieq Wolves Athletic Club stemmed from our common official colour, orange," said Franco Azzopardi, Chairman of Express Group during the press conference.

"We are supporting these events through our www.ShipLowCost.com online service which allows customers to shop online for products in Europe and have them delivered to Malta directly to their homes. This service is available for purchases from the UK, France, Germany and Italy and in fact, can be an ideal service to all athletes and sports people to purchase their sports equipment and sports gear and having it shipped to their door."

"Over and above this, we chose to sponsor this athletic event because both Express Trailers and road runners share the same environment - the road. And although our trailers and athletes have different aims, we all need to co-exist on the same roads and we all need to be respectful of each other. At Express Trailers, our fleet of over 330 trucks & trailers is the flagship and the pride of our company. Our trailers mirror our hard-earned reputation which has made Express Trailers a natural leader in the transport and logistics sector in Malta."

"Therefore, we wanted to share this pride by contributing towards an athletic event which also takes place on the road and a sport which also requires tenacity, determination and brings a strong sense of reward and achievement," said Mr Azzopardi.

"We are proud to have a leading road transport company like Express Trailers on board supporting this event and helping our club make this half marathon a bigger and more attended event, especially this year as our club is celebrating its 25th anniversary," said Mauro Pace Parascandalo, Secretary of the Zurrieq Wolves Athletic Club.

"Past editions of the Zurrieq Half Marathon have always attracted just over a hundred athletes but this year, we are expecting a much higher number due to the fact that as from this year ZWAC has entered into an agreement with the Malta Marathon Organizing Committee, the organizers of the February Marathon and Half Marathon, to be responsible for the organisation of the event. This should attract participants from a much larger pool of athletes who annually participate in these events, as well as ample foreign participation. This should continue establishing this half marathon as an international event," said Mr Pace Parascandalo.

To date around 300 athletes have confirmed participation in these events. All routes, like all other events organised by the Malta Marathon Organising Committee, will be well marshalled by wardens and police and will have traffic cones placed along the route where necessary. The Malta Red Cross will be present in force as is customary with other events organised by the MMOC.

On-line applications for the Express Trailers Half Marathon, 10K race and walk are available from the Malta marathon website at www.maltamarathon.com/site/14/html/application_forms.htm. The official closing date is the 20th of October or earlier as each event is full.  Prospective participants are urged to apply now to avoid disappointment.