My Responsibility

I grew up in Malta, which is practically the size of a small European city. It’s close to the sea, close to nature, and even though it’s overpopulated, it’s still easy to get out and find peaceful nature. 

When I was a kid, Malta was quieter. The country roads were rougher, and there weren’t as many people passing through them. If you had a bicycle, you almost needed a mountain bike, because even riding the country roads felt like mountain biking.

I was always around the outdoors in some way. I was part of the scout movement from when I was nine or ten years old, and that really got me into hiking, camping, and appreciating nature. Scouts gave me this idea that you need to go out, set up your camp, and live with the resources you have. 

I remember being this ten year old kid, dead tired on a night hike, I just walked until I fell asleep. I don’t even know how, but I just had to sleep on the floor.

Sense of Adventure

My family gave me a sporting background, but not in the way people might expect. I’m named after Ryan Giggs who played for Manchester United, because my dad was hopeful I’d be a good footballer. When I was young, everyone played football. There weren’t really alternative sports. I didn’t like it much, and I wasn’t good at it, even though I trained for about three years.

My mother used to take me everywhere, doing odd things here and there. I have been riding bikes since I was young, and I used to go to the sea with my grandfather. We’d swim for 40 minutes crossing a whole bay, looking for jellyfish. There was adventure there. We also did trips to Sicily, camping and driving around by car.

I sometimes read about people who come from mountain families, where their parents were mountaineers and their first memories are of ice climbing. It wasn’t like that for me. My family did give me a sense of adventure, but I feel like I followed the mountain life on my own. I can’t point to exactly why or how it came into me, but I’ve been interested in mountains ever since.

Finding Running

I would hike, but then I started to hike faster. Then I started thinking, if I can do a hike in two hours, maybe I can run it in one. I started running when I was about 15, which isn’t very young in some places, but for Malta it felt quite young.

I remember reading British Army training manuals that said you need to run with your boots so you’d be tougher. So I started running with military boots, then realized I was messing up my knees.

I entered a simple five kilometer cross country race, and this guy came up to me and said, “Come with us to the track.” From that point on, I started running consistently. I’d already been doing BMX and riding mountain bikes and I was also a lifeguard, so that gave me a swimming background. All of these things began connecting me to triathlon. I also did rock climbing, so hiking, running, being in nature, and climbing were always part of the same life for me.

Trail running was always there. I don’t think I shifted into it in the usual way, where people start with a 5K, then a half marathon, then eventually find trails. I always enjoyed running in nature. I used road running, track sessions, and other training to perform in trail runs.

Trail running has a different feel around it. When you finish a trail race and ask people how it was, they talk about the climb, the descent, where they slipped, what they saw. With road racing, people often just talk about the result. On the trails, there’s more to the experience.

Why I Run

I prefer running alone, though I do put value on running with other people. Running can be a community action, and there is a community, but it’s also a space where you can breathe and think. You focus on breath, your own limits and your safety. That’s something I can’t find in the same way anywhere else.

I still swim and cycle, and I used to race triathlons, but it was very time demanding. You need to cycle on the road, around traffic. You need to go to the pool with other people at five in the morning and feel suffocated. Running is different. Whatever time it is, you put on your shoes and go. It’s simple. It’s out there. It’s you and your blood only.

The Life I’ve Built

Now I’m married. My wife, Liana, is the Chief Scout of Malta, the highest ranking scout here. We met through scouts, so I definitely don’t have a non-adventurous partner living with me. We’re quite outdoorsy people.

I’m self-employed. I own a gym called Endure Fitness, and I’m also a running coach. I try to create events and experiences around the outdoor lifestyle. I’m still a slightly competitive ultra runner, and I do feel like I’ve got some race performances left in me, but my role nowadays is shifting a bit. It’s moving from me training and me competing to giving the experience to other people.

Before I went self-employed, I studied to become an architect, but while I was studying, I was working in one of the only outdoor shops in Malta. We sold footwear, hiking shoes, camping equipment, climbing equipment. I spent about ten years there because I enjoyed it. You’re there with your favourite hobby, giving it to other people.

People would come in to buy hiking shoes for Patagonia, trail running shoes for the CCC, or equipment for the GR20. I was in this little shop in Malta, surrounded every day by adventurous people. There isn’t one individual person I can say pushed me into this. It was a whole community.

Making It Accessible

Over time, I saw something missing in Malta. We didn’t really have the middle range of people who were just doing it for fun. We had people doing nothing, and then we had people totally committed, racing and training hard. Even in trail races, at the beginning, we were sometimes eight people, twelve people.

I wanted trail running and hiking to feel more accessible. Not only me, but other people, other races, and the experience itself in Malta helped with that. It became something like, guys, this is accessible for everyone. Let’s make it fun. Let’s go out there and do it because it’s out there. You don’t have to be a pro. Just get the shoes and let’s go.

I also host a summer academy for young people between eight and fifteen years old. It’s adventure themed, and I partnered with a teacher so she can handle the educational side. The main idea is that young people want experiences. They’re receptive, and they’re ready for it. They just need to be put in a position where they can do it.

The Race I Didn’t Run

I had qualified for the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship before, but I never made it to one. Sometimes it was in Hawaii, sometimes it was too far away, sometimes the timing didn’t make sense.

This time I thought, this is the goal. I’m going to race a World Championship on my own turf, and I’m feeling really fit.

Then I got sucked into it and ended up heading the logistics of the whole event. Nathan Farrugia, the local race director and XTERRA coordinator, trusted me with more and more responsibility, believed I could handle it, and gave me the space to grow into that role. Anything that had to do with equipment, marketing material, setting up aid stations, and the logistics of the event came through me.

It was painful the day before, when people were asking, “Man, you’re here, are you going to race it?” And I had to say, “No, I’m not going to race it. I’m going to be here filling up water or delivering stuff.”

But I was happy to give to the XTERRA community. I was giving my 100 percent to the running of the event and to the enjoyment of the people who attended.

Share The Wealth

I like competing. I always try to compete to the top of my ability, but I’m not really interested in coming first. I realize that I can be a source of inspiration, but not only because I’m a good runner and not because I come first. It’s because I’ve got knowledge, motivation, and experience, and that turns into a responsibility to share it with other people.

I’ve been running for a long time. I’ve got a gym, and helped with many events, so I understand the logistics. I work at music festivals, so I also understand setting up and dismantling. Working for myself allows me to afford giving up some of my time.

These qualities make me feel like I’m the right person to help. It’s just my responsibility.