The Formentera Council president and sports secretary met today to unveil details concerning the tenth Mitja Marató, or Half Marathon, on the island. Joining Jaume Ferrer and Jordi Vidal at the presentation were spokespeople from two of the event's main backers, Trasmapi's Alejandro Marí and CaixaBank's Josep Verdera, as well as Manuel Hernández of Unisportconsulting, the company overseeing organisation of the race.

Formentera's half marathon happens this Saturday, May 12. Three thousand athletes are scheduled to compete—two thousand for the half marathon and another thousand who will tackle the 8K route. This year was the second in which aspiring participants —more than seven thousand of them— drew lots for a chance to take part in the run. Organisers estimate that all told some 7,500 people will travel to the Formentera for the event.

Enhanced safety measures
Visiting law enforcement from Santa Eulària and Sant Antoni will be on hand to help keep things safe and, according to the secretary, “to reinforce safety provisions in place”. Highlighting the will of Eivissa's town councils and community groups to assist in Saturday's event, Vidal pointed out that civil protection volunteers from Sant Antoni and Sant Josep were due to pitch in as well, “to guarantee the safety of all those involved”.

Calling to mind turnout at the inaugural edition (one hundred and one), President Ferrer said the race had “come a long way in a decade”. He voiced thanks for all those who over the years have made the event possible, particularly volunteers, asserting “they are the ones responsible for making the Mitjà Marató a race that athletes —from across the islands, the country and the world— come take part in”.

Timetable and traffic interruptions
Runners in the 21K race set out at 5.30pm from la Mola lighthouse. Their 8K counterparts' hit the pavement at the same time, leaving kilometre marker 6.2 on the Sant Ferran highway.

The stretch of road connecting the town of el Pilar de la Mola and the nearby lighthouse will be closed to vehicle traffic from 3.00pm. Access will then be blocked between es Caló and la Mola from 4.30pm and between Sant Ferran and es Caló from 5.00pm. That is also when closures will take place on the stretch from la Savina to es Pujols and Sant Ferran. Vehicle traffic can resume as soon as the final runners have passed. Organisers say they expect the last runners will reach the port of la Savina finish line between 7.30pm and 8.00pm.

Athletes who drive to the event will find parking at a special lot in el Pilar de la Mola and must cover the final two kilometres to the lighthouse on foot. A shuttle service at the end of the race will take participants from the finish line back to the car park. Access to the lighthouse will be restricted to buses and vehicles belonging to the event organisation.

Anniversary concert
A free performance by Los Mojinos Escozios is being lined up to celebrate the half marathon's tenth year. The band is scheduled to take the stage in es Pujols's plaça Europa at 11.30pm. To accommodate those runners overnighting on Eivissa and hoping to get in on a bit of music first, a special 2.00am ferry passage and night buses between la Savina and es Pujols will also be made available.

The local youth drop-in centre, the department of sport and the school of dance and music of Formentera have come together under the aegis of the Formentera Council to host the island's very first gathering of dance troupes.

Set to take over Sant Francesc's plaça de la Constitució this Sunday, April 29 from 12 noon, the event coincides with International Dance Day. The eight participating colles (troupes) will represent a sampling of the different dance veterans here on the island and the types of dance that are practised locally. Onlookers will be treated to demonstrations of classical and contemporary dance as well as displays of capoeira, latin and African dance, “insideout” and varied homegrown specialities.

In an effort to put to use the Formentera Council's provisional facilities on Estany des Peix, CiF chief Jaume Ferrer and Alex Buchau, vice president of Club Surf Formentera, signed a deal to coordinate management of Formentera's municipal nautical sports school in 2018.

Under the deal, CSF can use the administration's facilities and nautical equipment to direct operations at the school. The club also gets €35,000 to coordinate, manage and maintain the site.

CSF also pledges to hire enough staff to develop the school's activities programme and provide cleaning.

Future site of water sports centre
The island's nautical sports centre (Centre d'Esports Nàutics, or CEN) is currently under construction. In the service of Formentera's nautical sector, the new facilities will include administrative and information areas, a training space and the new headquarters of the island's school for water sports.

Construction of the CEN will cost just over one million euros and is due for completion in six months.

From 9.00am on Saturday, April 28, Xavier Cañellas will lead an informational session and training programme focussed on children, health and fitness in the local cinema (Sala de Cultura).

Cañellas, a psychoneuroimmunologist, speaker and instructor whose experience spans numerous master's and courses, is also the co-author of the book “Nens sans, adults sans”.

In modern society we are often unaware of the broad changes we have made to our habits and surrounding environment. Unhealthy eating habits, long hours at work and lack of physical exercise are just some of the factors that make for an artificial environment which can wreak havoc on our health. The resulting list of ailments, allergies, intolerances and mental disorders is a long one.

During the Saturday session, Cañellas, who encourages actively engaging in our processes of healing, will guide us in our attempt to uncover the root causes of these ailments, rather than simply attacking their symtoms. He stresses changes in nutrition and lifestyle as measures to restore health, solve emotional conflicts and improve our quality of life. The following subjects will be discussed: Fact and fiction about food; Intestinal microbiotics; Fitness—a need, though not an obligation; and Children, health and sport.