The third race in the series of five races organised by Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club as part of the national triathlon championships, was the first not to be hit by inclement weather conditions.

After having the first two races reduced to a swim-run, the organizers welcomed the excellent conditions prevailing last Sunday, which set the stage for a fast race. Favourites Mark Zammit and Marylynn Bezzina where virtually unchallenged throughout the whole triarthlon, both registering good finishing times, auguring well for their forthcoming commitments with the national team in Luxembourg in the Triathlon of the Small States of Europe to be held early next month.

Mark Zammit made sure of victory as early as the swimming segment. He was out of the water in 10 minutes 57 seconds, way ahead of second placed Nicky Farrugia (13:11) and Gordon Camenzuli (13:37) in third place. Ex-champion David Galea, finishing his swim in ninth place, managed to record the best cycle of the day, covering the 20 K in 30 minutes 45 seconds, and pushing himself to second place. Nicky Farrugia held on to third place after a 32 minutes 6 seconds cycle.

During the 5K run, Michael Gellel pulled back Galea, whose run was 48 seconds slower. Gellel finished in 1 hour, three minutes, 54 seconds, 18 seconds ahead of Galea. A two minute drafting penalty against Gellel enabled the returning David Galea to clinch second place. Mark Zammit won the race in one hour, one minute, 23 seconds.

Marylynn Bezzina proved also to be dominating in the females category. She finished the race in one hour, 12 minutes, 20 seconds way ahead of nearest rival new-comer Michelle Wood who clocked one hour, 21 minutes, 2 seconds. Overall leader Debbie Caruana Dingli finished third in 1 hour 25 minutes, 14 seconds.