On Saturday 20 October, the Malta AAA organised the first race in the 2018/2019 Road Running League which started and finished at Maqluba.

The Men's 5km race was without doubt one of the most keenly contested road-races seen in recent years with Luke Micallef of Pembroke winning a tight sprint finish, while another Pembroke runner Lisa Marie Bezzina ran a fantastic personal best to dominate the Woman's race.

In the Men's 5km, Luke Micallef, Charlton Debono (Athletix AC) and Andrew Grech (Mellieha AC) broke away early on in the race and were still in a tight group with 300m to go.  Luke Micallef then snatched victory in the final sprint to win in a strong time of 15:39.

Andrew Grech was a very close second, while Gozitan runner Charlton Debono was third.  The up and coming Raptorz runner Dillon Cassar who was slightly off the pace of the leading group, was fourth in a promising 16:00.

The women's race was led from start to finish by Lisa Maria Bezzina (Pembroke) and her time of 17:14 proved that despite her long years in the sport she still has the ability to better her performances.  Mona Lisa Camilleri (AS Libertas) was a strong second despite ending over 30 seconds adrift while Roberta Schembri was a creditable third.

On the day, the Men's Team event was won by Pembroke AC with 31 points while Mellieha AC with 34 points were a close second. The Women's Team event was won by St Patrick's AC who scored 13 points.

The next race in the League will also be held at Maqluba on 17 November.

(See full results on) https://my6.raceresult.com/109221/results?lang=en#1_401CAC