Tens of local athletes braved the cold weather and heavy rain to take part in the MAAA's road races this weekend.

The main events were those held yesterday with the third leg of the Road Running League at Qawra.

This was actually split into two races. The first one was exclusively reserved for Master Athletes - being those who are over 35 years old - as part of the local association's bid to boost this category.

And, in his first race with the veterans, it was Charles Cilia of AS Libertas who continued on his recent excellent form by emerging the winner and setting a new veterans' record in the event with a time of 32.27.

Second in the masters was St. Patrick's Drew Lang with a time of 34.43 whilst Mellieha's Mario Vella came third in 36.06 minutes. Carmen Hili, recently the winner of the Malta International Challenge Marathon, was the first female athlete in the Masters category. The St. Patrick's athlete clocked 40.23 and was followed by Zurrieq Wolves' due Cecilia Fenech (41.09) and Kathleen Vella (45.51).

In the open category there was a surprising winner. Athleta Pembroke's Mark Herrera hadn't been tipped as one of the pre-race favourite but he continued building on recent form to register one of the most important successes in his young career. His finishing time of 33.59 was good enough to beat the challenge of AS Libertas' Gerald Grech (34.04) although not enough to make him the overall winner on the day since Cilia's finishing time was slightly faster.

Jonathan Balzan of St. Patrick's made his debut run in the Road Running League and finished third in 34.09 minutes.

There was no surprise among the female athletes in the open category as Lisa Marie Bezzina won in 38:10, followed by Giselle Camilleri of St Patrick's in 39.20. Doreen Vella of Zurrieq Wolves finished third in 40:42