Balzan makes it three in a row, fine win for Mugno
Jonathan Balzan made it three in a row after winning the 13th Maxim Sports Nutrition Zurrieq Half Marathon which was held recently. The race is organised annually by the Zurrieq Local Council and the Zurrieq Wolves Athletics Sports Club.
The local long distance prodigy led all the way to finish in one hour 12 minutes 42 seconds ahead of Athleta Pembroke’s duo Brian Magri and Drew Lang who recorded one hour 15 minutes 04 seconds and 1 hour 16 minutes 30 seconds respectively. Richard Chetcuti (Mellieha AC) and Adrian Mifsud (Zurrieq Wolves) followed.
Following the absence of local reigning champion Carol Walsh, this year was going to produce a new women’s champion and it was evident that there was going to be a two-horse race between local athlete Joelle Cortis, who was making her debut on this route, and Italian Annalaura Mugno who registered promising times leading to this race. The Italian extended her lead during the last 10km to finish in one hour 27 minutes 36 seconds, three minutes ahead of Cortis who finished second. Josann Attard came in third.
The team category was won by Athleta Pembroke, represented by Brian Magri, Drew Lang and Mario Pisani, followed by Mellieha trio Richard Chetcuti, Johan Galea and Stephen Borg.
The Zurrieq Wolves team, represented by Adrian Mifsud, Melvin Mifsud and Joseph Abdilla came in third.
The women’s team category was won by St Patrick’s AC represented by Joelle Cortis, Paula Briffa and Daniela Cumbo.
Weather conditions were far from perfect due to strong winds from West Southwest which hindered the athletes during the course. This year the route had to be change due to the closure of part of the original route (at around the 2km point).
Asked about this change, race director John Bezzina commented that over the past few years the race committee felt the need to change the route to avoid some dangerous points and also to avoid that the leading car will drive against the flow of traffic. Apart from these reasons, a number of suggestions were received which were all taken into consideration.
One hundred and twenty nine runners had registered for this year’s event. In all, 119 runners successfully finished the race. This event was characterised by a number of foreign athletes among them, a group of 14 Italians. Other international athletes represented Germany, France, England, and Hungary.