Grech, Galea show true mettle in 5k series

The second Birkirkara 5k Road Running Series came to a close earlier this month with the last race at the Birkirkara by-pass.

Gerald Grech, of AS Libertas, and Pembroke Athleta's Carol Galea confirmed their superiority in road racing by completing three of the four races in the series in best times overall of 46:49 and 52:03 respectively.

Christian Nemeth had won the opening race at Ta' Qali way back in July.

The Belgian ran the distance in 15:07, beating Grech by 29 seconds. Mark Herrera, of Athleta Pembroke, was third on the occasion.

Galea clocked 17:21 to win the race at Ta' Qali in front of Lisa Marie Bezzina and Zurrieq Wolves' Cecilia Fenech.

Race Two was held in August. Here, it was Charles Cilia (AS Libertas) who carried the honours in 15:56 ahead of Drew Lang (St Patrick's AC) and Peter Azzopardi, of AS Libertas.

Galea improved her time by nine seconds to win the second race in 17:12, again ahead of Bezzina and Fenech.

In the third race, Grech claimed his place at the top of the classification by winning it in 15:26, further increasing his lead on both Cilia and Herrera.

Bezzina claimed her first Series victory with a significant 17:46 in the third race. Fenech was second and Marisa Muscat, of Zurrieq Wolves, third.

Mere formality

The December race was virtually a formality for favourites Grech and Galea. Notwithstanding their wide gap on their rivals, both finished the Series in style, winning in 15:47 and 17:30 respectively.

Cilia was second in 16:03, ahead of Herrera in 16:09 seconds. In the females' race Bezzina was just 22 seconds behind team-mate Galea to finish runner-up overall. Fenech had her third place secured in 18:49.

Other winners in the overall classification were: Edward Buttigieg (O/40), Stephen Mifsud (O/50), Edward Herrera (junior), Angela Sammut (O/35), Dennis Briffa (O/55), Joelle Cortis (junior), Gino Chetcuti (O/45), David Payne (O/60), Ezekiel Micallef (Youth) and Maria Victoria Attard (O/50).

The Series was organised by Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club and the Birkirkara Local Council under the auspices of the Malta Amateur Athletic Association.

Energy drinks were supplied by Extran and San Michel sponsored the water for the final race.