Fast times under winter sun

The excellent weather that blessed the islands in recent days is an open invitation to go outside and, for habitual runners who are more used to jog in the rain during January, an added boost as they go about practising their sport.

It certainly lifted those who took part in last week's fourth leg of the MAAA Road Running League.

As expected, James Douglas ran out the winner. The Birkirkara St Joseph athlete's season just keeps getting on better and, having won all legs, he is all but certain to winning the league.

It is a fantastic achievement for an athlete who has developed rapidly during the past year to such an extent that he has to be considered the best in Malta as far as the 10k distance is concerned.

Mellieha AC's Charles Cilia finished second and was more than pleased with his result.

"It was my fastest time over this course by around five seconds. The weather was great for running and that helped a lot," he said.

"I was actually somewhat surprised by the result given that I'm now over 40... my times should be going backward not improving!"

Another runner with an improved result was AS Libertas' Gerald Grech.

"I was very pleased with the race," he said, "third in a good time of 33.40, which is 24 seconds faster than last year and just six seconds off my best time ever.

"One has to keep in mind that this course is tougher than Ta' Qali (where the third leg was held). This time I kept close to James till the seventh km. In fact, together with Charles Cilia we were just 10 or 15 seconds away.

"Charles had a brilliant race, setting a good chase and I stuck with him but did not feel I could keep the pace myself. I detached a bit in the eighth kilometre."

Athleta Pembroke had more reason than most to celebrate as they made a clean sweep of the top three spots in the women's race at Qawra.

In reality, the top two had been quite expected with Carol Walsh continuing her long streak of successes as Lisa Marie Bezzina confirmed expectations by finishing runner-up.

What wasn't expected was Nadia Portelli's third place. A solid, if unspectacular runner, she changed coach during the first half of the season which decision seems to have kick-started her career. Sunday's result in Qawra was the best one she has had in recent years.

Pembroke have now jumped to the top spot in the league, something that similarly applies to the Mellieha AC team in the men's league.

Qawra 10k results

Men
James Douglas (Birkirkara SJ) 33:12
Charles Cilia (Mellieha AC) 33:23
Gerald Grech (AS Libertas) 33:40
Robert Attard (Mellieha AC) 33:55
Drew Lang (St Patrick's AC) 34:41

Women
Carol Walsh (Pembroke) 37:18
Lisa M. Bezzina (Pembroke) 38:35
Nadia Portelli (Pembroke) 40:32
Doreen Vella (Zurrieq Wolves) 41:01
Carmen Hili (St Patrick's AC) 41:10