Birkirkara SJ's Douglas triumphs in half marathon

A Birkirkara St Joseph athlete won the half marathon but it was a foreign success nevertheless.

James Douglas has become a familiar figure in local long-distance running and he will get even more exposure thanks to his latest success with a time of 1:11.02.

The unassuming Douglas was quick to acknowledge any help he received during the race.

"At one point there were two British athletes who made a break in front," he commented.

"I was tempted to go after them but Robert Attard told me to be patient as we would be able to catch them later on. That is what I did and at Marsa, I caught the first one and then the other before increasing my lead."

A 'below-par' performance at last year's half marathon is apparently what pushed Douglas to seek coaching help and, given this year's win, it has paid off handsomely.

However, there is little chance of him easing off. "Ivan Rozhnov, my coach, plans his training step by step so I'm sure that he'll have another target to aim for."

One factor linking Douglas with Hili and Balzan was their acknowledgments. Indeed, at the end all three took time to thank Ron Hill and www.enjoytherun.com for their invaluable support. Douglas also thanked Diadora "who have helped kit me out."

The man who helped Douglas during this race, Robert Attard, is another familiar face in local athletics although injury almost brought his career to a premature end. Seeing him run home in third was, therefore, quite pleasing.

"I'm happy," said the Mellieha AC athlete. "It was a bit windy in the wrong moments. When you were going uphill, you often had to face the wind whereas it was the opposite when going downhill which can be a bit misleading.

"Still it is good to be among the front-runners. I've got a best of 1:08 so this year's finish of 1:12.10 isn't even close but still this is a milestone in my recovery."

Briton Ceri Rees was second in 1:11.27.

Walsh collects 13th success

Some consider 13 to be an unlucky number but Carol Walsh isn't one of them.

"Before this year's event, I did some research and found out that the first time I took part was in 1991 which is 16 years ago," she said. "This win makes it my 13th success which is as good a track record as any."

Walsh, who registered a time of 1:20.09, acknowledged that lack of competition doesn't help her but nevertheless, it doesn't distract her from having fun.

"I don't have any competition so it is difficult to aim for a good time," she said. "As soon as I build a good lead, I find that I can relax a little bit and enjoy the race. I end up chatting to people, so much that someone today remarked that I am competing in a tough event and shouldn't be talking.

"I'm 44 now so I have to thank God for the strength that gives me, my parents for the genes that I inherited from them, sponsors Urban Jungle, and John Walsh for the coaching."

There was a dramatic end for the second-placed athlete as Lisa Marie Bezzina had to be rushed to an ambulance upon crossing the finish line.

"I started well enough," she said once she had regained her strength. "Around the sixth mile, however, I started having panic attacks.

"I don't know what happened but in the end, the time of 1:24.34 was still reasonably good. It would have been hard if it had finished otherwise, given the time I have invested in training for this event. My thanks go to my coach John Walsh and Quest vitamin supplements."

"Now, with the help of the MOC and the MAAA, I'll start focusing on track events and the GSSE."

St Patrick's athlete Angela Sammut finished behind Walsh and Bezzina to make it a clean sweep for Maltese athletes.

Malta half marathon

Men - 1. J. Douglas (Britain) 1:11.02; 2. C. Rees (Britain) 1:11.27; 3. R. Attard (Malta) 1:12.05. Women - 1. C. Walsh (Malta) 1:20.09; 2. L. Bezzina (Malta) 1:24.34; 3. A. Sammut (Malta) 1:25.32.