It was fitting that an element of continuity should mark the 10th Maxim Sports Nutrition Zurrieq Half Marathon.

Christian Nemeth and Carol Walsh, the two record holders and most representative runners in this race's history, both registered fairly comfortable wins even if neither managed to establish personal best times.

For Nemeth, that in itself was a first: he had improved the time on each of the previous four occasions. This year, however, that had never been on the Belgian's cards.

"In the fifth kilometre I was already 50 seconds behind my time last year so I knew that I wouldn't be able to go for the record," he said. "Had I been ten seconds behind then, perhaps yes, but not that much so I decided to relax a little bit and enjoy myself more.

"I've been running very hard recently and placed fifth in a race between Sedan and Charleville which is actually one of the oldest races in the world as it is 101 years old."

Being here was, on this occasion, good enough for him.

"I really wanted to compete here," he said.

"I love Malta and, in particular, this race. I knew that this was the 10th year and that I could win it for the fifth time meaning half the editions held so far."

Nemeth has made many friends over the years and most of them were cheering him on at the finishing line. Yet, for the Maltese present, the sight of Walsh running home first was arguably more significant.

"I'm slightly getting back to rhythm," she said. "The GSSE were a huge anti-climax and I seriously thought about quitting. It took a lot of convincing, particularly by Nadia Portelli, to get me back running."

Now 45, Walsh shows no signs of letting up. Asked about the record, she confided that she hadn't been aware of it.

"To be honest, the way I was running I probably would have beaten it had I put myself to it," she said. "However, when I realised that no one was pushing me really hard I decided to slow down a bit."

An athlete who has pushed hard over recent weeks is Jonathan Balzan. His finishing time of 1:12:36 was just five seconds outside his route record, a remarkable result given the unfavourable conditions on the day.

"I knew that Nemeth was going to break early so I never really went after him," he said.

"However, from early on there was also a group of runners who were slightly ahead of me. I know this route very well and felt that I could eventually overtake them which is exactly what happened."

The others couldn't live with Balzan's strengths towards the finish, certainly not Haitem Ksheim.

"I'm not a marathon man so this was hard for me from the outset," he said.

"Also, I didn't know the route and simply had to rely on what the others were doing.

"The climbs at the start were difficult but not impossible, but I can't say the same for the last hill which took out a lot from me."

Second place among the women went to Carmen Hili who was beaming at the finishing line.

"I'm doubly pleased today first because of my placing but, more significantly, because I improved my time on this route by a few seconds. Lowering my times is always what I look out for," she said.

As expected, host club Zurrieq Wolves was well represented and the runners wearing the typical orange shirt were cheered more than most as they ran home.

Even so, a special applause was reserved for Doreen Vella who was third in the women's race.

"This is a very important race for me and I also train very hard for it," Vella said. "This year was particularly pleasing as I managed to set a personal best as well."

She was one of the few to do so with several runners falling prey to the high humidity.

Men

Christian Nemeth (Belgium) - 1:11.33
Jonathan Balzan (St Patrick's AC) - 1:12.36
Haitem Ksheim (St Patrick's AC) - 1:12.52

Women

Carol Walsh (Pembroke Athleta) - 1:22.49
Carmen Hili (St Patrick's AC) - 1:28.24
Doreen Vella (Zurrieq Wolves) - 1:30.44