Balzan breaks new ground as Kipchumba sets record

Kenyan athlete Joshua Kipchumba and Jonathan Balzan lit up the 23rd edition of the BMW Malta Marathon yesterday.

Kipchumba lowered the record by 30 seconds on his way to winning the men's title in 2.18.38 while Balzan set a new milestone by clocking the best time ever by a Maltese runner in a marathon.

Whatever the future of the Malta Marathon holds, Balzan has indeed ensured that his name will forever be remembered as one of the greats of this event and Maltese long distance running.

Yesterday, he ran home in a time of 2 hours 26 minutes and 27 seconds, the fastest time ever registered by a Maltese in a marathon. So remarkable was his result - the first Maltese was expected to come in some four minutes later - that it took a lot of those present by surprise.

Temporary astonishment, however, soon turned into elation upon the realisation of Balzan's achievement.

The athlete himself broke into tears after crossing the finishing line, overcome by the emotion.

"When I started running, it was a dream for me to be the fastest ever Maltese marathon runner. To achieve this is fantastic," he said once he had calmed down.

In truth, Balzan has fulfilled many dreams since making his breakthrough in the sport that he started to take more seriously five years ago when he was already 30.

"I've worked very hard for this result and it was my intention to run a very fast marathon time. My coach altered my training as I've had less time to train but also because he was convinced that my preparation needed a change to take in more recent theories of long-distance running," he explained.

"Even the way I paced myself during the race was different and I have to say that it worked brilliantly."

Of course, every marathon is different from another, so it is hard to compare the results achieved over different courses. This, however, should not diminish Balzan's achievements as John Buhagiar - another great of Maltese athletics who himself set a time of 2.26.46 at the London Marathon back in 2000 - agreed: "It is a fantastic result and I'm very happy for him."

Yet no one in Sliema yesterday could have been as happy as Balzan. "I've got to thank my coach Roger Zammit for his faith in me as well as my sponsors www.enjoytherun.com, Ronhill and Diadora. Above all, I have to thank my family for their support."

Although so much attention was justifiably focused on Balzan, it would be disrespectful to forget the fantastic achievement of Kipchumba who trimmed 30 seconds off the previous record of 2:19.08 set by Moroccan Abdelkebir Marchane in 2005.

Kipchumba had already been in Malta two years ago and on that occasion he had also won the marathon albeit with a much slower time of 2:21 flat. At the time, he remarked that it was possible to run much faster and he proved that yesterday.

"It was much different this year from last time," he said afterwards. "Two years ago I ran the whole route on my own but this time I had Julius (Kirwa Choge) with me for most of the race so it was much better."

The two regularly run together all over Italy so it was no surprise that they helped each other out. Yet, both were keen to stress that neither one acted as a pace maker for the other.

"We spoke about the race beforehand," Kirwa Choge, who came in second with a time of 2:20:35, admitted. "But we were both determined to go out and win. I didn't hold anything back but Joshua took the lead from early on and I couldn't haul him back."

Similarly, both were in agreement that the marathon's time can be improved. "It most definitely can," Kipchumba confirmed. "And I intend to be back next year to do so."

Third place went to Joachim Nshimirmana, of Burundi, with a time of 2.20.59.

Back to back success for Hili

Winner last year, Carmen Hili confirmed her status as the strongest Maltese athlete over the marathon distance when she too registered a great time of 3.01.48 which was just marginally outside the best time for a local runner.

Nevertheless, it still meant an improvement of almost five minutes from last year's winning time and her personal best over the distance, making Hili's joy at the finishing line more than understandable.

"I owe all this to God," she said. "I have to thank my family and my sponsors for all their support.

"It was very hard out there because I was all alone. Yet I stuck to it and managed what for me is a special result."

Another Maltese athlete, Marisa Muscat, came in second with a time of 3.16.18. German Petra Schiesewitz was third in 3:28.28.