Dingli 10 winners at their best

Jonathan Balzan may have entered the history books this year with his finish in the BMW Malta Marathon but it would seem that he is in no mood to stop there.

If there was any doubt about that, it was shattered at the Ronhill Dingli 10 race earlier this month when Balzan not only won but also registered his best ever time on this challenging route.

"It is a great feeling to have won it a record five times in the last six years, capping it all this time with a personal best of 55.02 and beating my previous best of 55.25," he said adding that this was "thanks to pushing hard in the last mile when Haithem (Ksheim) and myself were neck and neck.

"In fact, I started to surge forward around one kilometre from the end as I knew that leaving it for the last would have been difficult due to Haithem's longer strides and his strong finish. The gap of eight seconds explains it all."

Indeed, it was an exciting finish to a race where the two St Patrick's AC runners pushed each other hard.

"At the beginning I was cautious," Balzan explained.

"I had been down with a cold which reduced my training due to a persisting high heart rate, and I felt at a slight disadvantage given that my closest rivals either didn't take part in the marathon - Haithem - or else ran the half marathon - Brian Magri - while I was coming from a full marathon.

"The first miles saw them going in front but at mile no.6 I went in front with just a few metres gap. When we went up the last tough hill, I kept my nerves and held on with all my efforts as I started believing I could do it," he continued while thanking his sponsors Diadora, Ronhill and Maxim.

There was a similar result in the women's 10-mile race where Carmen Hili - also a winner at the recent BMW Malta Marathon - set a personal best on the route.

"I really wasn't expecting these results, both the win and the personal best," she said.

"I have been training hard in view of other commitments and indeed after the race had ended I did another ten miles as part of my preparation.

"I won this race once before but that was some 10 years ago and my time then wasn't really good. This win was definitely much more satisfying."

Next up for Hili will be the London Marathon where she will be taking part for the second year running.

"It is a fantastic experience to run with so many athletes and so many spectators along the route," she said. "My aim is to go below the three hours... I would be very happy if I were to achieve that."

Men
1. Jonathan Balzan (St Patrick's AC) 55.02
2. Haithem Ksheim (St Patrick's AC) 55.10
3. Brian Magri (Pembroke Athleta) 55.49
4. Charles Cilia (Mellieha AC) 56.46
5. Jason Martin (Mellieha AC) 58.50

Women
1. Carmen Hili (St Patrick's AC) 1.07.24
2. Giselle Camilleri (St Patrick's AC) 1.08.28
3. Marisa Muscat (St Patrick's AC) 1.12.13
4. Josann Attard (Starmax) 1.13.02
5. Anna Nylen (F7 Running Club) 1.16.31