High standards the target for Garmin Birżebbuġa 10k

St Patrick's will be organising the traditional Garmin Birżebbuġa 10k race on Friday.

Despite the heat that traditionally features in this race, over the years it has proven to be quite popular with long distance runners and the numbers taking part have increased steadily each year.

Recently, this race has also been attracting interest from foreign athletes, many of whom happen to be in Malta on the day.

"We are trying to keep up the high standards we have established for the Garmin Birżebbuġa 10k," race director Joe Zerafa said.

"We are sure that the athletes will once again make this a well contested event."

Mementos will be handed out instead of medals whilst race sponsors Garmin will also be giving a goody bag with a selection of their products specifically designed for long distance runners.

Last year, Jonathan Balzan set a new course record for a Maltese runner in 32.51 minutes while Carmen Hili, also of St Patrick's, won the women's race in 41.08.

Application forms may be downloaded from the club's website at www.stpatricks-ac.org.