Mellieħa AC runners leave their mark in Malta Marathon

Mellieħa AC made a clean sweep of the top three places for Maltese runners in last weekend's Land Rover Malta Marathon.

Jason Martin completed the 42km race in 2.33.30. He finished second overall behind winner Rik Ceulemans. The Belgian covered the distance in 2:25.59.

Martin's position may have come as a surprise for some but certainly not for the Mellieħa AC technical staff, headed by Dutch coach Has Kesra.

They were fully aware of his potential and the professional training programme he had throughout the season ahead of the marathon.

Kesra was here to follow the last preparations and his presence was an inspiration to his athletes.

Martin and team-mate Richard Chetcuti, the latter finishing second Maltese runner home in 2.35.25, led a pack of six local runners up to the 30km mark when Martin decided to increase the pace.

Chetcuti who up to 32kms was still being followed by his Mellieħa AC team-mate Johan Galea, then took off to secure a well deserved third place overall.

Galea finished less than two minutes behind in 2.37.37.

Mellieħa AC went on to win first place in the teams' event. This achievement has now become a tradition for the club after winning the honour for more than ten times since the late 1990s.

To add to the list of achievements in this year's Malta Marathon, Mellieħa AC also placed second in the men's team event with their trio of runners being Jimmy Sacco, Rodney Cassar and Andrei Attard.