Cilia, Cortis record second win

Charles Cilia and Joelle Cortis chalked up their second victory in the 2009 Birkirkara 5K Road Running Series.

This annual event is organised by the Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club in conjunction with the Birkirkara Local Council and under the auspices of Athletics Malta.

Cilia, Brian Magri and Gerald Grech, who are dominating the men's category, held on to the top three places, with Magri swapping his third position in the first race with Grech in this second race at Mtarfa.

Cilia was only two seconds slower than his time in Race One, finishing his run in 15 minutes 54 seconds. Magri, himself marginally slower than the previous race, finished in 16:09.

Reigning series champion Grech recorded a disappointing time by his standards. He could only manage 16:25, 23 seconds slower than the first race.

In the women's race Joelle Cortis maintained her improvement by winning the race in 19 minutes 21 seconds. Second-placed Angela Sammut's performance, however, was below-par. She came home in 19 minutes 44 seconds but her time was considerably slower compared to that in the first race. Caroline Ciappara finished third in 20 minutes.

The third race in the series will be held on August 25, also on the Mtarfa By-Pass, starting at 7 p.m. Registrations will be accepted up to 20 minutes prior to the start of the race.