Hussen breaks 33-min barrier in Ta’ Qali race

Followers of the sport will probably agree that the qualities that have propelled Ibrahim Hussen to the top of the classification in this season’s Road Running League are his pace and finishing kick that kills off the competition.

At the fourth race in the series, held recently at Ta’ Qali, his time of 32.32 minutes was the first occasion this season that the 33-minute barrier has been overcome.

The good thing about this latest addition to the St Patrick’s AC fold is that the Sudan-born Hussen is pulling along nicely another fresh face and team-mate, Mario Grech. He was only nine seconds adrift at Ta’ Qali.

If he can maintain this interesting progress – which Athletics Malta has not failed to notice – Grech may rightly claim a place on the Malta team for this year’s GSSE, to be held in Luxembourg in May.

Bringing up the third and eight spots at the finish were other St Patrick’s club members Jonathan Balzan and Clive Gerada, for a team total of 15 penalty points, the same as Mellieħa Athletics Club.

With one leg to go, it looks an uphill battle for the northern team to keep their grip on the crowns they won last year.

This because the women’s’ title, too, looks to be a forgone conclusion, the St Patrick’s club threesome adding another 15 points to bring their total to 35, a third to that amassed by their Mellieħa AC challengers.

Following this encounter at Ta’ Qali, the Road League now goes into a lull for the Malta Marathon to take pride of place, with the concluding event at Marsaskala to be held in April.

Meantime, Athletics Malta now turns its attention to the track and field, with its first event in the pre-season series to be organised on Saturday at the Marsa Athletics Stadium.