Germany’s Karol Grunenberg and Tsana Varos Pavlos, of Greece, are the winners of this year’s Vodafone Malta Half Marathon.
The towering Grunenberg dominated the race from start to finish to dash home in one hour, nine minutes and 53 seconds (unofficial).
Britain’s Gary Pennington was second in one hour 11 minutes and 57 seconds with third place going to Bulgaria’s Pascale Valentin who completed the race in 1:12.16.
Grunenberg, who was making his debut in the Maltese race, seemed unperturbed by the difficult weather conditions that characterised the race yesterday.
“I’m pleased to have won the Malta half marathon at my first attempt,” Grunenberg said.
“This is my third half marathon success this season after winning two other races back home. Obviously today it was very difficult to achieve a fast time but I’m not too bothered as back home I’m used to run in these conditions.”
Commenting on the organisation of the race, Grunenberg said: “It’s a very well-organised event. The race course is nice and the participants are very well looked after, so I’m not surprised that there are so many entries every year.”
For Pennington, this year’s race was again a case of so near yet so far as the 45-year-old has now placed second for the third time in his career after his runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2014.
“It seems that it’s not meant to be,” Pennington said after missing out on the title for the third time in four years.
“As the years pass, competition here becomes tougher and I’m not getting younger either,” he added.
“But it’s okay. I always enjoy coming back to Malta and I look forward to giving it another shot next year.”
Mark Herrera achieved his best result in the half marathon after placing fourth. The Athleta Pembroke runner has been in strong form this year and his performance yesterday underlined his status as one of the country’s fastest long-distance athletes.
“This is my best performance in the Malta Half Marathon,” Herrera said.
“After struggling with injuries for a number of years, I’m feeling really healthy now and my performances are getting stronger with every race.”
Herrera is now looking forward to the track season as his sights are set on representing Malta in the Iceland GSSE in June.
“My main objective this year is to compete in the Small Nations Games in Iceland,” Herrera said.
“Preparations are going very well and I’m looking forward to the event. My plan is to race in the 3,000 steeplechase where I hope to be able to at least set a new national record.”
The women’s race was dominated by Greek runner Pavlos who was a clear winner in 1:16.28. Italy’s Simona Barcaretti was second in 1:25.26 with Mellieħa’s Rita Galea taking third place in 1:26.08.
“This is a great result for me,” Galea said.
“I trained hard for this year’s race and thanks to the guidance of my coach, Ivan Rozhnov, I arrived for the event in great shape.
“This result would surely not have been possible without the support of my family who have always been behind me.”