A record 820 athletes recently took part in the 2017 Teamsport Gozo Half Marathon.

The 42nd edition of the race was won by Gozitan Charlton Debono who crossed the finish line in a time of one hour 17 minutes 16.184 seconds.

Debono was followed in by Matthew Cutajar (1:20:14.672) and Alan Camilleri (1:20:18.914).

The honours in the women’s category went to Ukrainian Oksana Riabova. She covered the distance in on hour 33 minutes and 49.822 seconds.

Marica Micallef took second place in 1:34:56.313 while Catherine Cutajar completed the podium in 1:36:51.807.

The event’s schedule also included an eight-mile race.

Here, Gozitan Stefan Azzopardi placed first when completing the race in 45 minutes 33.406 seconds. Matthew Scicluna was runner up in 45:41.657 while third place went to Jonathan Balzan in 46:25.656.

Maria Gerada was the first female home in the eight mile race in 55:18.837 followed by Francesca Arrigo (56:43.579) and Francienne Mercieca (59:06.312).

The organisers also organized a series of fun runs for young athletes.

Jacob Greengrass and Pamela Camilleri placed first in their categories in the 4km.

In the 2km race, Fabian Grech-Manz topped the boys’ category while Leah Said placed first in the girls’ section.

St Patrick’s AC won the award for the club with most participants.

In a statement, the organisers said that they were satisfied with the organisation of this year’s race and announced that the 2018 Gozo Half Marathon will be held on April 29.