The second race from the 2013 Festina/The Cyclist Birkirkara St Joseph SC Series, held recently, was an extraordinary event with 124 participants racing individually and in teams.
Returning to the more familiar location on the Salina-Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq Coast Road, the event was held in perfect conditions.
It also proved to be a double for Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club, with victories in both the men’s and the women’s races. National champion Keith Galea and team-mate Michelle Vella Wood carried the top honours for their club with outstanding performances in their respective categories.
Galea was first out of the 750-metre swim in a time of 11 minutes, 11 seconds, followed by Graham Borg, of Agones SC (11:21), and BSJ’s David Agius Lia (11:35).
In the 20-kilometre bike segment, Galea was closely chased by team-mate Steve Chetcuti and national duathlon champion Fabio Spiteri, of Mellieħa AC, as Borg sustained his challenge throughout this part of the race.
Top places continued to change in the final five-kilometre run as Galea set a relentless pace on dismounting his bike.
Veteran David Galea, of Agones, with the best bike time, could have been a threat to the leader but his run let him down.
With Keith Galea’s victory wrapped up in a time of 59 minutes, 34 seconds, all eyes were on Chetcuti and Spiteri. The former finished second in 1:23.09, ahead of the Mellieħa AC man.
Hardly having enough time to recover from a record-breaking display for a Maltese female triathlete at a triathlon Ironman, Vella Wood turned on another winning performance to finish the race at the Coast Road in 1:04.50.
However, she had to dig deep into her reserves to ward off the stiff challenge of Hannah Pace, of Athleta Pembroke.
National champion Danica Bonello Spiteri was first out of the 750-metre swim in 11 minutes, 18 seconds, leading Pace by five seconds.
At this stage, Vella Wood trailed by one minute, going into the 20-kilometre bike. However, by the end of this segment, only 14 seconds separated her from race leader Pace, relegating Bonello Spiteri to third place.
The final five-kilometre run was crucial for the BSJ triathlete, and with her rival well in sight, the race was on. Her 19 minutes, 56 seconds run was enough to finish first, with Pace finishing 20 seconds behind. Bonello Spiteri was third in 1:05.59.
Meanwhile, the BSJ series relay race was won by a team made up of L. Cachia (swim), P. Borg (cycle) and M. Rota (run) in a time of 58 minutes, 9 seconds.
The race was organised under the auspices of the Malta Triathlon Federation.
The third event from the BSJ series will be held on August 25.