Another edition of the Gudja 8km race was held earlier this month.

Race organisers, St Patrick’s AC, had to re-route the itinerary this year due to ongoing road works along Garibaldi Road.

This, however, did not detract from the flat fast race that runners look forward to at this time of the season.

The race started a few hundred metres down the road from the St Patrick’s clubhouse, towards Tal-Barrani Road, through Santa Luċija, Luqa and back to Gudja.

Complementing the race was an 8km walk that started soon after the runners were off in the main event of the day.

Then, it was the juniors’ turn to compete in the shorter race as the routes were marshalled by scouts from the San Ġwann group and a host of volunteers who also manned the water station located just past the four-kilometre mark.

Jonathan Balzan continues to shine.

Coming from a creditable performance at the Brussels half-marathon, in which he finished fifth overall and second in his age group with a time of 1:12:11, Balzan maintained the lead throughout the race in Gudja, posting an impressive 26:31 and running at an average of just under 3:19 per kilometre.

Pembroke Athleta’s Johann Galea was second in 28:03 and Clive Gerada continued his strong comeback to competitive running, finishing third, just two seconds behind Galea.

The first woman across the finish line was Marisa Muscat with a time of 33:10. Annelise Pullicino, 37:39, was second and Monica Piscopo third in 40.05.

The winners in the two races for juniors were Dean Ellul and Laura Sammut.

Hilly Clothing Ronhill, Nestle, Raysun and Isostar were the sponsors of the Gudja races.