The Road Running League, organised by Athletics Malta, passed the halfway mark with the Qawra 10km race held recently.

The field of over a 100 participants faced a strong wind along the Coast Road especially in the run-in to the finish line.

St Patrick’s AC continued their march towards the title when the team forged ahead for the first time with the least penalty points collected over the three events held so far.

They now have a total of 92 points followed by Mellieħa AC, last year’s champions, who added a further 20 points.

St Patrick’s success can be measured through their quartet finishing within the first eight, Ibrahim Hussen Ahmed, Mario Grech and Jonathan Balzan being the first trio home.

On this form, Somalia’s Ahmed is also in line to top the overall individual classification but it is not over yet for Grech, who finished a mere two seconds behind on 33.11 minutes after a neck-and-neck duel with his team-mate throughout the race.

For mellow Carmen Hili, the race in Qawra was yet another confirm-ation of her current dominance of the local scene.

The veteran runner led in her St Patrick’s AC team ahead of Angela Sammut with Josann Attard Pulis, of Starmax, taking third spot.

St Patrick’s have a total of 20 penalty points with Mellieħa AC leading the rest of the pack at a distant 96 points. Hili is also the top contender for individual honours.