Strong winds and a tough course greeted the 142-strong field at the Garmin Ocean Lava Malta 113K Triathlon which doubled up as the national middle distance championships at Baħar ic-Cagħaq, last Sunday.
In all, 58 athletes, representing Malta, Slovenia, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and Japan, covered the whole distance – 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21km run.
Another 84, making up 28 relay teams, also took up the challenge.
Slovenia’s Matija Meden dominated the men’s race.
The 22-year-old maintained a consistent lead throughout. Second-placed Simon Brierley re-covered some lost ground on Meden on the bicycle but the latter widened his gap in the run to cross the line in an accumulated time of 4:16:33.
Brierley was second in 4:38:26.
The fight for the bronze medal initially looked to be a three-horse race between 2014 winner David Galea and Birkirkara St Joseph team-mates Rudolph Agius and Steve Chetcuti.
From the three, Agius was first out of the water but Chetcuti caught up during the cycling portion. Agius, however, showed great determination to overtake Chetcuti in the run. His overall timing was 4:39:59.
Third place overall at the Coast Road handed Agius the Maltese middle distance title. Galea had to settle for fifth place.
Pembroke Athleta’s Hannah Pace claimed the women’s title in 5:05:05.
Emerging from the water in second place, just behind Meden, Pace completed the undulating bike course in 2 hours 49 minutes. At that juncture she was 12th overall.
And Pace went on to defend her position, completing the half-marathon run in 1:44:32 to win the race and claim the national middle distance title.
“This was one of the most challenging middle distance races I’ve ever done,” Pace said.
“The course was tough but the windy conditions made it even more difficult.”
Second place in the women’s race went to Birkirkara St Joseph’s Suzanne Farrugia who is performing consistently well this season.
British triathlete Mandy Draper, back in Malta for the second time, was third overall.
Relay event
Throughout the years, relay team events were considered a breeding ground to future multi-sport athletes but did not offer a highly competitive environment.
But with a mix of some of the best swimmers, cyclists and runners competing this year was going to be a different story. In fact, places for the podium were fought out with the same determination as any other race.
Team Go & Fun, composed of Margaret Seguna (swim), Wayne Spiteri (cycle) and Jonathan Balzan (run) topped the charts.
Spiteri and Balzan clocked the fastest times in their respective disciplines
Second place went to Team Two-and-a-Half Men featuring Shaun Galea (swim), Mark Bonnici (cycle) Julian Borg (run).
Team Carrera Garmin, made up of Jean Claude Cutajar (swim), Steve Sciberras (cycle), and Rodney Cassar (run), were third.
Bernard Sant posted the fastest time in the swimming segment.
Charlie Demanuele, race organiser and director, was happy with the turn-out.
“We are very satisfied with the outcome of this year’s 113K Triathlon,” he said.
“We were backed up by a strong organising team whose members understand the needs of athletes in these races but naturally there is always room for improvement and each year is a learning curve.”
Cyprian Dalli, president of the Malta Triathlon Federation, added: “The triathlon federation acknowledges that this race is growing and improving with each edition.
“The hard work the team puts into this event is very evident and these sentiments were echoed by the majority of athletes after the race.”
The 113K Triathlon was supported by Garmin, Go & Fun, Sancture Sportifs, Saracino Café, The Cyclist, emvigee pr, Urban Jungle House of Sport, Perskindol, Mochika and the Malta Tourism Authority.