Notwithstanding their past tradition in road running events, having competed for the first time in 1980, Birkirkara St Joseph had to wait 23 years to stamp their mark on the local scene.

Recruiting experienced distance runners, the club's Athletics Board has embarked on a programme which is already yielding encouraging results.

Teaming up the likes of John Buhagiar and Euchar Camilleri, who between them share the crown of the top local distance runners in the last five editions of the Malta Marathon, Birkirkara SJ have attracted a handful of athletes, some of them established, namely, Jimmy Sacco, Edward Buttigieg and Mario Saliba, and others who are quite promising like Johann Cassar, Jeffrey Zammit and Gregory Camenzuli.

George Cassar, Jesmond Dalli and Reuben Borg add up to a very interesting line-up, which, strengthened by members from other sections within the club, including Andrew Xuereb, Angele Cremona, Dermot Galea, William Brydon and Simon Zammit, is bound to bring more good results in the future.

The club's first edition of the Birkirkara 5K road running series took off successfully with a large number of athletes taking part.

Plans are being discussed for the series to be enlarged in the coming years, in conjunction with the Birkirkara Local Council.

In the Malta Amateur Athletic Association Road Running League 2003-04, Birkirkara SJ are currently second.

In last Sunday's Zurrieq International Half Marathon, besides individual honours in various categories, they also carried the honour of top club. Those interested in joining Birkirkara SJ may obtain more details by phoning 9946-6256 or 7926-2215.