History was made late last month when Zersenay Tadese smashed the world record at the Lisbon Half Marathon. His time - 58.23 - was ten seconds faster than the previous best by Sammy Wanjiru.

From a Maltese perspective, however, that wasn't the most significant result of the day. That honour fell to Joelle Cortis as the young St Patrick's AC runner finished 20th in the women's ranking and first female home in the U-23 category.

Inevitably she was overjoyed with the result.

"It was my first half marathon abroad and it was really exciting being there. It was the most amazing experience ever," she said.

"The encouragement along the route from the public, bands, helpers and the like just keeps you going and push harder.

"Having so many people in the race - there were some 6,000 runners - also makes you run faster as you always have somebody to run with and keep up with."

The result of this experience was a 1:24:28 finish that was a personal best for Cortis.

However, rather than regarding her feat as a finishing point, Cortis is using it as motivation to do even better.

"Seeing the world record being broken has inspired me," she said.

"Why can't I run a 1:17 half marathon if I train hard? I am sure that I will manage that at some point in time," she said, whilst thanking her parents and coach Roger Zammit for their support.

This experience has already whetted her taste for running abroad.

"I will definitely make it a point to go abroad for a half marathon at least once a year," Cortis said.