Haithem Ksheim continued in his recent rich vein of form when he won the Al Fresco Mellieħa 5K earlier this month with a certain degree of ease, coming in with a time of 15:48.

This was the first time that the previous year's winner retained the title and Ksheim was just seven seconds off the course record that he himself holds.

St Patrick's AC's Libyan-born runner is looking particularly good ahead of next month's Road Running League and has to be considered among the favourites to land the title.

Mellieħa AC's own Charles Cilia was second in 16:10. He was followed by another Mellieħa athlete, Jason Martin. He finished the route in 16:20.

St Patrick's AC also took the honours in the women's race where Pauline Vella won in 21:07. She was followed by Gabriella Saliba (23:08) and Julia Grech (27:08).

After the event, one of the main sponsors and local Diadora representative Richard Vella spoke about the upcoming visit of marathon legend Gelindo Bordin.

"We are very excited about this trip because it isn't every day that athletes get to attend a coaching session of an Olympic gold medal winner," he said.

On September 15, local sports enthusiasts will be able to meet Bordin at the Diadora outlet in Birkirkara as well as attend a special training session hosted by Bordin at St Aloysius College.