The third major event organised by the Malta Amateur Athletic Association during the winter season, the traditional Shuttle Road Relay, brought together teams from schools and affiliated clubs to the quiet surroundings of Qawra last month.
In recent years, the backdrop of the majestic Valletta bastions were replaced by yet another postcard scene, this time the islands of St Paul across Qawra Point.
Teams taking part may not be as numerous as in years gone by, but the keen rivalry has not diminished among the protagonists. This time around seven teams contested the youth boys' event and eight the men's Open while the ladies fielded two and three respectively.
First place in the boys' category went to the St Patrick's AC foursome. They won three from the four 1.5km legs in competition.
In fact, Andrea Camilleri posted the fastest time when he covered the first leg in 4.59 minutes. Second on combined time was Pembroke with Savio College's first team taking third spot.
Pembroke's youth girls won their event ahead of St Patrick's AC. Here, Marouska Cutajar registered the fastest leg for the winners in 5.34 minutes.
The ladies' Open relay confirmed the superiority of the current St Patrick's AC team, this season so dominant in both the individual and team events.
St Patrick's AC won the relay in a combined time of 21.18 minutes with Giselle Camilleri recording the fastest stage in 5.09 minutes. Pembroke and Libertas filled the other podium places.
The men's Open, with the coveted Colonel Ferro Shield at stake, proved to be the closest and most exciting among the relays.
With Libertas riding high, having just won the road running league, as a team and Charles Cilia taking top spot in the individual classification, and also winning the 2002/2003 Village-to-Village, they started out as clear favourites.
Gerald Grech gave Libertas a 12-second lead over the runners from Mellieha and Pembroke. The second leg was a triumph for Fabio Spiteri though. With a fine run of 4.20 minutes, this Mellieha AC runner managed to haul his team ahead of St Patrick's with Libertas slipping to third place.
At this stage, Libertas brought on their heavy artillery. In a best leg time of 4.10, Ricky Baldacchino practically blasted his way home first for Libertas to put the team ahead once again.
Mellieha were second, only five seconds adrift with St Patrick's AC falling back to third spot, closely followed by Pembroke.
With Cilia in front and the excitement rising, Libertas seemed certain to add on to last year's relay triumph. However, Alex Busuttil and Mellieha had other plans.
Shadowing Cilia for all of the first half and managing to stay out of the strong headwind, Busuttil reserved all his energy for the return journey to nose ahead and finish the run in 4.12 minutes, pushing his team to the top spot once more for a combined time of 17.30 minutes, a mere two seconds ahead of Libertas' timing.
Pembroke, with Mark Herrera in fine form, finished third. He was only three seconds slower than Busuttil in the last leg.