Posted: July 24, 2004

Athletics: Jonathan Balzan Sets New Record at Malta's Red Bull Birzebbuga 10k

Former World Record Holder Takes Part

By Paul Grech

In five previous editions of the Red Bull Birzebbuga 10k, no athlete had managed to win more than once with a different athlete crossing the finishing line first on each occasion. A formidable statistic, especially considering the local pool of talent, but it was inevitable that sooner or later the trend would be broken.

Perhaps predictably, seeing his recent form, it was the winner of this race two years back Jonathan Balzan, who managed to do so by winning this year's event. And he did so in record fashion, clocking a time of 33.11 minutes thereby eclipsing the previous record set by Joe Pace in 2000 by thirteen seconds.

For the St. Patrick's athlete, this victory tasted sweeter after the drama of last year's race where he had to stop a matter of metres before the finishing line. On that occasion he had been intent on beating the previous best but his exertion in the sweltering heat proved too much.

"I've spent the past year thinking on what happened in Birzebbuga," said an elated Balzan after the race, "and I was. On the 5k mark I thought that my chance had gone as I was behind schedule and eased off a little bit in order to avoid repeating last year's mistake. It was only in the last three hundred metres that I started to believe that I could do it and pushed hard."

Last year's winner Drew Lang (St. Patrick's) had to make do with second place, a familiar enough placing for him on this route having finished there on four other occasions. Yet he seemed to take it well enough. "It's the same old story for me, isn't it? I'm pleased with my position because Jonathan ran a fantastic race and there was no way we were going to keep up with him. I could have improved on my time (34.21) but even so I don't think that I could have improved on my personal best of 33.37."

Malta Marathon winner Peter Azzoppardi, who came in third, agreed with Lang's analysis of the race. "I tried to keep up with Jonathan but at around the third or fourth kilometre he opened up a gap and we realized that he was on a different level."

"On my part, I have to admit that I hate running in the heat, as it really affects my performance" said the AS Libertas athlete who has recently been racing in cooler climates having finished 21st in a marathon in Belgrade last April as well as doing a 10k in Bosnia three weeks back.

Angela Sammut of St. Patrick's surprised everyone, including herself, by winning the women's section in a time of 40.57. Sammut, who gave birth just three months back admitted that she wasn't expecting to win. "For me it was simply a case of getting back into the running scene. I kept on training throughout my pregnancy and that helped a lot. But still, this win was completely unexpected."

Marylynn Bezzina, who is normally a regular on the triathlon circuit, came in second. "It was my first pure road race of the season but I wanted to try something different. It was tough, particularly in the last two kilometres when I seriously thought of stopping." The same though crossed third placed Carmen Hili's mind. "I've been training irregularly lately, so I'm satisfied to have finished the race."

St. Patrick's duo Karl Zammit and Christian Formosa came in first and second respectively in the 5k, followed by Justin Aquilina of AS Libertas. The girl's section was won by Athleta Pembroke's Denise Law with Monalisa Camilleri and Maria Sciberras of AS Libertas coming in second and third.

The Birzebbuga 10k also signalled the return of promising athlete Keith Tabone who, despite being absent from the running scene for a number of months, managed to win the U20 category.

Last year Tabone had won the 5k run but it was feared that he had quit the sport. Given the dearth of promise in the local long distance scene, his return is welcome news not only for St. Patrick's AC but for all of Maltese athletics.

Special Guest
Unbeknown to the rest of the field, the Red Bull Birzebbuga 10K also featured Briton Lynn Hughes who in 1967 broke the World Record for the 40 Miles distance on the track becoming the first man to run this distance in less than four hours. To this day, his time of 3 hours 58 minutes and 56 seconds is the fourth fastest time over that distance.

In Birzebbuga he finished the race in just over forty five minutes, enough to win him the Over 65 section as well as beat a number of much younger athletes. Asked whether he found any difficulty in coping with the heat, Lynn replied in the negative. "I've been training in Malta for the past week so I've gotten used to it. I ran comfortably even though I expected to do faster."

"Still, it was an enjoyable race and I'm thinking of coming back next February to take part in the half marathon."

He was spurred to come to take part by his twin brother Eric Hughes, another active athlete who is a regular visitor to Malta and also took part in Birzebbuga. "The heat got the better of me today. I normally prefer the 1,500m or the 5,000m. 10k is too much for me," said Eric whose claim is supported by the fact that he recently won the Welsh Over-65 title in the 5k, a race in which his brother came in third.

Talking about running in Malta, Eric expressed his belief that more British athletes might be interested in coming over. "I think that if they knew of the prices and how much it cost, many more athletes would come to Malta. From my experience, the races are always very good and well organized. They certainly compare well with anything that we have in Britain."