Lisa Marie Bezzina set a new national record in the half marathon in Pisa when she crossed the finish line in first place for a third successive year.

The Pembroke Athleta athlete continued her golden year in long-distance running when she completing the distance in one hour 17 minutes and 40 seconds.

Bezzina’s timing was 12 seconds faster than the previous national best set by Carol Galea in Palermo in 1993 when on that day she had completed the race in a time of one hour 17 minutes and 52 seconds.

For Bezzina it was her third successive success in the Pisa Half Marathon and this year she has managed to lower her timing by 33 seconds from her performance in 2019 when she had completed the race in a time of on hour 18 minutes and 13 seconds.

“I’m really delighted with my performance,” Bezzina told the Times of Malta.

“It’s a huge honour to set a new national record which was almost 33 seconds faster than my timing last year. I have worked so hard to break this record and finally I managed.

“It was not an easy race as the Italian runner stayed with me throughout the whole race but I kept fighting till the end and managed to distance myself away from her in the final metres of the race.

“I would like to dedicate this win to my coach Ivan Rozhnov who has guided me for this success as well as my family, sponsors and my workplace Metalform Malta. I’m also grateful to the Maltese Olympic Committee for their constant support.”

A second Maltese runner also made it on the podium as Joelle Cortis placed third overall.