Seven run under 60 minutes as Moroccan wins again

A total of 165 runners took part in the traditional pre-Christmas Urban Jungle Mdina-Spinola 10.8-mile road race recently.

A record seven runners broke the one hour mark, with Moroccan Bahhad Abdelghani, winner of a number of recent road races in Malta, first across the finish line. Mario Vella was a fraction outside the 60-minute mark in eighth place.

Undoubtedly, Abdelghani's lack of knowledge of the route slowed him considerably, forcing him to run much of the second half of the race alongside John Buhagiar who was to finish only two seconds in the Moroccan's wake.

Brian Magri, who had tried pushing the pace with Abdelghani in the early stages, finished a satisfied third.

Carol Galea was untroubled in first place for the women, although, after a spate of recent niggles she ran more cautiously than usual, more than content to win pain-free.

Cecilia Fenech continued her recent fine form to finish a strong second in a personal best of 1:07:50. Angela Sammut finished third female in 1:10:42.

The race was organised by the Malta Marathon Organising Committee, who were assisted by the traffic police. Race sponsors, Urban Jungle, gave Nike gift vouchers to the first three Maltese males and females.