Keith Galea places third overall
The Saints were well represented at the 25th Nestle Fitness Malta International Challenge Marathon last weekend when current National Triathlon Champion Keith Galea ended the 2015 season with a place on the podium, finishing third over all.
The Malta International Challenge Marathon is a three-day race covering a total distance of 42.195km. The first leg kicks off from Rabat and consists of an 11.195-km loop which sees athletes tackle an uphill route towards Dingli and back. The second stage saw runners undertake a 6-km loop in Birzebbugia whilst the third and longest loop consisted of a 25-km route from St. Paul’s Bay along the coast towards Valletta. This course sees athletes having to tacking a number of tough hills to finish off in Valletta’s main entrance.
Saints triathlete Keith Galea gave a consistent performance throughout having to battle with top local road runners the likes of Andrew Grech and Charlton Debono. A hard fought battle in the third stage saw Galea race neck to neck with French athlete Guillaume Laclregue, a few seconds separating them for most of the time. With just 4km to go, Galea attacked at Sa Maison on the penultimate hill and maintained the momentum to cross the finish line in third place in a time of 1 hour 34 mins and 46 seconds. Galea registered an overall time of 2 hours 34 mins 45 seconds.
The Men’s team made up of Keith Galea, Rudolph Agius, Barry Farrugia and Dermot Galea finished second in the Men’s Team Classification whilst the Women’s Team, made up of Christabelle Attard, Marian Belsten and Sandra Schembri finished 3rd. Sandra Schembri also clinched first place in the Female 45 – 49 Age Group. The Club’s relay team made up of Susan Spiteri Shaw, Maria Vella-Galea and Suzanne Farrugia claimed second place in the Gatorade Team Relay classification.
Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club fielded at total of seventeen athletes which included – Keith Galea, Dermot Galea, Barry Farrugia, Lydon Bonnici, Roberto Demicoli, Michael Gafa, Josef Zarb, Mario Pisani, Steven Delicata, Ben Mifsud, Sandra Schembri, Christabelle Attard, Marian Belsten, Susan Spiteri Shaw, Suzanne Farrugia and Maria Vella-Galea.
Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club Secretary General Euchar Camilleri and his team undertook time-keeping duties throughout the event.
