After having won the second leg of this season’s Road Running championship on the traditional Tal-Maqluba route in 33 minutes 32 seconds, Birkirkara St. Joseph’s James Douglas made an encore in the third leg at Ta’ Qali, placing himself as firm favourite to win the championship. Team mate John Buhagiar finished sixth at Tal-Maqluba, signalling that his come back was a very steady one.

The icing on the cake came at the Ta’ Qali race. Although few had any doubts that James will win hands down, as he actually did in a staggering 32 minutes 28 seconds, it was difficult to predict a one-two victory for Birkirkara St. Joseph. This materialised through a vintage performance by John Buhagiar, who tactfully masterminded a brilliant race to finish second in a very creditable 33 minutes 23 seconds. While James took the lead from the gun, John was placed seventh mid-way through the race, carefully bidding his time to open what proved to be a devastating attack. When this happened, he had second place in a tight grip, leaving the rest in his wake, giving the podium such a yellow shade.

Full results by Birkirkara St Joseph athletes are the following:

Maqluba 10K: James Douglas 33:32 (1), John Buhagiar 34:53 (6), Gordon Camenzuli 38:42 (31), Edward Buttigieg 40:54 (47), Chris Iwanik 43:38 (60), Frankie Muscat 44:17 (63), Ismael Muscat 51:57 (91)

Ta’ Qali 10K: James Douglas 32:28 (1), John Buhagiar 33:23 (2), Johan Cassar 35:03 (13), Gordon Camenzuli 37:39 (34), Edward Buttigieg 39:25 (48), George Cassar 40:46 (54), Chris Iwanik 41:55 (58), Ismael Muscat 47:03 (81)

Females: Marylynn Bezzina 47:07 (14)