| Comeback Win for Balzan |
|
|
|
| Written by Emile | |
| Monday, 05 April 2010 | |
 It is said that the true test of a champion's character lies not in how he acts when successful but rather in how he reacts to a setback. If that is the case then Jonathan Balzan should not fear for his credentials. Faced by a similar mishap as the one that befel Balzan at the Malta Marathon when he was accidentally led off course, other lesser athletes might have given up or at least reconsidered their career. For Balzan, however, that was not really an option, or it wasn't for a long time.
"For a brief moment, I wanted to hang up my boots. I didn't know what
hit me and some people's comments hurt me. But I realised that I had to
put it behind me as I still had a lot to offer."
"I went out to win with a vengance to show that I am stil the Jonathan that I was before the marathon. The target was to obtain a personal best and record my sixth win in this race since 2003. Thankfully, I managed to do both." Such was his dominance that the second placed athlete, Gerald Grech, ran home almost four minutes behind Jonathan. Richard Chetcuti, who was the eventual winner at the Malta Marathon, was third. Another Malta Marathon winner, Marisa Muscat, had a more enjoyable time as she won the women's section of the race. "My ambitions were for a 1 hr 10 min but in fact I was not feeling well on race day as I had an upset stomach and my energy levels were somehow bit on the low side," she said as a reaction of her 1.11.11 finish. "I eased a bit my training after the marathon although I kept running the usual runs. The Dingli 10 is not an easy one as we always said, I was not up to standards on the day, although my coach was happy with my time." Team-mate Rita Galea came in second whilst the veteran Cecilia Fenech finished in third. The Hilly Clothing Dingli 10, that once again had a record number of entrants, also featured a walkathon for the first time as well as the usual fun run for kids. Results Men Jonathan Balzan (St. Patrick’s AC) 54.44 Gerald Grech (AS Libertas) 58.37 Richard Chetcuti (Mellieha AC) 59.15 Simon Lia (Zurrieq Wolves) 1.00.40 Rodney Cassar (Mellieha AC) 1.01.13 Women Marisa Muscat (St. Patrick’s AC) 1.11.11 Rita Galea (St. Patrick’s AC) 1.11.53 Cecilia Fenech (Zurrieq Wolves) 1.13.05 Britney Barnett (No Club) 1.13.53 Marthese Mercieca (Mellieha AC) 1.15.31 |
|
| Last Updated ( Monday, 05 April 2010 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|