Maltese Athletes Oust Some Of Europe’s Finest With Top 10 Finish In Continental Off-Road Championships
Running is not easy, especially in the mountains. However, one badass team of Maltese folks bagged a top 10 finish at a European Championship where athletes did just that.
The European Athletics Off-Road Championships were held in El Paso in the Canary Islands, Spain. It’s a continental event that combined the disciplines of trail and mountain running.
In the event, Malta bagged a number of respectable positions in various events, none more so than a top 10 finish in an arduous 18km mountain race that left athletes at the mercy of the mountainous terrain.
They got the better of top running nations, such as Portugal, Ireland and Denmark and many of the 280 athletes across 24 nations taking part in these championships.
Amid the gruelling feats, perhaps the toughest of them all belonged to Ryan Farrugia, who competed in a torturous 47km trail race but placed 33rd with a time of 4 hours and 48 minutes.
He finished ahead of some killer athletes from much larger countries such as Spain, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Sweden and Ireland.
In the mountain race, Luke Micallef (Pembroke), Simon Spiteri (St Patrick) and Aidan Tanti (La Salle) secured a place among Europe’s best 50 athletes. Though they also competed in individual events.
Micallef placed 30th in the 9km classic uphill race, finishing just five seconds behind the defending European Champion Jacob Adkin (United Kingdom).
He was joined by Jake Fenech (Libertas Malta) who took on an incredibly tough route that included an elevation of more than a kilometre over the distance.
In the woman’s event, with a vertical ascent of 1000m, this year’s National Mountain Running Champion Rachel Borg (Pembroke) and long-distance runner Carmen Hili (St. Patricks) secured 40th and 41st respectively.
Tara Abdilla (La Salle) came in at 48th in the women’s category; a very strong performance for Malta’s renowned mountain and trail runner.
The Maltese delegation was headed by Gerald Grech and supported by Malta Mountain and Trail Running, Athletics Malta, and Visit Malta.
Lovin Malta congratulates the Maltese athletics team for serious results!