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When Arnold Pickup decided to take part in the Gudja 8k, his best hope for a trophy was that of topping his age category. He certainly never imagined going home with the award granted for the second placed athlete.
But at the end of the day he had to make place on his mantelpiece for this trophy after Drew Lang, who had finished second in 27.59 minutes, decided to let the last placed athlete take the prize.
For seventy three year old Pickup it was an unexpected bonus. Yet, considering that there are people fifty years younger than him who would last the 8km, it was a merited reward for an athlete who should be considered a role model for all of society.
It was a nice gesture by Lang who had raced well despite being hampered by a knee injury which had also curtailed his speed work in the run up to this race.
Predictably, the athlete who finished ahead of the Scotsman was fellow St. Patrick’s runner Jonathan Balzan. Even so, for the club’s leading athlete it was a bittersweet success as he missed out on breaking the course record by a handful of seconds.
“My hamstring has been playing up recently and although I didn’t feel it during the race, it was always at the back of my mind,” he admitted. “It was disappointing not to break the record by just nine seconds but in the last 1km I didn’t feel that I could push harder. The fact that I was alone for most of the race didn’t help. It’s hard when you’ve got nobody to push you on.”
Third place went to another St. Patrick’s athlete as Simon Camilleri returned to action after a sabbatical of two years to finish behind Lang with 28.21. It was a conscious decision to settle for such placing. “After the 3rd kilometre I decided to stay in position and hold on to 3rd place rather than push on.”
Kathleen Camilleri of Zurrieq Wolves retained last year’s title when she finished in a time of 35.25. St. Patrick’s Katia Camilleri (36.40) also confirmed last year’s second place finish with Zurrieq Wolves’ Rachel Galea (36.59) coming home third.
Other Gudja 8K Results
Juniors Boys
Andrew Vella – Allcomers AC
Ezekiel Micallef – St. Patrick’s AC
Luke Scorfna – Athleta Pembroke
Juniors Girls
Denise Law - Athleta Pembroke
Roberta Schembri - Athleta Pembroke
Jana Pace Cocks - Athleta Pembroke
Veterans Women
Over 40 Louise Bailey – Ladies Running Club
Over 45 Mary Rose Herd – Ladies Running Club
Over 50 Lydia Barbara – St. Patrick’s AC
Veterans Men
Over 40 David Sammut – Attard Athletics
Over 45 Manuel Spiteri – St. Patrick’s AC
Over 50 Stephen Mifsud - St. Patrick’s AC
Over 55 Dennis Briffa – Athleta Pembroke
Over 60 John Saliba
Over 65 Victor Spiteri - St. Patrick’s AC
Over 70 Arnold Pickup – Attard Athletics |
