Julian Sheriff pulls impressive half marathon

Julian Sheriff delivered one of the most impressive performances of his season in the international half marathon, which saw a head-to-head battle for the top three places from the start of the race.

One hundred and twenty-two runners registered for the event, which started earlier than usual at 8.30am.

The notable absence of some of Gibraltar’s top runners was further accentuated by the non-appearance of Andrew Gordon, who had been expected to run after registering for the event.

There was, however, a strong field, with runners from the surrounding region, the UK and Morocco, among other locations, adding to the competitiveness at the front of the race.

Although Julian Sheriff lost some ground after the first lap, he took the lead into the second lap, turning at Glacis Road in first place and maintaining his momentum through the second, third and fourth laps to the finish. Ben Reeves remained at his heels throughout most of the race, but slowly lost ground as he entered the fourth lap.

In the women’s category, Cynthia Sanchez, from club Dos Hermanos in Spain, took the lead and maintained her momentum throughout. A strapped Kim Baglietto, who had indicated she was not prepared to risk further injury and had even considered pulling out if the pain increased, held on to second place. Halfway through the race she indicated to her father and mentor that she was capable of finishing, which she did, taking second place in the women’s category.

Tamara Tsilauri finished third.

Run in the early morning in order to avoid exposing runners to the mid-morning sun, the weather did not play its part, with humid, overcast conditions and light drizzle creating a grey day for runners, rather than the sunny Gibraltar feel organisers would have hoped for.