Baglietto places fifth in tough Orkney half marathon

With four laps of a hilly course and wind to contend with Kim Baglietto came in 5th in the Island Games Orkney half marathon on Friday, in a better time than she had expected herself to do as she clocked 1:25.20.

Minutes after crossing the finish line and having congratulated the athletes before her she told the Chronicle she was really happy with her time.

“If you would have told me three weeks ago that I'd be lining up here to run this,” she said before pausing to take a second to take in just how tough the build-up to the event was.

“It's been it's been a difficult build-up. It's been a difficult few weeks. So, I'm just really proud to have got here to run out.”

“I was thinking I might run around 1:27, compared to previous races that I've done with this kind of elevation. So 1:25.50, I can't ask for much more with 5th place.”

“It would have been brilliant to have taken home then I was beaten by four better athletes on the day so it is what it is.”

Some of the challenges on the course were hills and wind.

She said that she did well on the hills and there were a lot of them, with a total elevation of 300m.

But just when she got to the point of thinking she was going to get a chance to recover, she would reach the crest of the hill and the wind would hit and suddenly “wow my recovery was gone.”

Having to do the loop four times was good in a way as she already knew what to expect, but the wind brought its challenges.

With the race is done, Gibraltar’s record holding athlete and former Island Games medallist was looking forward to a pint and to getting back to the Rock to focus on her partner Chris and their lives before she attempts her next half marathon in Marbella in October.