Blagg claims King of the Road title as Finley claims final race

Race seven of seven, a ten-kilometre run, completed this year’s GibFibre Road Runners League 2025/26, with youth runner Finely Cant claiming first place in the race.

The young athlete secured his second big win of the season, having won the 4km sprint earlier in the year.

However, it was not enough for him to claim pole position in the league standings, with Richard Blagg completing the season as King of the Road.

With two wins in the first two races of the season and a further two second-place finishes in races three and five, Calpean runner Richard Blagg finished top of the table with a total of 591 points from six races run out of the seven. Blagg doing enough in the final race to claim the necessary points to keep him at the top of the table.

Finely, who completed all seven races, managed just the one win in the races where points were awarded for the league standings. Finishing just three points behind Blagg with 588 points, the young athlete had to settle for second place in the league, tied on points with his team-mate Ben Reeves.

Julian Sheriff finished fourth, with Maurice Turnock completing the top five.

With three of the top five runners forming part of Lourdians, the club took pole position in the team league table.

Lourdians A claimed top spot, with Hercules Triathlon A finishing second. Surprisingly for many was the sight of Calpeans finishing fifth in the table, with both Lourdians B and Lourdians C finishing ahead of them — one of the lowest standings for Calpeans in recent years.

Carpe Diem’s A and B sides, along with the Royal Gibraltar Regiment team, completed the rest of the table.

In the women’s category, it was Rosanna Dos Santos Fernandes who claimed top spot in the standings, followed closely by team-mate Charlene Marin. With Carpe Diem taking the top places in the individual category, they also secured top spot in the team competition ahead of Lourdians A.

Interestingly, the individual table saw Kim Baglietto finish in tenth place despite only running three of the seven races — winning all three.

The Queen of the Road, Rosanna Dos Santos Fernandes, did not win any of the seven races and only finished second twice, proving that consistency across the season was enough to secure the top prize.

Tamara Tsiklauri, who finished seventh overall in the league table, was the only other athlete in the top ten to win a race, having taken victory in Race 2 and the final race of the season this past Sunday.

A similar scenario was seen in the men’s league, where three-time winner Andrew Gordon did not appear among the top twelve listed athletes, having not completed the necessary number of races across the season to be eligible for the King of the Road title.

The presentation of the league season awards will take place sometime in April, with a date due to be announced by the GAAA following a rescheduling of the calendar.

The association now enters a busy few weeks, with the second of the Youth Track League races taking place this week and the final Youth Track League races scheduled for next week before the final presentations.

Also this month, the Traditional Annual Hill Climb Challenge 2026 will take place on Sunday 22 March from 10am, with the climb starting from the car park by the Lions Club.

Just a week later, on Sunday 29 March, athletes can also enjoy a non-competitive 5km Fun Run in aid of Calpe House, starting at Campion Park from 10am.

The International Half Marathon 2026 will take place on Sunday 10 May, starting at 8:30am from Campion Park.

Gibraltar will also be participating in the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Championships 2026, to be held in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, between March 20 and 22. Gibraltar will be represented by Pau Funes FA, with Jerai Torres accompanying the athlete as team manager.