Cortis and Farrugia dip under 5K record standard in MonacoRun

Joelle Cortis and Gabriel Farrugia dipped below the national record on the 5km distance when on Sunday they took part in the MonacoRun.

The two Maltese runners were up against some world class runners in the race that was held in the Principality of Monaco.

Cortis, who is coached by Nick Anderson, produced a strong performance in the women’s race when she completed the distance in a time of 17 minutes and 25 seconds.

The Maltese runner’s time was six seconds faster than the current national record of 17.31. Cortis will now await her time to be ratified by Athletics Malta as a new national record.

Her effort in the Monaco Principality saw Cortis end the race in an impressive ninth place overall.

The win went to Kenya’s Mirriam Chebet who clocked 15.40. She finished ahead of Ine Bakken, of Norway, who finished in 16.24 while third place went to France’s Jenipher Contois (16.28).

In the men’s race, Gabriel Farrugia, of Evolve Endurance Club, finished the race in 15.27 minutes to improve on his previous national best time of 15.48 by a staggering 20 seconds.

Farrugia, who is coached by Has Kesra, finished 40th overall and third in the Under 20 category

France’s Jimmy Gressier won the race in a new European record of 13 minutes and 12 seconds to finish ahead of Dominic Lubalu, of Afghanistan, and Oscar Chelimo, of Kenya.