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21 SOME 120 athletes participated in the first edition of the Żejt iż- Żejtun Half Marathon hosted last week in Żejtun. The Żejt iż-Żejtun Half Mara- thon was spread over 3 loops of a 7.035km route round the historic locality of Żejtun. Besides athletes who chose to run the half mara- thon in full, a number of partici- pants also chose to run as a relay in teams of three runners who ran 7km each. The event also at- tracted participation of children in a 650m fun run and a 2.6km fun run. Charlton Debono came first in the male section, completing the half marathon in 1hr 14mins fol- lowed by David Galea in second place at 1hr 27mins 14 secs and Mauro Desira in third place at 1hr 27mins 24secs. The female setion was dominat- ed by Josanne Attard Pulis who completed the half marathon in 1hr 32mins. Amanda Rapa came second with a time of 1hr 42mins and Maureen Farrugia placed third at 1hr 47mins. The relay section of the half marathon was won by the team composed of Caroline Ciappara, Jonathan Balzan and Mary Grace Demicoli who together clocked a final timing of 1hr 30min. "As a first edition, we were very delighted with the response and the participation shown towards this event which appealed be- cause of the unusual locality and the relatively very fast route," said Darryl Grima from 5 Senses Mal- ta who organised the event with event owner Starmax Club and the collaboration of the Żejtun Local Council. "The novelty about this event was mostly owed to the fact that the Żejt iż-Żejun Half Marathon combined sport with history, cul- ture, lifestyle and deep-shared roots of the Mediterranean coun- tries with a strong connection to olive oil production. In fact, this initiative supports a more sus- tainable model of tourism that cares about respecting the local ecosystem and its traditional ac- tivities." The Żejt iż-Żejtun Half Mara- thon was the culmination of the project HOST - Heritage of Olive Tree for Sustainable Tourism – an EU-funded project hosted in Italy, Slovenia, Malta and Greece. FOOT - Fit On Olive Trails is the brand created by HOST for the running events. In fact, a marathon has already been held in Koper (Slovenia) and a trail in the Montepisano area (Italy). The Żejt iż-Żejtun half marathon will now be followed by another trail in Lesbos (Greece) in October. These are all locations with a strong connection to the culture of olive oil production. Sport ATHLETICS maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 OCTOBER 2016 Successful first edition of the Zejt iz-Zejtun Half Marathon Plans already in place for a second edition next year FORMULA 1 Grosjean had no warning over brake failure ROMAIN Grosjean said he had no warning over the brake fail- ure which pitched him out of the Malaysian Grand Prix dur- ing the opening stages. Grosjean had worked his way into ninth place for Haas when his car twitched under brak- ing for the hairpin, sending the Frenchman into the gravel and retirement. Grosjean reckons the failure prevented Haas from scoring its first points since July's Austrian Grand Prix. "There was a brake failure," he said. "We really don't know what yet, but the pedal just went straight to the floor and I had to avoid the car in front of me. "Our data didn't suggest any- thing beforehand. It's a shame. "We did a really good first lap and we were looking at points running inside the top 10. "Things just didn't go very well. I was racing with Fernando [Alonso]. He had power, so it was very difficult to keep him behind. I was then just trying to follow his pace. "The plan was to try to keep the tyres alive for quite a while. We just didn't get to that point, though." Mercedes signs option for 2018/19 FE entry REIGNING Formula 1 champi- ons Mercedes has signed an op- tion to become one of two po- tential new teams in Formula E for the category's fifth season in 2018/19, the manufacturer confirmed on Tuesday. Mercedes returned to Formu- la 1 as a manufacturer in 2010 and has dominated the sport since V6 power units were in- troduced in 2014, and is set to secure both titles for a third straight season. Mercedes revealed that it has signed an option with Formula E to enter the category for the fifth season of the champion- ship, when it is set to expand to 12 teams. It therefore gives Mercedes the chance to join the category in two years' time, when the current format of mid-race car changes will be scrapped in fa- vour of drivers using one car for the duration of the race. "We have been watching the growth of Formula E with great interest," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. "At the current time, we are looking at all the options avail- able in the future of motor rac- ing, and we are very pleased with an agreement that secures us an opportunity to enter the series in season five. "Electrification will play a major role in the future of the automotive industry. "Racing has always been a technology R&D platform for industry and this will make Formula E very relevant in the future."owing line up."