Stephen Allen and Jennifer Alen won the men’s and women’s titles in a record-breaking Butterfield & Vallis 5K road race.

Defending men’s champion Allen broke away from his pursuers and blazed to victory in the 393-runner field, winning in 16min 5sec. His nearest rivals were senior school runners Daniel Oatley, 17, and Tyler Smith, 15, who were the next two across the finish line.

In the women’s race, Alen was equally as impressive, chalking up a lifetime best of 18:48. Afterwards, she declared herself pleased to have bounced back after being sidelined from racing for nine months, having suffered an injury only three weeks before the Bermuda Day Half-Marathon Derby last May.

That was the start of a prolonged spell away from racing that ended last month when she returned with an impressive runner-up performance in local women’s race in the KPMG Front Street Mile. Yesterday, Alen ran in the company of friend Deon Breary for the first two miles before pulling away in the final stages. “Deon and I worked together on the course,” she said. “I worked hard up the hill near Admiralty House and then kept that pace going.

“When I came around the corner and saw 18 minutes on the clock, I was really happy.” Although the sun was beating down with temperatures in the region of 72F, she felt comfortable in the conditions and glad to be racing again, with May 24 now a genuine target.

Breary, the women’s runner-up, also broke her personal best as she finished in 19:22. “I wanted to run at six-minute-mile pace and I did that for the first two miles,” Beary said.

Her focus is now on the New York City Half-Marathon next month, when she will set her sights on running a lifetime best. She aims to go under 1hr 30min and possibly clock 1:25. She will have Ashley Estwanik, her training partner and leading Bermuda runner, for company in the race.

Breary took top honours in the women’s masters division, just ahead of Victoria Fiddick, who was the third woman overall in 19:57. Fiddick was pleased to get under 20 minutes, but noted that her run was slower than previously over the distance, having clocked sub-19:00 on a number of occasions.

Men’s champion Allen had left all his rivals behind by the final mile, however teenagers Oatley and Smith were involved in a much closer battle to reach the finish line ahead of the others. They were competing in the senior school students’ race, which was held in conjunction with the adults’ race. In the final mile, Saltus student Oatley opened a gap on Somersfield Academy’s Smith and ran his best time of 17:16, despite picking up a blister on the sole of his right foot. Smith finished next in 17:31, staying ahead of Seamus Fearon, who was the second adult to finish, followed by Chris Hands.

Also the senior school students’ race, Akim Johnson, of Berkeley, was third, while Zakiyyah Showers, of Bermuda Institute, was first girl in 21:50, ahead of Quinnae Outerbridge, of BHS, and Sydney Steeves, of Saltus. A race over 2.7 kilometres for under-14s was held before the main event. Jayden Ming, 12, of Warwick Academy was first to finish in 9:12, winning the middle school division ahead of Ryan Outerbridge, of Clearwater. Ashley Irby, of Saltus, won the middle school girls’ race. Second and third girls to finish were Lynsey Palmer, of Saltus, and Messiah Greaves, of BHS. The third boy to finish was Robert Thomas, of Whitney.

The primary school students’ race was won by Nicholas Pilgrim, of Warwick, in 10:13, with Selah Tuzo, of Northlands, the first girl in 10:36. Full race results, page 20