Chris Estwanik broke his own course record as he won the Lindo’s to Lindo’s 10K Road Race in 31min 23sec. He was more than half a mile ahead of his nearest rival by the time he reached the finish line.

First woman Deon Breary tuned up for next weekend’s New York Half-Marathon by leading from start to finish, coming home 20th overall in 41:29.

Almost 1,000 entrants signed up to take part in either the main road race or the four-mile competitive and non-competitive walks between the Lindo’s stores in Warwick and Devonshire.

Estwanik has shown formidable form since returning from an injury that hampered his 2013 season. As the race got under way all eyes were on him, but not for long.

By the time the leading group of chasing runners reached the two-mile point at the top of Trimingham Hill they had lost sight of Estwanik and would not see him again until the race was over.

A cool morning with low humidity provided perfect running conditions. However, Estwanik said he did not feel as fluent a runner as he has been in the past.

“If that had been a training run I would have thought it was a minute slower than it actually turned out to be,” he said.

He was tested by the two big inclines in the final two miles, at Collector’s Hill and Chaingate Hill. As he neared the finish, he heard the race announcer urging him to break his 2008 record. Digging deep, Estwanik powered across the line and lowered his six-year course record by five seconds.

He now has his eyes set on competing in the famous Grandma’s Marathon, in Duluth, Minnesota, in June. After missing last year’s May 24 Half-Marathon Derby because of injury, the five-times winner expects to compete this year before his marathon in the US.

Chayce Smith was the second runner to finish yesterday. His time of 34:44 kept him almost half a minute clear of third-placed Evan Naude.

Breary had a specific goal in mind, and that was to run the first four miles at the same pace that she will aim for in New York next Sunday. She accomplished that and stayed ahead of her rivals for the rest of the race to claim victory ahead of the fast-improving Laura Wright, who set a lifetime best of 41.57.

“Today was like a training run to see how I was,” Breary said. “It felt good. My focus is on the half-marathon. I want to run about 1hr 25min.”

If she hits her target, she will beat her personal best, which stands at 1:28:52.

The battle for third place in the women’s race went to the line, literally, as Krista Dyer, Victoria Fiddick and Catherine Mello hit the finishing mat together.

For much of the race, Fiddick had been ahead of the other two, but in the final stretch Mello challenged her and, as they raced to the line, Dyer, who had been closely tracking the pair, joined the fray. All three were given the same time of 42:21, but Dyer was officially recognised as third woman to finish, just edging Fiddick and Mello.

In the four-mile competitive walk, Andrea Bolley was first to finish in 40:02, ahead of Joseph Matthew in 40:43 and Sinclair Smith in 40:51.

Results, page 12