Late entry Benjamin Meto won the Bermuda Marathon at the first attempt yesterday to cap an impressive Bermuda Marathon Weekend debut.

The Kenyan romped to victory in 2hr 28min 20sec to add to his triumph in Saturday’s Bermuda 10K and deny compatriot and training partner, Richard Kessio, a third straight victory. Kessio came second in the 26.2 mile race in 2:30.01.

The two Mexico-based runners ran side by side for nearly 14 miles before Meto made the decisive break coming over Trimingham Hill for the second time to all but secure victory.

“This is my first time in Bermuda and first time doing the marathon so it feels great to win,” Meto said. “The course was tough and I usually run good on flat courses.

“But I ran a 2:28 today because of the terrain and it has been a long time since I have run that time because I usually run under 2:25. The first half was a little faster and then the second half was very slow.”

Meto contemplated pushing the pedal to the floor much earlier in the race. “In the first half I wanted to break away but decided not to,” he said. “I hung on until I decided to break around 13 kilometres and unfortunately we didn’t go together because [Kessio] seemed to be lacking energy.”

A labouring Kessio, who finished second in 2:30.02, put up as good a fight as he could before sore leg muscles ultimately took their toll.

“I had problems with my thigh muscles after about 6½ miles which made things difficult for me,” he said. “But I am happy to see my training partner win.”

As for being denied a third successive win, Kessio said: “It was unfortunate. But you have to accept that, and hopefully I’ll be back next year.”

Meto added: “Competition is like that; you win today and tomorrow somebody else and so on so forth. It just keeps on changing hands.”

Rounding off the top three finishers was Canadian Wesley Banks in 2:57.28 while Gideon Kigotho led the local men’s field across the line in a personal best time of 3:07.54.

“It is the second year for me and I improved on my time by a couple of seconds, so I am more than happy with that,” Kigotho, the Bermuda Football Association financial controller, said. “My goal is to do a sub three-hour marathon in Bermuda, which is still unaccomplished.

“But we live in hope and maybe one day I will get it and if not I will look for it elsewhere.”

Claiming this year’s women’s marathon title was two-times Olympic cyclists Lyne Bessette, of Canada, in 3:10.17.

“I did this race in 2011 so this was my second time and it feels great to win,” Bessette, who has also competed locally in the CD&P Grand Prix, said. “I started a little slow but I still picked it up.

“I wanted to do 3:10 and I did so I was really happy. If I hadn’t done the 10K maybe I would have been close to my goal. This is a really hard course, but very nice for runners because you have the ocean and little hills that give you another challenge. Mentally you have to always be focused.”

Finishing second behind Bessette was compatriot and 2011 winner Stephanie Hodge who was ninth overall in 3:16.45.

Rounding of the top three in the women’s division was Laura Wright, who was also the first local female to finish, in a personal best time of 3:31.44.

“This was my sixth marathon and a PB so I’m pretty pleased,” Wright said. “The conditions were good and it’s a tough run — it really is.”