Evan Naude and Rose-Anna Hoey are the new Fidelity International 5K road race champions, clinching the men’s and women’s titles with commanding front-running performances.

Organisers moved the popular race from its usual June date to November, expecting cooler conditions, but that was not how things turned out.

As the temperature hit 77F, and with a humidity reading to match, one of the race officials noted: “We picked a date that turned out to be a June day in November.”

Despite it being warmer than anticipated, overall winner Naude coped well and showed he had recovered from his exertions in the Bank of Bermuda Foundation Triathlon the previous weekend, where he was fourth. In yesterday’s race he led from start to finish.

“I was looking to get a good finishing position. I went in front, but I was aware there were quite a few runners close behind,” said Naude, 39.

At the halfway turnaround point just beyond the Hamilton Princess, on Pitts Bay Road, he was able to check the relative positions of his nearest rivals. He was being pursued by Corey Brunton, but he had opened up a sizeable lead and continued to stretch away to win in 17min 24sec.

Brunton was second in 18:25, followed by Omari Hart in 18:53.

“I’m happy with the race,” Naude said.

“I know they moved the date to avoid the heat, but it didn’t work out that way.”

He said he mostly runs to keep fit nowadays, but is considering tackling the three-race Bermuda Triangle Half Challenge during Bermuda Marathon Weekend in January.

Naude and wife Samantha finished second in the married couples’ team category with a combined time of 43:54.

The winning team was Rose-Anna Hoey and husband David in 41:22. It was their third consecutive victory in the married couples’ category.

Hoey was delighted to have done the double, winning in the team event and first women to finish. She crossed the line fourth overall in 19:10, one place ahead of Deon Breary, in 19:35, and ninth-placed Victoria Fiddick, in 20:33.

In the early part of the race, Hoey and training partner Breary ran in close company, but by halfway Hoey, 34, had opened up a gap. She put in a number of surges in the latter stages of the race to maintain her advantage.

“I knew it was going to be hot. I had been watching the weather during the weekend. I wanted to run under 19 minutes, but I’m happy with the result,” she said.

Remarkably, Hoey had run seven miles in training before the race, and was intending to add a further six afterwards as part of her preparation for January’s Bermuda Marathon Weekend, where she has her sights on the Bermuda Triangle Full Challenge.

The former Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby winner won the Bermuda Triangle Half Challenge in 2013.

The masters’ category team event was won by Omari Hart and Deon Breary in a time of 38:29, while the family team category was won by Jude and Freya Neame in 44:32.

In the corporate team category, Noah Fields and Sheikia Ming, representing Maiden Re, won in 46:46.

Victoria Fiddick and Quincy Kuzyk won the open mixed team category in 40:41. Fifteen-year-old Kuzyk was sixth overall in the 5K, where he ran 20:07.

In the all female open category, Sharon Craig and Mairi Redmond were first in 47:23.

There were 165 finishers in the 5K road race, with a further 30 in the competitive and recreational walk events.

Rebecca Perry was first in the competitive walk, in a time of 34:53, Sinclair Smith was second in 35:34.

• Jamie Fraser led home the 12-strong Bermuda contingent at the New York Marathon yesterday, finishing in a time of 3:03:03.

The other runners from the Island who took part in yesterday’s race in New York were Manuel Lopes (3:16.38), Geoff Blee (3:17.18), Nicholas Quinn (3:44.55), Peter Merritt (3:46.05), Craig Rothwell (3:59.08), Emma Norman (4:00.39), Whitney Iuliano (4:09.53), Nicole Andreasen (4:10.51), Jan Spindler (4:29.08), Rachel Rothwell (4:47.33), Nils Harms (4:50.25), Natalie Dyrli (5:00.45), Melanie Sousa (5:24.58), Susana Brewster (5:27.43), Harry Andrews (5:30.59) and Manuel Lopes.

Lopes was the second fastest of the Bermuda runners, finishing in 3:16:38, followed closely behind by Blee, who came home in 3:17:18.

The rest followed at regular intervals thereafter, with Blee 30 seconds behind Lopes and Whitney Iuliano and Nicole Andreasen finishing within a minute of each other soon after.