Faye Fullerton and Charlotte Arter completed a British one-two in the Bermuda Marathon Weekend elite women’s 10K in “horrendous” conditions on Saturday morning.

Fullerton, a first-time visitor to Bermuda, finished strongly in a time of 35min 37sec, 11 seconds quicker than her team-mate Arter, who also finished second in last year’s race.

Heather Kampf, the defending champion, could not repeat her scintillating performance in the KPMG Bermuda Invitational Mile, having to settle for third in 36:22.

Fullerton described the hilly final 3K as feeling like “one assault after another” and said her win was as much a mental triumph as it was physical.

“The weather had a massive impact today and the last 3K was horrendous,” she said.

“With the rain in your race and gail-force winds up the hills, it was like one assault after another, a double blow to the quads.

“I’m glad I was able to hang on and just sort of test myself. It was also good that [Britain] managed to get our own back on the Americans [Kampf and Jamie Cheever]!”

The 31-year-old broke away from Arter with about 2K remaining, which she feared was perhaps a little too soon, but knew she could rely on her strength to carry her home.

“I came through strong and I know I’ve got a good sprint,” said Fullerton, who finished fourth in the Bermuda Invitational Mile.

“Today it was a case of hanging on to Charlotte because she’s in better cross-country/10K shape than me at the moment.

“I thought if I could get away from her just before a hill towards the end then I would be fine. I hate hills, I don’t pick up my legs.”

Arter, 24, said she hoped it would be a case of third-time lucky next year having finished runner-up for a second successive 10K.

“Obviously the conditions were terribly tough,” said Arter, who came a disappointing fifth in the Bermuda Invitational Mile.

“We started off a little slow and I knew the Americans had some good speed so I think Faye and I pushed it on a bit.

“The first 5K felt great because its predominantly downhill but I not going to lie, it was a long 5K back up. I was definitely looking forward to the finish!

“I’ll be looking to come back next year and finally win it.”

Kampf, a United States hopeful for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August, admitted she had been feeling the strain after her fourth consecutive win in the Invitational Mile on Friday.

“Sometimes the day after a mile race I get pretty bad side aches,” said the 28-year-old.

“After about a mile and a half in I was about ready to walk off the course!

“I felt like it was a mental victory to go out there and finish that kind of race.

“It makes you feel really tough out there to be running in those conditions.”

Kampf’s fellow US runner, Cheever, crossed the line in 36:26.