Ashley Estwanik lowered the Bermudian women’s national half-marathon record yesterday, crossing the finish line of the United Airlines New York City Half-Marathon in 1hr 18min 19sec.

Her outstanding performance topped an impressive day for a large contingent of island residents who competed in the race and secured three age-division top ten placings.

Exactly two years after running 1:19:18 in the same event to smash the national record, Estwanik ran a minute faster through the streets of Manhattan.

During the 13.1-mile race, which was run in near-freezing conditions, she cruised through the first 10K in 37:20. She maintained a pace that was a fraction under six minutes per mile to finish 162nd overall out of 20,149 finishers, and 16th in the women’s race. Estwanik, 38, also won her age group.

At least 33 runners from Bermuda were listed among the finishers, with Philip Mace posting the fastest time with 1:17:32, coming 141st overall and seventh in the 40-44 age category.

Corey Brunton was next to finish in 1:18:17, having matched Estwanik’s pace for the entire race, followed by Neil Lupsic in 1:19:11.

Rose-Anna Hoey impressed with a finishing time of 1:25:51 to finish 82nd overall among the women. She was one of a number of the island’s leading women runners to compete. Jennifer Alen clocked 1:27:32, followed by Kristen Palmer in 1:29:50, and Alison Schindel in 1:31:09.

Victoria Fiddick was third in the 50-54 age division in a time of 1:31:18.

The overall race winner was Stephen Sambu, of Kenya, in 1:01:16, with American Molly Huddle first woman in 1:07:41.

Also competing were former Bermuda residents April Vesey, who ran 2:00:31, and Sangeeta Wagh in 2:15:04.