Chayce Smith won the Bermuda Healthcare Services “Sir” Stanley Burgess 5K road race, retaining the title he won for the first time last year.

Among the women, Gayle Lindsay improved on her runner-up spot a year ago to secure victory and post a time of 19min 37sec, reflecting her focus on shorter, faster distances as she prepares for track racing in next month’s NatWest Island Games.

The 5K was also the final event in the inaugural Swan’s Running Club Legends four-race series. Competitors who registered for the series amassed points in each race according to their finishing position.

Tim Price, who was second overall yesterday and also runner-up in first three races, won the series.

Laura Wright, who was first woman in the previous three events and came third yesterday, lifted the women’s race series trophy.

In the 5K, Smith set the pace from the start, asserting himself at the front as the runners streamed along Middle Road towards Devonshire Marsh, before heading back up the hills of Parsons Lane and Frog Lane to the finish at Prospect.

It was a new route due to the old course being unavailable with the closure of Black Watch Pass for maintenance work.

The conditions were testing, with overcast skies and high humidity. Smith crossed the finish line in 16:22, ahead of Price in 17:39, and Ariell Evans in 18:35.

Among the women, Lindsay went straight into the lead and stayed in control to claim the title and finish seventh overall. Karen Smith and Wright were never far apart, with Smith runner-up and first woman master in 20:47, followed closely by Wright in 20:59.

The race honoured the late Stanley Burgess, who won the Bermuda Day Half-Marathon Derby six times from 1930 to 1951, and chalked up six wins in a rival May 24 long distance road race that was held from 1926 to 1943.

Burgess became popularly known as “Sir Stanley” in honour of his running achievements and longevity — he last competed in the May 24 race in 1983, when he was 81.

The Swan’s Running Club Legends race series also honoured Ed Sherlock, Ray Swan and the late Ludwig Cann.

There were 119 finishers in the 5K, including a large number from the Beat the Couch fitness group.

A 2K junior race was won by Matthew Elliott, 13, in 7:05, followed by Khari Sharrieff, 9, in 7:36, and first girl Myeisha Sharrieff, 11, in 7:38.

Howard Williams was first in the 5K walk in 33:19, ahead of Gilda Cann in 36:23, and Zharia Bean in 43:12.

In the 5K road race, age division winners among the men were: Akim Johnson, first under-19 in 19:58; Ronae Burgess, first master in 19:08; Ricky Sousa, first senior master in 19:50; Frederick Steede, first over-60 in 22:11; Michael Whalley, first over-70 in 27:48.

Among the women, age division winners were: Jennie Kelly, first senior master in 26:35; Mayberline Black, first over-60 in 28:58.