John Kipkoskei produced arguably the finest display of distance running ever seen in Bermuda when he won the half marathon in record time yesterday.

The Kenyan's time of 1:06.34 not only shattered James Lauck's two-year-old course record by almost four minutes, it was also the fastest half marathon ever run in Bermuda, easily beating the May 24 Marathon Derby best of 1:11.27 set by local runner Kavin Smith in 1993.

Kipkoskei shrugged off the achievement. "I felt very good but there was a fairly strong wind and so many hills. Without that I could have done maybe 1:02.'' On a cool, breezy day perfect for fast times, American Ann Marie Letko was also in record form, clocking 1:16.06 to place eighth overall and easily beating her 1993 course record of 1:18.12. It was also the second time that Letko had achieved a 10K and half marathon `double', having recorded her third straight Bermuda 10K triumph 24 hours earlier.

Bermuda's Tracy Wright and Brett Forgesson took second and third place respectively among the men, while fellow locals Maria Conroy-Haydon and Julia Hawley were second and third in the women's race.

Wright's 1:12.01 beat his previous best of 1:13.48, set in 1993, but was outside Kavin Smith's winning 1:11.01 mark of last year. Conroy-Haydon ran 1:22.28 to carve more than four minutes off Debbie Butterfield's 1993 time of 1:26.40 to set a new local women's course record.

But no one was more impressive yesterday than Kipkoskei.

He made 13.1 miles of testing Bermudian terrain look ridiculously easy. By the second mile, he had shrugged off marathon frontrunners Edward Toukbatulin of Russia and Mexico's Moises Requena as well as Wright, and settled into a comfortable and relentless rhythm that rarely slackened until he hit the finish line on Front Street. The leaders went through the first mile in 5:09 but Kipkoskei, after weaving back and forth across Trimingham Hill to stop Toukbatulin drafting, stepped it up a gear, clocking 5:06 and 5:02 for miles two and three by which time the gap was 100 metres and growing.

"I wanted to run alone,'' Kipkoskei said afterwards. "I didn't want anyone to run with me. I prefer to run alone.'' Kipkoskei, originally from El Doret in Kenya's Rift Valley but currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, showed no side effects from Saturday's race and said he was using the weekend as part of his build-up to the Tokyo Marathon on March 8.

The climb up McGall's Hill, where he dodged a spectator's snapping dog and then almost collided with the media motorcade, slowed Kipkoskei down momentarily (he was 25:37 through five miles) but he quickly got back into top gear. He went though seven miles in 35:16 and put in a 4:58 eighth mile as he headed onto a calm and sunny North Shore. At nine miles, he took water and just before the 10-mile mark wiped his brow with his left hand but those were the only outward signs of effort as he cruised to victory.

For second placed Wright, who crossed the line some six minutes later, the race was something of a surprise after placing 14th in the 10K on Saturday.

"I haven't really trained for the half,'' said Wright, a former May 24 champion. "I didn't have a good race yesterday but I felt a little better today. I just thought I'd go out and see how it went. I felt good up to seven or eight miles but after that I had nothing left and I was just running on instinct.'' The current May 24 champion, Brett Forgesson, was happy enough with third place and a time of 1:13.41.

"It was pretty windy along South Shore and the first five or six miles it was hard work trying to get into a rhythm but on North Shore, about seven or eight miles, I found my rhythm and was quite comfortable after that.

"I had been hoping to jump onto a pack of marathon runners but it didn't work out that way because they went out pretty quick. I was hoping Tracy would come back but he obviously went out quick too.'' Like Kipkoskei, women's winner Ann Marie Letko made light of her record. In fact she didn't hang around to savour the victory initially, instead running back to cheer on Julia Hawley, her hostess for the weekend.

"I didn't expect it,'' the New Jersey native said of her record. "I set off at a 6:10 pace, then 5:50, so then I ran how I felt. I came up to (Bermuda runner) Neil De Ste Croix and we started talking and time went by and he said, `You've got to finish now'.'' Maria Conroy-Haydon's race couldn't have been a happier contrast to her last half marathon in May. Then, on her way to victory in the Marathon Derby, she dehydrated and collapsed less than two miles from the finish. This time, she was beaming after a 1:22 run.

"It was lovely conditions,'' said the Irish-born nurse. "I was going for 1:24, 1:25 but I felt really good. I hadn't done much speed work so I didn't know what sort of time I was going to do.'' Triathlete Hawley, completing the event for the first time, was wobbly at the finish line and admitted: "That was hard! It's a fast course and I really enjoyed it but the last two miles were tough.'' JOHN THE MAGNIFICENT -- John Kipkoskei of Kenya made history, clocking an incredible 1:06.34 in the fastest half marathon ever run in Bermuda.

RECORD BREAKER -- Maria Conroy Haydon set a new course record for local women when she ran the half marathon in 1:22.28.

WRIGHT STUFF -- Tracy Wright was the first local male to cross the line in the half marathon, clocking a personal best of 1:12.01.