Youth and experience shone in the 28th edition of the PartnerRe Women's 5K Run on Sunday.

Naomi MacGuinness continued with her impressive exploits by becoming the youngest runner to win the race. The 12-year-old crossed the finish line at the Botanical Gardens in 19min 23sec, an improvement from the fourth position the young runner claimed last year in 19:56.

Maria Duffy, the mother of Olympic champion Dame Flora Duffy, triumphed in the over-70 age group just a few weeks shy of her 73rd birthday.

“It’s good to come out and support all these races,” Duffy told The Royal Gazette.

“It’s a long tradition and everybody must come out and do it to get the numbers up, that’s why I’m here. I think the numbers are down from the last few years, but it was still a great turnout with all these women coming together for a great cause.

“I’ve been running this race for 15 to 20 years. On and off, I’ve been on the podium for one age group or another.”

Teresa Ruiz finished second overall in 19:43 and Christine Dailey (20:50), runner-up when Gayle Lindsay won a year ago, finished third this time around.

Ruiz, who skipped the race a year ago due to illness, was happy to finish behind the magnificent MacGuinness. The 30-year-old clocked 21:21 to finish fifth in 2023, the first time she entered the event.

“I’m happy with where I finished and glad with how the race went,” the 30-year-old said.

“The conditions were perfect and the turnout was also great. It was good to see so many women running with a number of familiar faces.

“Naomi did really well. She’s young and she has a lot of talent so I was really proud of her when she passed me.

“She was behind me and I could sense her. I knew she was going to pass me and she had a really great race.”

Dailey, runner-up last year, had no expectations heading into the race as she continues to maintain fitness through the early stages of her pregnancy.

“I was happy with my race,” the 37-year-old said.

“I’m over 20 weeks pregnant and just grateful to be out there running. I had no goals at all, just trying to keep up fitness through pregnancy.

“It’s very exciting to see the young girls getting so fast. I’ll be excited to race them in 2026.

“I’m really happy for Naomi, she had such a great race. It’s a beautiful thing when hard work pays off.”

In her ongoing recovery from breast cancer, Rose-Anna Hoey won the 40 to 49 age group. Her time of 20:53 placed her fourth overall.

“I thought it was a beautiful day for running and the event organisers did a fantastic job,” the 43-year-old said.

“I had zero expectations of what I would be able to do as I had what is, hopefully, my last surgery at the end of June and couldn’t really train over the summer months.

“I completely surpassed my goal which was to run about 21.30. My ultra running and cross country days made me a strong downhill runner so I really had fun going downhill and pushing the pace then.

“Overall, I’m really pleased how far I’ve come and hope to make some continued improvements.”

To show the competitive nature of the race, Stepanka Sprincova, the winner of the 40 to 49 age group, was delighted to get the better of her friend Kristen Robinson.

“It was payback time for me against Kristen Robinson,” Sprincova said.

“She beat me last year so I had to step up this year. I turned around and saw the blue outfit and I was like ‘no way’.”

In the 30 to 39 age group won by Dailey, Robinson held off a strong challenge for second position from Annie Ford, who finished a second behind.

“I was impressed by Christine Dailey and Rose-Anna Hoey to be honest,” Robinson said.

“Rose-Anna fighting breast cancer and Christine 20 weeks pregnant. It was a good race, everyone was running together.

“It was fun running with the juniors too. They pushed us to perform at our best and Naomi was just impressive.”

Riana Robinson was never going to let her late arrival on the starting line ruin her 14th birthday. Having started the race when others had been running for three minutes, the budding runner pushed to finish 12th in 22:31.

“I got here late because I overslept and when they started I was going to get my number,” Robinson said.

“I just ran hard and I think I did my best. I didn't do any warm-up so it was a decent race for me.

“My initial plan was to finish in the top five or top ten. I was determined just to finish and have a good time.

“My time was pretty slow but still it was good considering that I didn’t get any preparation.”

In the 2K races, Evelyn Fahy (6:35) triumphed in the 11-14 age group, followed by Sukanya Jobson (6:38) and Elena Bortoli (6:55). Freya Dunkle (7:21) took the honours in the 7 to 10 division, ahead of Esme Jansma (7:53) and Izzy Stevens (7:55).

Laura Wright won the 5K competitive walk in 36:01. Closely behind was Arlene MacGuinness (38:05) and Amanda Miehm (40:08).

Kelly Hunt, executive director for Coalition for the Protection of Children, the charity selected to benefit from the race this year, expressed her appreciation for the funds the organisation will receive from the organisers and the sponsors.

“The Coalition for the Protection of Children is both thrilled and honoured to be this year’s charity chosen in Partner Re’s annual 5K event,” she said.

“These funds will support struggling mums with empowering skill development, hardship and life coaching.

“We cannot do this work and offer these services without the support of the community. We want to extend our warmest appreciation for the organisers and participants who made this an incredible day of women showing up for women.”