Kenya's Ken Samoei secured his first Bermuda race victory as he tackled the notoriously tough IAS Beach-to-Beach 5K yesterday.

The 24-year-old US college student set off in front with his Bermudian college buddy Chayce Smith and turned in a time of 19 minutes, 34 seconds to win by 41 seconds from Smith.

While the time might appear slow, it was a remarkable achievement on a tough course that included beach and sand dune running, a number of hills and a loop of Astwood Park. This year's race had the additional challenge of a westerly headwind on the return route back to the finish line on Horseshoe Bay Beach. Organisers recognised that the route is actually further than a 5K and this year announced it was 5.2 kilometres.

Samoei's time was slightly slower than Jay Donawa's mark set last year in the beach race's debut. For Samoei it was a final step up to the winning position after finishing second in the Lindo's to Lindo's 10K a week earlier and coming third in January's Fairmont to Fairmont Road Race.

Fastest woman was defending champion Victoria Fiddick, who appears to be regaining her race sharpness and crossed the finish line in 22.52, to give her a healthy margin of victory from Sharlene Sousa (25.21). Fiddick's time was also an improvement on her course record, which previously stood at 23.11.

In junior race action Dage Minors was the fastest runner in 8.16, winning his 11-12 age group, the first girl in the same category was jordan Bascome in 9.55, while Jaquan Burrows (9.39) and Aaliyah Nolan (9.27) were the respective boys' and girls' winners in the under-10 races.