Falmouth road race won by little-known Kenyan runner Joseph Kamau in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The transplanted New Zealand native clocked 37 minutes and 58 seconds for the 7.1-mile coastal run to finish ahead of Tracy Wright by more than two minutes.

Wright was timed in 41:00 which was well off his 39:22 achieved a year ago for the same event when he emerged as the top Bermudian.

Third was Neil de Ste. Croix, currently preparing for next month's ITU Triathlon World Cup Bermuda, who completed the distance in 41:38.

In the male masters Harry Patchett recorded 43:40, Mike Rickards clocked 48:36 in the senior masters and Andrew Fletcher rounded out the men with a 50:47 clocking.

On the women's side Maria Conroy Haydon, competing in the open category, repeated her role from a year ago, breaking the tape as the first local female in 43:16, which was more than a minute slower than her time in 1994.

Possibly feeling the effects of taking part in the shorter distances at what was a highly-successful foray into the recent Masters World Championships in New York, Jennifer Fisher was forced into second at 45:32, while female masters participant Jane Christie was next at 47:32.

The third open competitor Julia Hawley endured a dismal run, her 51:48 the slowest of all and continuing a slump that has gripped her this year.

Top female senior master was Peggy Couper (48:21) while Leslie Caslin (49:21) rounded out the list.

Exact positions for the local runners at the event, which attracted over 9,000 competitors, were unknown late last night.

In what was reported as the closest finish in race history, the 23-year-old Kamau pulled away from the lead pack five-and-a-half miles into the race and finished in 32:10, one second ahead of countryman Ibrahim Kinuthia, earning $10,000 for his efforts.

Only 17 seconds separated the top 10 finishers, according to yesterday's early unofficial results.

Brett Forgesson