Lamont Marshall has shattered his personal best for 10,000 metres and run what is believed to be the second fastest time ever achieved for the distance by a Bermudian.

He was competing in the Penn Relays track and field meeting, one of the largest athletics events in the US, and finished mid-field in the highly competitive Olympic Development Men's 10,000m race.

Marshall continued his impressive record-breaking form of late by posting new lifetime best figures of 30 minutes 44.92 seconds in a race that was won by Roland Lavallee in 29.54.

It is believed the only Bermudian to run a quicker time is national record holder Kavin Smith, who clocked 30.29 in Grimsby, England, in September, 1995.

Marshall's effort was an almost exact match to the 30.45 10K time that May 24 Half-Marathon Derby champion Chris Estwanik ran in last Sunday's RMS Construction road race, proving that the two runners are both hitting top form with less than a month to go before the 101st edition of the Island's signature road running event .

And with last year's runner-up, Olympic triathlete Tyler Butterfield also producing some of the fastest times of his career this year, the prospect of Estwanik, Marshall and Butterfield duelling in this year's half-marathon looks likely to produce a fascinating battle for top honours.

At the University of Pennyslvania track meeting last Thursday, Marshall had to wait until 11.30 p.m. for his race, which was also his first track 10,000 metres.

He ran mile splits of 4.50, 4.48, 4.55, 5.12, 5.17 and 4.54 on the way to beating his previous best time, albeit set in a road 10K, by 18 seconds.

His coach and father Larry Marshall said: "He's pleased having broken 31 minutes. His best before this was 31.02. We believe he is only the second Bermudian to run under 31 minutes for 10K.

"It was his first 10,000 metres on a track, so he had to make some mental adjustments.

"He beat a lot of collegiate athletes who are on full scholarships. We are very pleased with the result and this sets him up for May 24. We've met all our (pre-May 24) goals."

Marshall next intends to step onto the track in a 1,500 metres race in New York on May 8.