An 'all-or-bust' attitude paid off for Dawn Richardson when she stormed to victory as the fastest woman at the Toronto Marathon on Sunday in freezing conditions.

The two-times May 24 Half Marathon champion ran her first sub-three hour time since 2004 as she stopped the clock at two hours 57 minutes and 46 seconds, coming home 19th overall in the big city race that attracted thousands of competitors.

And Richardson was not alone in claiming glory for Bermuda as her friend and training partner, Victoria Fiddick, was third woman in the half-marathon race, knocking a stunning three minutes off her previous lifetime best as she ran 1.23.08.

Overall, results were impressive for the contingent of a dozen Bermuda-based athletes who travelled to the Canadian city to compete in the Good Life Toronto Marathon and its associated half-marathon and 5K races.

Part of the reason why so many Island runners went to Toronto was to help promote Bermuda International Race Weekend, at the invitation of Toronto event director Jay Glassman.

Glassman was a guest in Bermuda in January and took part in Race Weekend. The return favour gave an opportunity for the Bermuda International Race Weekend to gain wider exposure, with the help of the Department of Tourism which assisted in holding a cocktail party to promote Bermuda, as well as a race expo table.

And there was more exposure for the Island as the two medal-winning women wore 'Follow Me To Bermuda' team vests as they took Toronto by storm and filled column inches in the city's newspapers the following day and on numerous television interviews.

For Richardson it was an unexpected return to the world of sub-three hour marathoner, a world she believed was in her past until she lined up in the zero-degrees frost of Toronto on Sunday.

"I thought my sub-three hour days were over. It wasn't until I was heading out to the start line that I made my decision to go all out for a three-hour time," said Richardson.

She had on two handmade wristbands which she'd written down the kilometre split times she would need to achieve in either three hours or a slightly more conservative 3.10. She opted for the magical three-hour wristband and made her way to the start.

"I thought if I don't try, I'll regret it. I made the decision on race morning to go for bust. It was freezing cold. I felt so uncomfortable.

"The temperature was minus one degree. For the first six miles I ran wearing an old sweater and then threw it off, but I kept my fluffy gloves on all the way around."

With her wristband on, she stuck rigidly to her schedule, forcing herself to slow down repeatedly in the early part of the race. Her pace discipline paid off as she took the overall lead in the women's race four kilometres from the finish and held on.

Interestingly, she did not 'hit the wall' in the race – the point in a long distance race where runners are known to face energy depletion and mental exhaustion – and Richardson thinks that may have had something to do with counting down the distance in kilometres rather than miles as she usually does, thereby not having the normal psychological prompts.

Richardson's parents Trevor and Elaine were on hand to cheer her to victory, and the May 24 double-winner paid tribute to her support team, which includes her parents, the physio assistance of the McMullen sisters in Bermuda, her training partners Mike Osborn and Victoria Fiddick.

Also in the full marathon was Cal Steede, with the Toronto event the middle of three marathons over consecutive weeks. He was 476th in 3.43.58, a week after running 4.46 in 85 degree heat on the hills of the Baltimore Marathon.

Winner of the Toronto Marathon was Kenya's Daniel Mburu Njenga in 2.29.00.

The majority of the Bermuda party competed in the half marathon, and it was here that Fiddick secured third place in the women's race with her outstanding personal best.

Like Richardson, she made a conscious decision going into the race to push as hard as she could.

"I was aiming for 1.24 and that was my pace. I was going to aim for something really high even if it meant I'd have to jog in at the end if I failed," she said.

"I've done some different training and I felt so great except for the last few kilometres. A few months ago I fell on my knee and it swelled up. In the race, after 16 or 17 kilometres, it started giving me a hard time. I was in second position at the time."

Fiddick's 1.23.08 was a personal best by three minutes, achieved on a day when she wore two pairs of pants to stay warm and mittens and a headband for portions of the race. She was third woman out of around 2,800, and 45th overall from nearly 6,000 finishers. She won the overall masters' category and her age group division.

Half-marathon winner was Pius Korir in 1.08.22. The women's winner was Magali Tisseyre in 1.19.18.

Fiddick's daughter Melissa, 12, also excelled in the 5K race in which she finished 257th out of 1,301 in a time of 27.22.

Other notable finishers for Bermuda were Mark Albouy, fourth in his age category in the half-marathon after running 1.34.15, and Ricky Sousa who was eighth in his age group and 65th overall in the half-marathon in 1.25.47.

Further Bermuda athletes in the half-marathon included Luc Fleurant 1.34.26, Dan Conner 1.48.14, Dave Collins 1.51.15, Annie Koppens 2.05.54, Nickie Witham 2.08.15 and Zara Ward 2.12.46.