Lamont Marshall began the new season in the perfect fashion, by breaking the Bermuda indoor 5,000 metres record for a fifth time, at Boston University’s John Terrier Classic on Saturday.

Chasing his own record of 14min 22.19sec, set at the same event last year, Marshall knocked off a further six seconds to finish seventh out of 15 competitors overall in a national record time of 14:16.67.

Having first broken the record in 2011, when he beat the previous leading time of 14:38 by a second, Marshall spoke of his pride at consistently lowering his times over the years and continuingly surpassing his own achievements each time in the process.

“To be able to break the record once again at the same event as last year is just great,” said the 34-year-old.

“That is the fifth time I’ve broken the record overall and so it’s safe to say that the 5K distance is definitely one of my better distances.

“The first time I broke the record it stood at 14:38 and so it’s brilliant that I’ve consistently lowered that over the years.

“The goal is just to keep on lowering that record. Although I want to run a 5K in under 14:10, I’m happy with the time I achieved.

“It was a very strong field and although I only finished seventh, it was great to be out there again competing against some high-quality competitors.

“There is a huge difference between training on your own and going out and competing against better athletes.

“For me it is not so much about the championship it is all about the time. The only way I can keep lowering that is by racing against these type of athletes.

“I set out to lower the previous time and I achieved that goal, to me it is a massive achievement.

“I’m really excited to have started the season in this way and hopefully things will only get better from here on in.”

Having started the season in the best possible fashion, Marshall is already setting his sights on defending his Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby crown on May 24.

After winning the race back in 2016 in 1hr 13min 5sec, he was unable to defend his title, before returning last year to win the race again in 1:14:41.

“The plan for me is to compete in a number of similar track and road events abroad taking in some 5K and 15K events,” said Marshall, who may have Chris Estwanik to contend with in May, after the serial winner retunred to competitive action in the Butterfield & Vallis 5k yesterday.

“The ultimate aim for me this year is to defend my May 24 title.

That is what I really want to do and hopefully if everything goes well this season, I should be at my peak around that time.”