Gayle Lindsay declared herself “over the moon” to win her first Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby yesterday.

Lindsay produced a fantastic run to finish in a time of 1hr 29min 22sec, which was good enough for an overall finishing position of fourteenth of the 578 runners.

The 34-year-old, who went one better than last year after she finished second to Isabelle Dutranoit, hit the line less than a minute ahead of Brianna Mendes. Christine Dailey took third in 1:33:48, with 177 female runners taking part in the race.

“It will take a while to sink in but right now I am just over the moon,” Lindsay said.

“I've been looking forward to this moment for a while, it really means a lot to win this particular race. In Bermuda, a lot of people don't take you as a proper runner until you've won it, so I feel like I've made the proper runners list.

Lindsay’s victory came less than a month after she picked up the Swan’s Running club Legends Series, in which she finished unbeaten, and she is proud have kept her cool after some of her main competitors surged ahead early in the half-marathon.

“My aim for the longest time has been to win Bermuda Day Half-Marathon and to stand here to say I've done it, I couldn't be happier,” Lindsay said.

“Going into the start lane I knew I had a chance. I knew I had some tough competition as Brianna and Maddie [Durkin] are strong runners. They went hard and at that point I really didn't really know what was in store for me for the rest of the race but I just tried to run by myself, keep them in sight and it all just came together nicely at the end.

“I tried to run my own race and I think that paid off. The first half felt fairly comfortable and the second half is always tough with the hills, so I tried to keep a good pace and not get too ahead of myself.”

With the heavens opening towards the end of the race, Lindsay's winning time was slower than she anticipated.

“I think the conditions really worked a little bit in my favour. The time wasn't particularly fast, I don't know if the heat had anything to do with that but the rain at the end definitely helped to cool it down a bit. I've run in worse conditions so this was fairly OK.”

Runner-up Mendes, who is ten years younger than than the winner, was amazed at the support she received from the Bermuda public and honoured to run against Lindsay, who assisted her to qualify for the Carifta Games when she was in high school.

“I want to thank everyone for their cheers and support it was so incredible to be part of this historic event,” Mendes said.

“Congratulations to Lamont and Gayle. Gayle helped me to qualify for Carifta in high school, so it was special to get to race with her today. I’m proud of my race and excited for the future.