Chris Estwanik incorporated the Swan’s Five Flat Miles road race into the middle of his 19-mile Sunday training schedule and won in breathtaking fashion, with a five-minute margin of victory.

It was a lot closer between the lead women, with a mere two seconds separating winner Deon Breary from the fast finishing Jennifer Alen.

The annual race, hosted by Swan’s Running Club, started at West Pembroke School and followed North Shore Road all the way to the finish at Shelly Bay.

The event often benefits from a prevailing westerly tailwind, but not this year. Instead, runners had to contend with showers and a headwind from the northeast.

Estwanik, 34, took the unfavourable conditions in his stride as he broke away from the field and won in 25 min 39 sec.

He ran 10 miles before the race started, and continued for another four miles afterwards to fulfil the 19 miles of running he had scheduled for the day.

“The wind was a good challenge. Running into a 20mph headwind was a good mental exercise,” he said, explaining that the extra miles he ran before and after the race were geared towards the demands of his upcoming race programme.

He plans to compete in the United Airlines New York City Half-Marathon on March 15, and follow that with a full marathon in either Pittsburgh or Cleveland, in early May.

The five-times Bermuda Day Half Marathon Derby winner also hopes to compete in this year’s Derby race, having missed the event for the past two years because of injuries.

Speaking about his return to the racing scene, the former track runner said: “I’m as strong as I have ever been. I still feel it [road racing] is a learning process for me.”

Jose Miranda, who has also been absent from the local road racing scene for a number of months, finished second in 30:42.

“I was running by myself for most of the race, battling the elements,” he said. “I’ve been back training for nine or ten weeks, but I have not done any runs over nine miles.

“I want to run well on May 24. Two or three years ago I ran a similar time here and then finished in the top five on May 24. That’s what I want to do again.”

In the women’s race Breary and Alen ran together for the first two miles, before Breary edged ahead.

Both runners had minor injury niggles. In the final mile from Flatts to Shelly Bay, Alen reduced the gap between the two runners.

Breary dared not look back as she knew Alen is capable of producing a fast finish. She focused on pushing for the finish line and was rewarded with victory in 33:22, with Alen just behind in 33:24. Third woman was Lindsay Gayle in 35:46, while third man was Chefton Hall in 32:03.

In the five-mile walking race, Gilda Cann was first in 1:02:19, ahead of Tyrone Chin in 1:13:42.