With no-one to trouble him after the opening mile Lamont Marshall ruled this year's Lindo's to Lindo's 10K road race with an impressive piece of front running that saw him break 32 minutes on the testing course.

By the time he broke the finish line in 31.58 the 25-year-old Devonshire athlete had opened up almost three-and-a-half minutes of daylight between himself and his closest rival Stephen Allen. He headed home a field of more than 300 runners.

In the women's race Ashley Estwanik continued to show a return to form as she clocked a time of 37.03 finishing fourth overall. And second-placed Victoria Fiddick was more than satisfied to break her personal best for the distance by around a minute as she too took a top ten overall finishing place.

Many hundreds of walkers followed behind the runners to complete a four-mile competitive and non-competitive walk held in conjunction with the road race, which saw all entrants set off from the Lindo's supermarket at Warwick and finish at the Lindo's in Devonshire.

Marshall blasted away from the start and quickly stretched away from current Butterfield & Vallis 5K champion Allen.

Before long Marshall was all but out of sight from the rest of the runners. His father and coach Larry Marshall Sr said: "We're pleased with that time. I believe it is the first time a Bermudian has run under 32 minutes on the course and it is only 20 seconds slower than Chris Estwanik's winning time last year."

With no close opponent to battle against, Marshall's race became a time trial, made all the harder by an absence of mile markers on the course, something that was noted by a number of athletes including woman's winner Ashley Estwanik.

Marshall Sr said: "It was still a personal best on the course and Lamont said he went up Chaingate Hill pretty quickly, so the strength is there."

Two week's ago Marshall won a 5K race in the English city Bristol, overcoming sharp turns to record a time of 15.06. His next race is likely to be an assault on the Bermudian 5000m track record when he competes in the 49er Classic in North Carolina in two weeks' time

While Marshall was running against the clock in yesterday's 10K, second-placed Allen had to stay alert as he was being closely tracked by Tony Banks.

"I tried to stay as close as possible to Lamont to begin with," said Allen, 29. "He got away from me just past the Paget lights. I could still see him out in front on the long straights. I put in some work on the flats and I turned around a few times to see Tony was behind me."

Although he had hoped to go under 35 minutes, he was pleased with his time of 35.22 given the challenging Collector's Hill and Chaingate Hill in the final two miles.

"This was the first time I'd done this race and my first 10K for a long time. I'm looking forward to the 5K in St. George's next weekend," he added.

Banks, 37, broke his lifetime best for the distance as he finished third in 35.45.

First woman Estwanik was next across the line. In the early miles the 2006 Commonwealth Games 1500m finalist found she was being closely followed by eventual runner-up Victoria Fiddick. Estwanik, 32, started to pull away along South Road and ran in the company of eventual fifth-placed Christopher Harris.

"I felt good today and the weather was perfect," she said afterwards. Her goal was to run the race harder than she had two weeks ago in the Ed Sherlock Five Mile Race, where she felt she was not pushing to her fullest.

"I hung with a few of the guys to begin with. There were no mile markers so I wasn't sure what my pace was. I know Victoria was near me for the first two miles. Chris (Harris) and I then ran most of the way together.

"He was pushing on the hills and I felt much stronger on the hills than I have in the past. It could be a lot to do with pushing up the hills with the baby stroller," said Estwanik, who had a baby last summer.

Second placed woman and ninth overall, Victoria Fiddick claimed an impressive personal best of 38.52, around a minute faster than she has run before and about two minutes better than she has done on the Lindo's course.

"I very rarely go under 40 minutes so this is a big personal best," said Fiddick, 45, who feels that she is increasing her strength through the many years of training she has dedicated to the sport. Not everything was perfect however, and she felt one of her hamstrings and calf muscles weaken shortly after ascending Collector's Hill.

She is now focusing on the US Masters Indoor Track Championships in Boston in two weeks' time, where she aims to better her 3000m performance from a year ago.

Third in the women's race was Jennifer Alen, 25, who was 16th overall in a time of 41.29.

In the competitive walk it was a close finish as Caleb Jean-Pierre stayed ahead of Sinclair Smith, recording a time of 40.16 for the four miles. Second-placed Smith was only 17 seconds in arrears. First woman was Mia Pauwels in 41.59, ahead of Andrea Bolley who recorded a time of 43.19. Around 70 walkers took part in the competitive event, with hundreds more following the same route in the non-competitive walk.