It was a long time in coming but Leonard Mucheru's blistering run to win the Elite Invitational Mile last night was well worth the wait.

The 23-year-old Kenyan, spurred on by the several thousand fans who lined the course, blazed home in four minutes, 2.6 seconds to shatter the record of 4:04.2 set by American Joe Falcon back in 1992, and provide the largest margin of victory in the history of the event.

Mucheru, who arrived in Bermuda with the distinguished pedigree of having run the world's eighth-fastest mile last year, blew the theory of a combined Kenyan assault on a sub-four-minute mile out of the water with a wire-to-wire effort.

He led by more than 10 metres after a 58-second first quarter and when he went through the half-mile in 1:58, it was evident that the chasing pack were too far back to make an impression over the difficult home stretch.

With the crowd imploring their new favourite to get in under the magical mark, Mucheru veered right behind the lead cyclist, losing perhaps a second, before straightening towards the finish line to rapturous applause.

Christian Hesch, a self-confessed no-hoper from United States, finished an impressive second in 4:12.85 with Sammy N'geno, of Kenya, third in 4:13.62 and 40-year-old Marcus Sullivan, the two-time champion from Ireland, fourth in 4:14.22.

"I thought maybe the competition would be a bit more stiff so that I could go after the sub-four, but it didn't happen," Mucheru, who pocketed $5,000 on the night, including $3,000 for the record, said. "I had to take the race right from the beginning and push down to the finish line without any competition.

"Hopefully, next year's competition will be stiffer. We will have a very good time and we shall see a sub-four."

Mucheru admitted that he was sceptical of running that fast after colleagues had told him to expect difficult conditions. "Yes, I was scared because I had never been here," he said. "According to the way I was getting it from those who have been here, they had been telling me that it was very windy and the conditions are very tough for someone to run sub-four.

"Since this was my first time, I think next time I will try even if I am by myself and see if I can run sub-four."

Hesch was over the moon with his performance after admitting earlier to being in awe of the quality in the field. But once the race began, his natural instincts took hold.

"It went out very fast, much faster than I expected," he said. "I started to reel them in really quick towards the half-mile and thought about going after Leonard, but I started getting tired. At the final turnaround, I thought I had second place won but no one was going to catch Leonard today."

O'Sullivan, who has logged 101 sub-four-minute miles, fought back superbly to gain fourth place after a rocky start. "At 400 I was so far back I was thinking, 'Oh my God, what have got myself into here?'" he said. "Then, slowly but surely, the field started coming back except for (Mucheru)."

The record time convinced the Irish legend that sub-four minutes on Front Street is not a thing of myth. "You have to have the right athlete, very, very fit and a nice evening," he said. "It was a little windy, particularly the last 400, which might have cost him a second here and there, but without a doubt, it is a doable thing."

Riaan Naudeé produced a fine run to capture the Adult Male race in 4:40.81, but the South African's eligibility was brought into question after admitting he is in Bermuda on a three-month working secondment.

Devoe Whaley held off David Dunwoody, a two-time former winner, to capture second place in 4:42.41, with Dunwoody exactly a second behind.

"When I heard of the mile I decided to go for it," Naudeé said. "It's been a long time since I've been on a street mile but the conditions were perfect tonight. The wind wasn't too bad, the temperature was good and I just had a very good race."

Whaley and Dunwoody battled neck and neck over the final 600 metres before "the old man", as Dunwoody put it, pulled away.

"It started at a reasonably steady pace," Dunwoody said. "We all came back together at 600 metres but the winner started moving while Devoe and I had a real ding-dong battle."

The race was marred by the no-show of Michael Donawa, the 2001 champion, plus six others who reached the qualifying standard at the mile trials last month.

Anna Eatherley was a predictable women's winner in 5:29.33 with Victoria Fiddick, the runner-up, more than 19 seconds in the distance. Annette Hallett, 50, took third in 6:06.14.

"I didn't want to go too hard tonight because I have to run tomorrow," Eatherley, who is attempting to be first local in three events this weekend, said. "So I just wanted to do what I could in the mile and build from there."

The applause for Hallett was the loudest of the night, before a certain Mr. Mucheru arrived on the scene. "I am ecstatic," the 50-year-old said. "I wanted to try to break six minutes but I haven't been doing the speed work that I've been doing in the past years. I am ecstatic to come third especially because I have a lot of respect for Zina (Jones).

"She ran a good race but I got out in front and thought that no one is going to take this medal from me."