Lamont Marshall and Victoria Fiddick successfully defended their Bacardi 8K titles and lowered their course records in the process as hundreds took part in the road race and walk yesterday morning.

In the men's race, Marshall, 24, proved to be even more untouchable than he had 12 months' earlier as he blasted the five miles of road, including a series of rolling hills, as the course looped back up from Spanish Point, to finish in 25 minutes 28 seconds, almost half-a-minute ahead of his time in the inaugural race.

His nearest challenger was again Kavin Smith, who was runner-up in 2007, but this time the gap between the two runners increased to three minutes as first Masters runner, Smith, stopped the clock at 28.29, some four seconds clear of third-placed Riaan Naude.

There was some useful 'pack running' in the chasing groups, and for a time lead woman Victoria Fiddick found herself in a battle for elbow room with the likes of Chris Page, Geoff Blee, Sylvester Jean-Pierre and Tony Banks as the runners clung together in a tight formation.

However, as the miles went on the pack broke up and Fiddick, who last month was fourth woman in the Toronto Half-Marathon, ended up bettering her 2007 time by just over half-a-minute to stop the clock at 31.13 to claim 10th position overall.

She said: "It was a good run. We were elbowing for space because there wasn't much room on the road and as we were going past the walkers."

Although Fiddick, 42, knew beforehand that her closest rival from last year, Dawn Richardson, was not competing, she was surprised that May 24 champion Ashley Estwanik was not in the race either. In the end it was Jennifer Alen who was second woman home as she improved her 2007 time by two minutes to record 33.25, while third-placed Robyn Humphrey finished strongly in 34.04.

With Fiddick winning the race overall, Humphrey, Kathy Fulcher and Laura Keyes made up the top three in the women's 40-49 category, while in the women's 50-59 division, it was Lynn Norman (40.11) ahead of Elaine Watkinson and Liz Craig.

In the senior men's category, Smith was followed by Geoff Blee and Chris Page, while the top three senior men (over 50) were Sylvester Jean Pierre (30.53), Mark Albouy and Frederick Steede. The top three positions in the over 60-men's category were claimed by Mike Whalley (36.22), Elvin Thomas and 71-year-old George Jones.

For many runners there were improved finishing times overall, helped no doubt by the cool temperatures and a strong breeze coming in from the north-west that did not cause too much of a problem on the course as it looped out from the Bacardi headquarters on Pitts Bay Road to Spanish Point and then back along North Shore Road before cutting up past the Berekely Institute and onto St. John's Road and back to Bacardi along Pitts Bay Road.

There were 221 finishers in the 8K run, and a further 91 in the 8K walk. The fastest walker on the day, and also retaining his title, was Sinclair Smith in 53.41, closely followed by first woman Davina Dickinson.

As with last year, runners and walkers were chip-timed and in an added organisational improvement to the event, race results were pinned up on a noticeboard almost as soon as they had been recorded – a welcome initiative and one that other races will hopefully follow. Competitors were treated to a breakfast bar in the finish area.

Full results for runnes and walkers can be viewed on the Mid Atlantic Athletic Club website (www.maac.bm).