There were no surprises in the male and female winners of yesterday?s BTFA Fall Half-Marathon.

But there were a few raised eyebrows as perennial distance-running champion Kavin Smith only prevailed by seven seconds over young gun Mark Morrison.

However, Smith noted that he ran well within himself to cross the finish line first among the 52 athletes in one hour, 19 minutes and 32 seconds with the runner-up clocking 1:19:39.

?I?m building up for some bigger events and this was a good run for me. The time was about nine minutes slower than I generally run. It was fun for me. I haven?t begun to get into any major training yet,? said the 36-year-old.

Smith complimented Morrison on his performance and urged the young runner to step up and show what he can really do.

?If Mark would get his act together and start training consistently then he could definitely be one of the people to watch in these events.

?I was impressed with the way he ran today considering he doesn?t train that consistently.?

Meanwhile, Michael Downey was third in 1:19:53, Leon Bascome fourth in 1:21:18 and Ricky Sousa fifth in 1:21:26.

Anna Eatherley celebrated her elevation to the Masters category (over 40) by claiming the women?s prize in 1:26:38 to place ninth overall. Lynn Patchett placed second among the women in 1:28:05.

Describing her effort as ?okay but not as good as I would have liked?, Eatherley said the conditions were nice for such a race.

?It was cool for running and we don?t get that too often in Bermuda. And it wasn?t too windy either.?

Given the sparse field, the 40-year-old spent a lot of time on her own as she completed the 13.1 miles from St. George?s to the Bulls Head car park in Hamilton. She tucked in behind the lead pack of eight men and gnawed away at the course.

?It?s quite a hard race. You have to be fairly fit to do it. You won?t find people who run 5Ks turning up for this. It?s for the diehards,? she said, chuckling.

As she tunes up for International Race Weekend, Eatherley is still undecided whether to compete in the 10K or the Half-Marathon in the mid-January showpiece.

?I?m only going to do one event. I would like to do well against the overseas field in the Masters. You know, really take them on.?