If Chris Estwanik wasn't already a clear favourite to defend his title in this year's May 24 Marathon Derby, then the odds have certainly gone down after his convincing victory in yesterday's annual Cornerstone 10-mile road race.

The former top US track runner, married to mum-to-be Ashley (Couper), destroyed a field of almost 200 to hit the finish line more than 10 minutes ahead of his closest challenger.

While his main rivals in the May 24 race, brothers Larry and Lamont Marshall, and possibly former winners Terrence Armstrong and Kavin Smith were nowhere to be seen, his time of 51 minutes and 26 seconds will have certainly set the alarm bells ringing. Leading from start to finish, Estwanik made it a one-horse race with second-placed Simon Ashby following in one hour, two minutes and 31 seconds.

Master Ricky Sousa rounded out the top three in a time of 1:02:31.Dawn Richardson, meanwhile, also showed she's in good form to regain her women's May 24 tiltle, taking 11th place overall in 1:06:03. Jennifer Alen was the second female in 1:10:07 and Alison Harvey third in 1:15:31.

Full results - see Scoreboard.