Chris Estwanik smashed his course record in the Cornerstone 10 Mile road race, making full use of a tailwind on the return leg of the out-and-back route to cross the finish line in 50 minutes and 37 seconds.

And his wife Ashley made it a family double by winning the women's race, coming home third overall in 59.24.

The long-established race competition attracted 166 athletes, who battled into a headwind in the first five miles as they ran east from the South Road gate of the Botanical Gardens to a turnaround point just beyond the Paynters Road junction.

From the start Estwanik found himself isolated out in front.

The wind factor slowed him to a time of 25.47 at the halfway point, something that he felt a little disappointed with, but he was soon reaping the benefit of the wind against his back on the return portion of the race.

"At five miles I was on the same pace that I had run last year, but I was able to do 4.58 minute miles on the way back. It was deceiving today.

"You could get yourself down when you saw your halfway time, but then you end up running much faster on the way back," he said.

His time was around a minute faster than his 2009 victory and was also his first race since last summer, bar January's Fairmont-to-Fairmont event, where he hasn't pushed his daughter Somers in a baby stroller.

He thinks the stroller workouts may have helped make him stronger, commenting: "I have a friend who made the Olympic team while pushing a baby stroller in training. Maybe there is something in it."

The former US Olympic Team 1500m triallist also feels more comfortable now as a road runner having adjusted to the sustained mental focus needed to compete in races far longer than the metric mile track outings of his professional years.

Both Estwanik and his wife Ashley sported cropped hair cuts as a result of a recent St. Baldrick's head shave event in aid of children with cancer.

Ashley had expected to run around 62 minutes but easily bettered that to win the women's title in 59.24.

She ran alongside Simon Ashby, Chris Harris and Sylvester Jean-Pierre in the opening miles, eventually pulling away as she chased down fourth-placed James O'Shea, 22, who was back on the Island during a break from his post graduate studies in London.

"I was looking at doing 62 minutes and ended up going under 60. I'm pleased and feel great.," she said.

"I must be doing something right. It was good to run with the other guys and I like how this course loops back so you can see where everyone is."

It was a relatively cool day for the runners, which suited men's runner-up Tony Banks.

Fresh from setting a remarkable half marathon personal best of 1.14.01 in New York a week earlier – on the same day his wife Andrea also set a best of 1.31.07 – he produced another lifetime best as he clocked 57.56 yesterday.

Banks put his string of impressive race results down to consistent training that has flowed unbroken from his New York Marathon debut last year. He said: "I've kept the training up since then and I broke my half marathon best by four-and-a-half minutes. I've been doing week-after-week of training."

In the 10-mile race he followed Stephen Allen in the early miles before going ahead of him around four miles. Like Estwanik he ran the second half of the race quicker than the first.

It was a close run thing for the second and third places in the women's race with Sharlene Sousa proving strong enough to take the runner-up spot in 1.11.40 from Laura Hayes, who was only four seconds behind.

Former Premier Dr. David Saul, who created the annual road race in 1980 to provide a platform for athletes to challenge his 1959 Bermuda 10-mile record (subsequently broken by Mike Watson in 1982), was on hand to present prizes and trophies to the various winners.

The race was sponsored by the Cornerstone Group and organised by Mid Atlantic Athletic Club.