Stephen Allen and Sharlene Sousa took top honours in the BTFA half-marathon yesterday, while Victoria Fiddick beat all-comers – including the men – to cross the line first in the 10K event held in conjunction with the main 13.1-mile race.

The double-event however is in danger of becoming something of a Bermuda Triangle for the Island's athletes after, for a second consecutive year, one of the race leaders went missing in the final stages.

Last year it was Lamont Marshall in the 10K who took a wrong turn and ended up coming down Bermudiana Road in the wrong direction before retracing his steps and still managing to win.

This year defending half-marathon champ Kavin Smith mistakenly raced up Queen Street after coming across a set of barriers on the course. His inadvertent diversion resulted in second-placed Stephen Allen crossing the finish line first in a time of one hour 22 minutes and 14 seconds, with Smith recording a time of 1.22.51.

Afterwards Allen said: "He (Smith) should have won. I could see him on Front Street when he took the wrong turn up Queen Street."

For Allen, 29, who hails from Jamaica, it was his first road race victory on the Island. He had led from the start until around the 10-mile point when nine-time May 24 Derby champion Smith overtook him.

It was Allen's first attempt at the half-marathon distance and comes in the wake of a number of impressive racing results during the past two months, including in a fourth place in the Bacardi 8K race a week earlier.

On a good day for running, with low humidity, third place went to Tony Banks who, still recovering from a storming 2.46 time in the New York Marathon, stopped the clock at 1.23.58. Fellow New York marathoner Geoff Blee led the masters' division in fourth overall with a time of 1.28.53.

The women's race brought victory for aerobics instructor Sharlene Sousa as she finished a minute ahead of her nearest rival in 1.39.53.

Sousa, 36, had no race plan and said: "I just run because I like to run. I was surprised to win. I go out there and get a pace going and then just keep running."

Last year's winner Dawn Richardson revealed at the time that she enjoyed listening to the sounds of Shaggy and UB40 on her headphones as she ran, Sousa also listens to music as she runs and said her choice was the ethereal, gentle tunes of Enya.

Second and third places in the women's race went to Claire De Ste Criox and Lesley Caslin in 1.40.43 and 1.42.19 respectively.

The overall winner of the 10K was May 24 women's champion Victoria Fiddick.

She set a strong pace from the start and stayed ahead of talented teenager Ryan Gunn to take victory in 39.51. Gunn, 16, ran 40.13 ahead of Peter Gracey and James Keyes who ran 42.11 and 42.54 respectively.

The next two women to finish after Fiddick were Deborah Blaxell in 43.48 and Laura Haynes in 45.54.