More than 1,000 runners and walkers came out early on Sunday morning to take part in the Butterfield & Vallis 5K.

In good conditions, the main event attracted the perfect mix of seasoned runners and recreational joggers and walkers, with only the occasional car refusing to respect road closures causing momentary concern.

Despite winning the marathon at the Bermuda Triangle Challenge just a week earlier, Adam Prunty still had enough in the tank to follow up with victory in the main event but he was made to work harder this time by junior athlete Jake Smith, who finished second overall and won the senior school race.

Prunty crossed the line in 16min 21 sec and was surprised with his time given the way his legs had felt in the past few days.

“The legs haven’t been feeling great this week but as soon as I started going fast, I forgot about it, so it was better than I expected,” Prunty said.

“I thought I had the win about 3K in but the last 2K was pretty tough. Jake is quicker than me so I didn’t want to leave it to a sprint at the end.

There is a 12-year age gap between Prunty, 29, and Smith, 17, and the older athlete thinks he may be running on borrowed time.

“I don’t think it will be long until those younger guys catch me,” Prunty said. “It’s great to see them running well.”

Smith won the Front Street Mile last week and was still feeling the effects of that race as he attempted to challenge Prunty before crossing the line in 16:59.

“I tried to stay with him but after halfway he just broke away,” Smith said.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete and I don’t know he does it, but it’s good to have someone like him to aim at.”

Smith was the subject of some fine words from Tyler Butterfield after he came close to breaking the Olympian’s senior school record in the Front Street Mile and was pleased to have caught the eye of the top Bermuda triathlete.

“It was so inspiring,” Smith said. “He’s made it to the Olympics twice and to get within four seconds of his time is inspirational. I really appreciated that whole article and the words he said about me. It’s so motivational and I thank him for that.”

Teresa Ruiz won the women’s race in 19:52, finishing 15th overall, ahead of Stepanka Sprincova (20:28) and Rose-Anna Hoey (20:39).

Some of the most competitive races, however, came in the younger age groups with parents hugging the course to watch their children compete.

The Lower Primary race was won by Carter Anderson, with Neve Adolph coming out on top in the girls event, who also finished third overall. Khaleef Daley followed up his age-group victory at the Front Street Mile by winning the Upper Primary race, with Yara Muhammad winning the girls race.

Sami Luber led the field home in the Middle School boys contest, with Riana Robinson winning the girls race and finishing second overall. In fact, girls finished second, third and fourth overall, with Colette Durkin and Zara Bule chasing Robinson home.

Smith beat Numair Khan and Jasper Lau in the senior school boys race with Jaeda Grant leading home the girls in that age group.

Spencer Butterfield, the chief executive officer of Butterfield & Vallis ran the 5K and was also on hand to give out the prizes to the young runners. He was delighted with the turnout and proud to lend his backing to the huge community event.

“We’re so grateful with the turnout and glad we’ve got good weather and support from the community,” said Butterfield, whose daughter also competed.

“It’s good to get a lot of students participating and more than 1,00 runners and walkers is consistent with last year.

“Our suppliers love participating and being part of a community event like this and we’re so happy to be part of this longstanding event.

“There is such a groundswell and a great community of athletes and we’re happy to keep supporting that.”