Two of the leading contenders for the Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby showed they are coming into form by winning the Lindo’s to Lindo’s 10k on Sunday.

Christine Dailey, who finished second to Gayle Lindsay in Bermuda’s biggest road race last year, and Sean Trott, third behind Lamont Marshall and Ryan Outerbridge, both crossed the line with huge margins ahead of their nearest rivals.

Trott stopped the clock at 34min 16.39sec, nearly three minutes before runner-up Thomas Mills (37:00.34), while Dailey (39:27.98) had almost the same to spare over Teresa Ruiz (42:00.21)

Dailey was making a return to the race after a number of years and was pleased with her efforts.

“I haven’t done this race in a few years and the course was a bit intimidating as it is quite hilly, but it was fun,” Dailey said.

“The time was pretty good given the challenge of the hills and I was pretty happy with the effort. Even though the course is challenging everything else made it really nice so it wasn’t too horrible out there. I had a really nice run and I think everybody else did too. It was just a beautiful day for it.

“I was planning to do a half marathon next week in New York but I’m not going to make it to that, so I just figured I’ve been training so I’ll pop into the Lindos’ race for a nice run.”

With a little over two months until May 24, Dailey is building up the intensity of her training as she attempts to go one place better than last year.

“I’ve just started picking up the mileage,” Dailey said. “I aim to be running about 60 miles a week and maybe have some weeks of 80 miles, depending on how we go.

“I have a couple of things to work on. One is my run form and I’m just starting to feel the difference. From an injury perspective, I struggled a lot with my lower back because my run form wasn’t great. Last year, leading up to May 24, I had lower back issues, but I’m feeling better this year.

“The second thing I’m trying to work on is putting myself into the next gear. I’m pretty good running at my threshold level but I need to kick in to my next gear, which is the gear that probably everybody has trouble with because it isn’t fun to be hurting, so I’m hoping to train and put myself in uncomfortable positions to set myself up to compete in May 24.”

For Trott it was another lonely run to victory after he led from start to finish and he was happy with the time as he coped with the undulating course.

"I backed off my training a bit this week to feel a bit more fresh on the day,“ Trott said.

“It felt really good and I let my body do whatever it had inside of it. I tried to stay in the zone and I was looking to run just under 34 minutes so I knew I had to average 5:25 per mile. I was on that pace for four miles but the hills at the end, Collector’s Hill and Chaingate broke that pace down a bit.

“Over the hills I went as hard as I could. The hills will slow you a bit but you hit the downhills just as hard and get the pace back. I was able to keep a pretty good overall pace.”

Trott will not be seen in as many races in the build-up to May 24 this year as he attempts to keep his legs fresh and close the distance on Marshall and Outerbridge.

“Things are really getting moving now with the training and I’m getting some good numbers in the weekly mileage and even the training sessions I’m putting in,” Trott said.

“I’m happy with what I’m doing and I will next do the RenaissanceRe ten-miler in April, which will be my last race before May 24.”