Jake Brislane and Christine Dailey took top honours in the RenaissanceRe Challenge on Sunday morning.

Brislane beat previous winner Sean Trott by 14 seconds, completing the ten-mile course in 54min 38sec. Dailey, who finished eleventh overall, crossed the line in 1:05:18 to beat her nearest rival Teresa Ruiz (1:07.45) by two and a half minutes.

The top two in the men’s race were alongside each other for most of the race until Brislane, buoyed by seeing his family with just under a mile to run, sprinted clear of his older rival.

“This is the furthest I’ve run in a race in Bermuda and I didn’t really know how to pace it, so I just took my cue from Sean,” Brislane said.

“I felt good the whole way and then I passed my family with about 800 metres to go and they encouraged me, so then I just went for it.”

Despite beating the man who finished third in the 2024 Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby, the 19-year-old economics student at Warwick University will not be running in the island’s biggest race next month.

“I won’t be running May 24 as I have exams in the UK,” Brislane said.

“I really want to in the future and I think I’m at a level where I could compete, but at this time in my life it’s going to be difficult. But I really want to do it one day.”

Trott knew the writing was on the wall against younger legs in the final mile but is happy with his form.

“I was very happy and my time was 25 seconds faster than last year,” Trott said.

“I know Jake is strong at shorter distances so when we were together at mile nine, I knew that he would blow me apart.

“Usually I’m racing on my own for most of the way so it was good to have company as it helped me to stay honest. This came at the end of a long training week and I’m very happy.

“Making the decision not to race as much this year has really helped me to build up the training and I’m looking forward to May 24.”

Christine Dailey won the women’s race after a week in which she had run more than 50 miles during her training for the Half-Marathon Derby and she was pleased with how her body feels after she was injured in this race last year.

“I felt really good,” Dailey said. I had a high-mileage week and prior to this race I think I’d run 57 miles, so I ran a nice, steady race.

“I just wanted to feel I was in control. I wasn’t really focused on the time and I didn’t set any expectations.

“I think my training is going well but I injured my back in this race last year when going downhill, so I guess tomorrow we’ll see how I am, but I feel good.”

The five-mile races went the way of Marquis Burgess and Stepanka Sprincova, who are both gearing up for May 24 in different ways.

Sprincova is a regular top-ten finisher in the Half-Marathon Derby but Burgess warmed up for his Sunday morning run with a few Saturday night drinks.

“I went out the night before but was in bed early enough, so I ‘m happy with how it went and I’m now off to play some golf and watch the Masters,” he said

“These runs are great and it’s always good to support the organisations that put them together and it’s nice to see these community things take place over the weekend.

“I enjoy being here and I’m lucky to have finished as well as I did, so it’s a good start to Sunday. I’m doing May 24, so maybe I should have done the ten-mile race but I should be good as long as I manage to avoid the nights out.”

Sprincova regularly runs the five-mile event as part of her May 24 preparation but knows she is up against it on the big day.

“I’ve always done the Ren Re five-mile so I just continued the tradition,” she said.

“I know I probably should do the ten-mile today but the training has gone good and I’m happy with everything.

“I always try to run to the best of my ability and I know there are stronger runners in May 24 than me.

“Gayle Lindsay is very good, Christine Dailey, my God what a runner, and Teresa [Ruiz] as well. I just want to do better and I would be very happy to just beat my time of last year.”