Ethiopia's Teklu Terefera Deneke and Derreje Hailgiogis both took a wrong turn midway through yesterday's Bermuda International Marathon race to hand Luke Watson an unlikely victory.Pre-race favourites Deneke and Hailgiogis were confused by a detour sign meant for cars which sent them running up Woodbourne Avenue just before they reached the halfway stage of the 26.2-mile race.And by the time the pair had realised they had made their costly mistake the American, who finished second in Friday's KPMG Invitational Mile, had moved from third to first.The 30-year-old finished only his third ever marathon in a time of two hours, 22 minutes and 48 seconds, ahead of Deneke who came home in 2.26:07 and Hailgiogis who posted a time of 2.28:51.A native of Minnesota, Watson admitted that Deneke and Hailgiogis' error had swung the pendulum in his favour.“When I saw the two guys ahead of me take a wrong turn I figured that if it was going to be that kind of race then I'd hit back a little bit,” he said.“I made my move at the beginning of the second lap and just tried to put in a really hard five miles, and I was able to do that.“It stung me a little bit to make that move, but I think also it stung to the field as well.”Watson said it was “tough” running alone during the second half as the Ethopians' endevoured unsuccessfully to catch him up.“It was tough to be out there alone but I have done it before in October and in that one I went by myself from eight miles on so I have experience running alone and knew that if I kept an eye on the watch and keep taking fluids I would be okay,” he said.“I'd love to come back and defend my title, it's a great event and I had a blast the whole weekend. Bermuda is an awesome place.”Watson is presently transitioning to becoming a road running specialist with the marathon his main focus. He has completed the full 26.2-mile distance twice prior to yesterday's event, his debut was a stunning 2.15:29 in the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis-St Paul in 2009.Last October he set a course record in the Steamtown Marathon, Pennsylvania, racing to a time of 2.16:41. He has already secured a place in the 2012 US Olympic Team marathon qualifying trials, set for next January in Euston.In the womens' Marathon, Canada's Stephanie Hodge finally claimed the coveted title at the eighth time of asking, finishing in a time of 3.03:32.The 45-year-old, from Ontario, had finished second twice, and third once, before, and was thrilled to remove the Bermuda Marathon monkey off her back.“This is the eighth time I've done this race,” she said.“Funnily enough I've been in better condition than I'm in now but never seemed able to win the thing.“I thought I had a good chance this year and I decided to just get out in front and see where that took me. I kept thinking I was going to get caught and that I was going to lose it again, so it feels great to finally win in Bermuda.”Lyne Bessette (3.19:22) finished runner-up in the women's race with Patrizia Russo in third position with a time of 3.22:23.