Jay Donawa led home 48 Bermuda runners in yesterday’s ING New York Marathon, competing in the world famous road race which had to be cancelled last year due to the impact of Superstorm Sandy.

Donawa crossed the finish line in Manhattan’s Central Park with a time of two hours, 52 minutes and 28 seconds, and was one of two Island runners to break the three-hour barrier.

He ran through the halfway point in 1.21.22 and maintained a consistent pace of sub 6.20 minute-miles for the first 20 miles and only slowed by a few seconds per mile in the latter stages of the 26.2-mile race as the course wound its way through Manhattan.

Andy Starr was the next Bermuda athlete home in 2.59.34, followed by Cory Brunton in 3.06.14.

Bermuda’s first woman finisher was Catherine Mello in 3.46.33, closely followed by senior master Sharon Craig who ran a personal best of 3.50.24.

The race was won by Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai in 2.08.24. Mutai previously won the race in 2011 when he set the current course record of 2.05.05. The first woman overall was Priscah Jeptoo (Kenya) in 2.25.07.

Bermuda runners who finished the race were:

Jay Donawa 2.52.28; Andy Starr 2.59.34; Cory Brunton 3.06.14; Geoff Blee 3.07.23; Manuel Lopes 3.14.23; Jon Smith 3.28.48; Keith Bernhard 3.28.51; Gerald Gakundi 3.30.58; Chris Jones 3.33.57; Darin Cassidy 3.34.01; Giles Spurling 3.38.03; David McHugh 3.39.56; Hildeberto Sousa 3.40.09; Jason Butler 3.40.35; Justin Brenden 3.45.59; Catherine Mello 3.46.33; Jeremy Burnham 3.46.57; Mark Harris 3.48.02; Troy Farnsworth 3.48.56; Benjamin Lau 3.49.20; Robin Holder 3.49.44; Sharon Craig 3.50.24; Anna Laura-Hocking 3.51.06; Steven Pegg 3.55.18; Paul Harris 3.59.05; Helen Gilis-Cooze 4.00.03; Stephen Dunkley 4.01.08; Joe Barbosa 4.04.44; Gary Perry 4.06.26; Erica Fulton 4.07.37; Paul Gatutha 4.08.31; Frank Schmidt 4.10.03; Rhiannon Bedford 4.14.59; Karl Lupson 4.15.10; Darcy Gimas 4.19.24; Kimiko Scotland 4.19.37; Mark Outerbridge 4.21.17; Anne Kermode 4.22.00; Sangeeta Wagh 4.22.16; Bianco Dyer 4.24.30; Angelika Davis 4.33.59; Scott Watson-Brown 4.41.13; Sophia Sontag 4.51.47; Roger Thompson 5.07.35; Leonard Davis 5.26.25; Robin Bedford 5.29.44; Earl Jones 5.53.05; Keith Griffin 6.11.22.