HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC — Jamaican Stephen Allen, a Bermuda-based policeman, completed his hat-trick when he won the local men’s mile race on Front Street for the third year in a row as the Bermuda Marathon Weekend, celebrating its 40th anniversary, got under way in soggy conditions on Friday night.
Jennifer Alen won the local women’s race, the pair surging clear on the home stretch after showing their rivals a clean pair of heels the rest of the way.
Allen won in a time of four minutes and 44.85 seconds.
“I am definitely happy to achieve three wins in a row, it’s a marvellous feat,” he said afterwards.
“The plan was to run a good race and respond to how the other guys reacted.”
The mile always seems to bring the best out of Allen, and this year was no exception.
“I really enjoy this race and it is the one that I have done the most,” he said. “It’s the only race I do that’s held at night and the atmosphere is always great. It’s always a special occasion.”
Allen’s time was three seconds faster than his winning time 12 months ago but 10 seconds slower than his personal best over the distance.
“Not every day you are going to run PBs,” he said. “But it was faster than last year and so I am very pleased with that too.”
Alen was clocked in 5:20.19, which is below her personal best.
Britain’s David Bishop, 27, won an anti-climactic elite men’s mile race.
Bishop came home in 4min 20.15sec, just over a second ahead of Diriba Yigezu, of Ethiopia, who ran a 4:21.38, the only other man in the race.
What had started out as a five-man field was whittled down to just three in the hours leading up to the race, and Henry Kipsang, of Kenya, dropped out at the last minute to leave Bishop and Yigezu to fight it out between them.
There was more excitement in the elite women’s race where Heather Kampf, of the United States, completed a hat-trick of wins, joining Kenia Sinclair, of Jamaica, as the only other woman to have achieved that feat in Bermuda.
Kampf won in 4:53.32, almost 10 seconds slower than last year. Lauren Hagans, of the US, finished second in 4:56.96, with Charlotte Arter, of Britain, third in 4:58.49.
The four-minute mark has never been broken in the mile races, which are staged over a double-looped course along the capital’s main thoroughfare.
