Evan Naude made a winning return to road racing when he finished first in the Bacardi 8K road race.

Gayle Lindsay successfully retained her women’s title, despite being slightly under the weather.

Naude, 41, one of the island’s most consistent and fastest distance runners, has been mostly absent from the road racing scene this year. An injury just before the KPMG Front Street Mile at the beginning of the year sidelined him from competition, although he did compete in the May 24 half-marathon, where he finished second.

Ending his six-month sabbatical from racing, Naude went into yesterday’s event unsure what to expect.

Spencer Conway led the field through the first mile, but the tightly grouped trio of Tim Price, Tucker Murphy and Naude had taken charge by the time they reached Spanish Point.

On the uphill stretch between miles two and three, Price took up the front-running duties, closely followed by Murphy and Naude.

By the time they had reached Berkeley Road, Price and Naude had broken clear of Murphy. It remained that way until the final 300 metres when Naude, who had sat on the shoulder of Price for the past few miles, made his move.

Naude’s finishing kick was decisive and he crossed the line in 28min 51sec, with Price next in 28:57. Murphy was third in 29:58.

In the women’s race, Lindsay retained the title she first won last year, although she had been uncertain how well she would run after suffering cold symptoms in the previous two days.

“I went steady for the first two or three kilometres and I felt all right at Spanish Point,” she said. As she rounded the sharp turning point, she spotted another of the race favourites, Martina Olcheski-Bell, following closely behind.

Lindsay, 29, stepped up the pace and by the end had opened up a winning margin of 27 seconds, finishing in 33:30. Olcheski-Bell was next in 33:57, followed by Christine Dailey in 34:09.

Among the field of 266 finishers was visitor Dan Thompson, 56, who is part way through a worldwide running adventure that will eventually see him complete a 10K in every country in the world. He is raising money for Cancer Research, in memory of his mother Kristin.

Bermuda was his 131st country, out of a planned 206. Thompson, who lives in the UK, ran two kilometres immediately before the start of the Bacardi race in order to make up the full 10K distance. He finished 100th overall in 41:37.

In the 8K walk, Joseph Matthew was first in 55:12, followed by Howard Williams in 55:39, and first woman Kata Kertesz in 59:20. The third man to finish was Aaron Tucker in 59:24, while Gilda Cann was second woman in 61:37, followed by Gina Bradshaw in 61:38.

Age category winners in the 8K run among the men were Christopher Harris (masters) in 30:12; Derek Thomas (senior masters) in 34:05; and Anthony Prentice (over-60) in 39:02.

Women age division winners were Tracey Sutherland (masters) in 37:02; Sharon Craig (senior masters) in 39:18; and Maria Duffy (over-60) in 41:35.

To find out more about Dan Thompson’s around the world 10K adventures and his fundraising for Cancer Research, visit his blog at https://dansgoldchallenge.wordpress.com/