The steep ½-mile climb up the winding road to the Fairmont Southampton is not for the fainthearted.

Rose-Anna Hoey has been there before — and twice as a road-race winner. She added to that tally yesterday as she won the women’s title in the Goslings to Fairmont Southampton Race.

First overall across the finish line was the resurgent Sean Trott, who has steadily regained the racing form that placed him among the island’s elite a number of years ago.

Trott’s winning time for the 7.2-mile race was 39min 40sec, putting him clear of the runner-up Dennis Mbelenzi, who stayed in contention most of the way and clocked 40:13.

A version of the race has been held annually since 1978. It was previously known as the Princess to Princess, and then the Fairmont to Fairmont, before taking on its new identity when rum-maker Gosling’s became co-sponsor in 2015.

Hoey won the women’s crown when the event was known as the Fairmont to Fairmont, and has won the Goslings to Fairmont Southampton version twice.

Yesterday, she was also part of the second-placed relay team, DLR, along with Laura Wright and Darin Cassidy. However, it was touch-and-go if she was even going to run after suffering tonsillitis.

“I was in two minds, and I thought if the worst comes to the worst I can just do the first leg of the relay and go home,” she said. “But I felt OK.”

Christine Dailey was the lead woman for the first few miles before Hoey edged ahead.

“I could feel her on my shoulder, so I thought let me put in a hard mile between three and four and I opened up a nice gap there and just relaxed the rest of the way,” Hoey said.

She believed that if she went through the 10k marker in under 40 minutes she should be clear of her rivals. She passed that point in 39:20. Then came the long uphill to the Fairmont Southampton hotel.

“For the first time I stopped and walked a bit of the hill because I could feel my throat — like I could not breathe. Once I got to the finish line I was fine.”

Hoey won in 45:42, from Dailey in 46:39 and first master Deon Breary in 47:30.

Overall winner Trott, 28, was kept company by Mbelenzi for almost the entire race. It was the final mile, a ½-mile uphill followed by a ½-mile downhill, that proved decisive as Trott pulled away.

Describing the race, runner-up Mbelenzi said: “My plan was to go through 5K in 17:30 and hold that pace to the end.

“I knew that was a time much slower for him, and when I realised in the first mile that he was moving way too fast, I thought, ‘OK, forget my times and just go with Sean’. We went through 5K in 17 flat, and he was really pushing it.”

Around the halfway point, Mbelenzi decided to challenge Trott, and briefly took the lead to see if he could get him out of his pacing. He wanted to know if his rival could respond. The answer was yes, and Trott soon regained control.

“He was good, and he pushed me too. It is nice to be challenged this way, it makes me a better athlete. I really respect him. He is a good guy and runs very well.”

The two men went through 10k in about 34 minutes, which was a personal best for Mbelenzi, before tackling the hill leading up to the hotel.

“We were still together but he opened up a little gap coming up the hill and he stretched it a little bit,” Mbelenzi said.

“By the time we hit the downhill to the finish he had opened a sufficient gap to win, even though I tried to close it.

“He is a far more superior athlete. He has run some very good times, so I’m very happy to have pushed him and stayed with him that long.”

Third in the race was Tim Price in 42:33. He was part of the winning relay team, Seal Team 3, alongside Gayle Lindsay and Kyle Smith. The team’s winning time was 45:18. The junior race was won by Tommy Marshall in 8:37, ahead of Khari Sharrieff in 9:33, and Tajai Goater in 9:33. First girl was Daria Desmon, 12, in 9:49, who was followed by Jaeda Grant in 9:59 and Myeisha Sharrieff in 10:23.

In the 7.2-mile walk, first was Howard Williams in 1hr 19min 41 sec, followed by Kenneth O’Neill in 1:21:43, and Paul Hayward in 1:21:49. Among the women, first was Davina Dickinson in 1:25:23, followed by Sarah Hurson in 1:26:55, and Sharon Suess in 1:27:02.

Age division winners in the adult road race, among the men, were Damian Gold (40-49) in 43:56; Stephen Egan (50-59) in 50:38; Jonathan Caswell (60-69) in 47:17; Antun Duzevic (over-70) in 59:07.

Women age division winners were Victoria Fiddick (50-59) in 49:24; Terri Durrant (60-69) in 67:00); Peggy Couper (over-70) in 71:42.