Tyler Smith wins Junior Classic (Update)

Tyler Smith and Selah Tuzo took the Junior Heritage Day Classic titles.

It was Smith’s final chance to win the race before moving up to the Half Marathon Derby next year, but the mighty Tuzo won her second consecutive title and is still eligible for three more years.

Smith, who finished second last year, told the Bermuda Sun: “This felt good. This was what I was hoping for coming in.”

He thought he was time was a bit slower than last year which was ‘weird because I felt like I was pushing harder this year, but overall it was a good race.

“It was really hot out there this morning and last year it was a bit overcast so that’s probably why my time wasn’t as good.”

Smith said because the race is only two miles, he was just going to run as hard as he could for the full distance.

“Aaron Jacobs was with me for a little bit. I started to pick up the pace by the Fire Station.

“It feels good to win and I’m happy to win this.”

Tuzo defended her title, but it wasn’t as easy as Smith’s or her victory last year.

“This felt good, but I was having some knee problems so I really had to work hard. I wanted to push myself to see if I could win again.”

She said her strategy was to get in front of the rest of the girls and push herself.

“I wanted to see if I could break the record because last year I was two seconds off but I was a few seconds off my time from last year.

“Hopefully, next year, I can break the record.”