Springs - He did it again. Oz Pearlman, a 27-year-old magician from Manhattan, wore the No. 1 bib as the defending champion of the Hamptons Marathon, and defend his championship he did. Pearlman broke away from the pack early and cruised to victory, posting a time of 2:39:24. He led by four minutes a quarter of the way through, extended it to six at the 13-mile mark and dialed it up to win by better than 12 minutes over second-place Michael Bryson (2:51:59)

Oz Pearlman ran a 2:39:24 in the third annual Hamptons Marathon to take home his second title in as many years.

The field managed to dodge the raindrops unlike those in the '08 race, although Pearlman took advantage of the cool weather by setting the course record with a time of 2:37:50. He is the only runner in the race's history to break the 2:40 mark. The 26-plus mile jaunt was actually a break from some of Pearlman's other exploits; in October 2007, he completed the Ford Ironman World Championship triathlon in Hawaii, a trek of more than 140 miles in the water, on bike and by foot.

Hampton Bays' Jessica Allen, a three-time Long Island Marathon champ, also repeated as champion of her division and became the first woman ever to break the three-hour mark at the Hamptons race. Allen, a 32-year-old art teacher at Seneca Middle School in Holbrook, posted a time of 2:56:14 to take third overall and break her own course mark by nearly 11 minutes. She held a narrow lead over a pair of competitors – Jami Lower of Nantucket, MA, and New York's Danya Perry – a quarter of the way through and maintained that the rest of the way. Lower ended up fifth (3:00:51) and Perry sixth (3:05:07). Wainscott's James Consiglio came in just under the three-hour mark, finishing in 2:58:13.

In Saturday's half-marathon, Chris Albanese of New York City placed first in a time of 1:18:57. The 30-year-old held off another New York resident, Peter Ryan, to hit the finish line first; Ryan came in second in a time of 1:20:53. Stephen Ellwood of Port Washington finished third (1:22:17) ahead of the first local runner across, which was Southampton's Jason Hancock (1:22:59). Hancock finished third a year ago but shaved more than a minute off his time. Jorge Lopes of Linden, N.J., grabbed fifth in 1:23:17. Although quick, Albanese couldn't quite beat the record of 1:15:05 set by New York's Kevin Starkes last year.

Centerport's Heather Williams-Fives shattered the previous record by nearly a minute in taking first place in the women's division. With a time of 1:26:46, she finished 10th overall and unseated Bridget McKenna for the top spot in the race's three-year history. Last year, McKenna rolled to victory in a time of 1:27:35; she finished third this year in 1:29:23. Williams-Fives, who is a physical therapist at the joint mobility center at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, has won a number of local races of late, including the Firecracker 8K in Southampton in July and the Great Bonac Foot Race 10K earlier this month.

Hampton Bays' Jessica Allen followed up her win at May's Long Island Marathon with her second victory out in the Hamptons race.

The top local finisher among women was Westhampton's Laura Brown, who posted a time of 1:30:07. Last week, Brown won the Flying Point 10K in Southampton. On November 30, she will be presented with the Athlete of the Year Award by the Old Montauk Athletic Club in a dinner held at Della Femina's Restaurant in East Hampton.

All told, 1,159 runners completed the half-marathon, an increase of 350 and more than 800 from the inaugural race in 2007. The 294 marathon finishers was just a slight bump from '08 when 292 completed the race.

Marathoners started at the Springs School and headed south on Accabonac Road before turning it east. They were halfway done only when they reached Napeague Harbor. Runners were just over five miles from the finish line when they turned north on Accabonac Road again; they made their way up toward East Harbor, reversed course and finished back at the school. The course was relatively flat aside from a steady climb from miles 16-19 that gave way to a downslope near Amagansett-Springs Road and Stony Hill Road. For the half-marathoners, they accompanied the marathon runners through mile six before veering back toward the start line while the others continued eastward.

Those who participated banded together to raise money for Project MOST, a charitable organization that provides after-school services to the elementary and middle schools in East Hampton. Last year, $40,000 was raised for Project MOST. Additionally, the marathon partnered with Team In Training and the American Cancer Society's charitable runner program in '09.