It was after a mere five miles into last night's Yankee Homecoming 10-Mile Road Race that Alene Reta knew he would win his third straight title.

For women's champion Claudia Camargo, it came down to the final 600 meters.

Reta, a native of Ethiopia, captured the men's race in 50:49 - a comfy 26 seconds over second-place Ezkyas Sesay of Washington, D.C. (51:15). Camargo posted a time of 58:50, pulling away late from runner-up Belainesh Zemedkun of Ethiopia (58:55).

With the victories, Reta and Camargo each pocket $500.

Matt Ely of Cambridge placed third in 52:03 and was followed by Juan Jaramillo of Peterborough, N.H., (52:15) and Joseph Ekuom of New York City (52:50).

On the women's side, Brett Ely of Cambridge placed third in 59:54 while Joann Matthews of North Dartmouth took fourth in 1:02.32 and Zofic Wieciorkowska of Stratford, Conn., fifth in 1:03.43.

"Last year, the race was very hard," said the 25-year-old Reta, citing the 90-plus degree heat and stifling humidity. "After five miles I was by myself and very comfortable from there. The course is very good. I've run it before, so I was familiar."

The top local finisher, Newburyport native Ryan Spinney, was not ecstatic about his time of 58:37, which pitted him 38th overall. Understandably, he has had quite a bit on his mind lately. Spinney will marry fianc… Kristin Galway, who ran the 5K, on Saturday and is overcoming a virus that limited his workouts over the last week.

"I've done better," Spinney said, who cited his best effort of 56:21 in 2003 (22nd). "It's been a stressful time. I was hoping to finish somewhere between 56 and 57 minutes. After about five miles, I knew it wasn't going to happen, so I just wanted to finish strong."

Spinney has been a regular on the local road race circuit this year, running the Boston Marathon and the Pat Poletta Road Race earlier this summer. He is slated to run the Greater Hartford Marathon on Oct. 13.

The victory was small consolation of sorts for Camargo, a 36-year-old native of Mar del Plata, Argentina, who was forced to withdraw in the 17th mile of the Pan American Games Marathon last Sunday due to heat exhaustion.

Additionally, Camargo was out to make amends from her last attempt at the 10-mile race. In 2005, she withdrew due to a nagging abdominal injury.

It was around noon this afternoon, after a 7K-interval workout, that Camargo decided to drive from Danbury, CT, to enter the 10-Mile race.

She made the most of it, challenging Zemedkun with different paces throughout the course and finally leaving her behind with 600 meters remaining.

"This was a very easy race for me," Camargo said through her husband and interpreter Rolando. "I am very happy. Two years ago I had to pull out of the race, but now I feel very good.

"I changed my pace throughout (the course), and I knew (Zemedkun) could not stay with me," she noted.

Camargo is well known in the local circuit as she captured the 2006 High Street Mile last August in 4:45. Camargo will not defend her title on Sunday, instead opting for the Nike New York City Half Marathon.