New London — Last year, Brianna Demers was the sixth-place women's finisher in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 49 seconds, 45th overall.

Again, she began Saturday's Ocean Beach/John & Jessie Kelley Race in fourth place.

“I start off easy,” Demers said.

But here's the thing about Demers, the 30-year-old from Ashford: the longer the race is, the more comfortable she feels, having won the Providence Marathon already in May and gearing up for the Hartford Marathon in October.

The Kelley Race was extended to the half-marathon distance of 13.1 miles for the first time this year. Demers was the first-place woman in 1:24:08, 21st overall.

“I get in the zone,” Demers said. “I like being able to have more time for race strategy. In a 5K, you start off 10 seconds too slow and it's too late. The longer race is my style. … I'm focusing on the full marathon.”

Demers won the women's division at Providence in 2:58:29.

Another fan of the new distance was recent Ledyard High School graduate Geralson Withrow, who finished 18th overall in 1:23:00, a personal best for that distance. Withrow competed in track and cross country for Ledyard. One of his favorite events each year was the 5,000 meters he ran at the Ledyard Relays.

Withrow will compete at Division III Newbury College in Brookline, Mass.

“We run 8Ks (4.97 miles),” Withrow said of the collegiate level. “… I really liked it (the new distance at the Kelley Race). It was definitely a great day for me. Now I go in knowing, 'I can do this.' I'm so excited. My goal was to get between 1:20 and 1:25.”

Withrow was the No. 5 runner on Ledyard's Class M state championship cross country team in 2015, but said he suffered an injury to his hip flexor during his senior season in 2016. He ran a personal-best 10:31.91 in the 3,200 this spring at the Greater Hartford Invite and helped the Colonels to a win in the distance medley relay at the Ledyard Invite, running the 1,600-meter leg.

Now Withrow can't wait to run even farther, which he got to do Saturday when the committee in charge of the Kelley Race chose to add on to the former 11.6-mile course to make it a more traditional length.

Said Withrow: “I'm fit and confident. I'm really excited.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com