with no clear cut favourite among the invited elite athletes.

A strong African contingent, containing the likes of Mohamed Amyn of Morocco and Kenyans Stephen Nyamu and Francis Kirwa, will warrant close attention, while Americans Phillip Castillo and Mike Donnelly also stand out as key challengers along with in-form Englishman Paul Freary.

Bermuda's hopes lie in the shape of United States based Terrance Armstrong, and Jay Donawa, winner of last weekend's Princess to Princess Race.

For Amyn, enjoying his first visit to the Island, the mandate is clear in that winning is the only option.

"I am here to finish number one and nothing else, I am very happy to be here and look to have a good race,'' said the lithe Moroccan, who makes a quick turnaround following last night's Front Street Mile.

"The Kenyans are all very good, we are all Africans and very strong runners.

I think it will come down to tactics.

One of those set to be hot on Amyn's heels is Kirwa, a lanky runner with a personal best time of 28:48, set back in 1999 on the track at the Mt. SAC Relays, which compares to 28:25 for his Moroccan rival.

Kirwa's preference is for a slower, tactical run, which appears likely, considering the forecast of strong 15-20 knot breezes that will aid competitors along Middle Road but become a burden along North Shore, towards the finish.

"I prefer tactical, because you know who is who,'' explained Kirwa, who expressed joy at being able to depart the freezing conditions of Europe for a more temperate Bermuda. "But in a fast race you don't know, because someone can take off at the start and spread everything out.

"I like to rely on my kick. I'm not a fast guy, there's a lot of guys faster than me here, so if I can stay with them until the last kilometre and kick that'll be good.

"It's going to be an open race. It depends on who is in there and it depends on how those guys are going to run. If they go fast early then you're looking at a fast race, and if the weather cooperates it will be a nice race to watch, and I hope to do well in it.'' Performing for the first time since suffering an injury, Armstrong has more modest goals, that of maintaining contact with the front-runners for as long as his body permits.

More of a 1500 metres specialist, Armstrong will have his speed and endurance tested by the other elite competitors.

"I'm more or less looking to see what type of fitness I'm in right now,'' said Armstrong, a member of the Washington D.C. based track club Enclave. "I was in fairly decent shape coming into the season, but heading into December I picked up an injury -- about five weeks back -- and this will be my first race back out.

"So, I'm just looking to get out there, bang the roads and see where these guys can pull me through to.

"I know it'll be a tough one up front with the Kenyans, some of the Americans and the Moroccan. I'm not going to put myself down and say I'm going to be behind them, I'm going to give myself a good shot and try to stay with them as long as I can.'' Africans target 10K From Page 15 Ditto Castillo feels greater opportunity lies for him in tomorrow's Bermuda Marathon as opposed to the shorter 10K.

"I just want to see where I'm at in terms of my fitness and so on, I don't think I have the speed of the 10K to be really competitive, but I think I can do well in the marathon,'' said Castillo, one of only a handful native Americans on the running circuit.

On the female side the 10K presents defending champion Courtney Babcock as the target all will aim for, and those familiar with the petite Canadian know that she will do her utmost to put aside would be challengers.

"I'll probably just go out with the pace and see how it feels, hopefully it'll be a bit warmer than last year,'' said Babcock. "I'm looking to run my own race and see how the day goes.

"It's always day to day, on any given day anyone can win, so I think I have a good shot at any time.'' American Katie McGregor's goals are a fun, fast showing, with winning a bonus.

"I just came out to get a good race in,'' said McGregor, who hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan. "I don't know exactly where I'm at shape wise, this is my first time here too, so hopefully I can have some fun and get a good time in.

"I would like to be able to get in a good position to be in there with a shot at the end and try to win something.'' Meanwhile, both the 10K and marathon have been hit by several withdrawals, with men's favourite for the shorter race, Sammy N'geno, a no-show, along with fellow Kenyan Leonard Mucheru and female team-mate Naomi Wangui.

Late arriving travel visas have forced the pull-out of three elite Russian runners from the marathon, with Grigoriy Murzin, Olg Kharigtonov and Elena Paramonova all failing to arrive.

Already having landed though, are Portugal's Fedor Ryjov and Luiz Carlos S.

Ramos of Brazil, while Aleksey Belosludtsev of Russia, second a year ago, is due in today.

Ukrainian national Yelena Plastinina, a two-time winner and current marathon course female record holder, looks to reclaim her title, but will face stiff competition from defending champion Lyoudmila Kortchaguina of Russia and Pole Ewa Fliegart.

Both the Bermuda Marathon and Half Marathon get underway at 8.00 a.m., starting on Front Street.