THOUSANDS will line Front Street tonight when the annual KPMG Front Street Mile is staged.

But don't expect anyone in the Elite Mile to collect the $10,000 bonus for breaking that magic four-minute mark ¿ something which has never happened in the history of the race.

Despite speedsters from the UK, Kenya, the United States, the Ukraine and Morocco, it looks like the weather will be against them as they battle it out. Fairly strong winds and gusts are predicted ¿ winds which will continue all weekend, hindering the International 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon races.

"Wind is a problem but it is the turn which slows them down a lot," said International Race Weekend official and former top marathoner Peter Lever.

Defending Invitational Elite Mile champion Neil Speaight from England is back to try to hold on to his title while popular runner and former champion James Thie will be missing as he has an injury.

Tonight's races ¿ the most popular for spectators during IRW ¿ will start off 6.50 with a mass Mile race involving nearly 50 runners competing in the Bermuda Triangle Series ¿ something new for IRW. Runners in the Triangle Series will race the Mile tonight, the 10K on Saturday and the Half Marathon or Marathon on Sunday.

And one of those Triangle runners is marathon legend Kathrine Switzer, who in 1967 shocked the world when she competed and finished the Boston Marathon ¿ illegally. Her gutsy effort eventually helped women receive equal status in the marathon. She also won the New York Marathon in 1974. (For a full interview with Switzer see Sport, Page 9).

After the Triangle runners complete their Mile, there will be Mile races for primary, middle and senior school students as well as local adults, open female and open male.

And tonight is not just about running.

At 8 p.m. Bermuda's national football team take on Puerto Rico at the National Sports Centre in the second friendly international ahead of the World Cup qualifiers. Bermuda will be looking for revenge after they were beaten 2-0 on Wednesday night. (For more on tonight's match see Sport, Page 11).

The International 10K will start and finish at the National Sports Centre on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. and many of the Elite Mile runners will be competing in that race as well.

On Sunday the Half Marathon and Marathon will start and finish on Front Street, starting at 8 a.m.

The Marathon received a welcome boost this week when two top Ethiopian runners entered at the last minute ¿ Habtamu Bekele and Abeda Tola. They will join a host of other world-class runners on Sunday.