FROM the moment the first of the KPMG Front Street mile races got underway last Friday evening to the final runner crossing the finish line in last Sunday's marathon, the International Race Weekend has been hailed a success. The new organising team has proven they have the ability not only to stage the three-day festival but also have the contacts to bring in a raft of elite runners from around the world.

The challenge now is to build the number of overall competitor numbers to a level at least comparable with the 1980s and 1990s.

Bermuda Track and Field Association president Clarence Smith has been heartened by the positive feedback from spectators and overseas athletes. But he is not putting on rose-tinted spectacles and readily admits mistakes were made.

Concerns about the movement of some elite athletes between three hotels in less than 24 hours is one of the issues that came up, but on the whole the Race Weekend was given ringing praise from competitors ? locals and overseas ? and observers.

Smith said: "I'm feeling confident from the reports that we are getting that we are on the right path, and we are going to work on the mistakes." For many spectators the defining moment of this year's running festival came on Friday night when Bermuda's national 800 metres record holder Tamika Williams won the local women's Front Street mile race, upsetting the form book to beat pre-race favourites Victoria Fiddick and Joanna Shillington.

The same evening Matthew Spring showed that Bermuda has outstanding up-and-coming talent as he won the boys' 13-17 race. The runner-up in that race was Sean Trott, 16, who went on to finish top under-20 in the 10K race, running the equal fastest time of the day by a Bermudian.

Kenyan national team athlete Emmanuel Chamer cut the most striking figure of the weekend as he secured victory in the 10K and half-marathon with remarkable finishing times.

His 29 minutes 47 seconds in the 10K he said was his "poorest" time to date. But then again he was well clear of his nearest rival and had obviously held something in reserve for the half marathon the following day, which he won by more than a minute in 1:05:28.

The women's 10K provided a thrilling contest between former US 10,000 metres champion Katie McGregor, fellow American Victoria Jackson and defending champion Silvia Skvortsova of Russia.

McGregor added the 2007 title to her 2005 and 2003 wins, but only 18 seconds separated the three elite women.

On Sunday Skvortsova had the joy of reversing the tables on her two American rivals as she retained her title with a faster run than the previous year. In the men's race local favourite Jay Donawa was again the lead Bermuda athlete and spoke of his satisfaction at being able to test himself as a multi-pace runner as he mixed it with the elite marathoners on the course.

The marathon saw El Afoui Boubker of Morocco relinquish his title, which he has won six times, to Russian Edvard Tukhbatullin. There was a little over a minute in it and Boubker vowed to return to reclaim his crown and break Andy Holden's 27-year-old course record into the bargain.

It proved to be a one-two for the Russians with Samosova Venera winning the women's race, her time of 2:46:26 was too good for any local Bermuda-based marathoner, although four of the Island's best did battle and broke the three-hour barrier in the process with Peter Mills pushing himself to the point of collapse to win the local spoils in 2:50:27.

Dawn Richardson, the current women's May 24 champion, also recorded an impressive 3:13 only a month after finishing the Las Vegas Marathon.

As much as race weekend was about the star names, it was also about the hundreds of ordinary runners who made up the race fields over the three days. Some of the visiting athletes have become household names on the Island, such as Sid Howard, 67, and Ronnie Wong, 60, who have been regularly running races in Bermuda for nearly 30 years.

This year's running festival proved it has legs yet to make a return to its glory years when more than a thousand athletes lined up for the races. That is the dream and ambition of the new race committee, headed by BTFA president Smith, with committee chairman Anthony Raynor.

Last weekend was a trial for the new team, now the work starts to prove they have what it takes to put the Bermuda International Race Weekend back on the international race calendar and in a prominent way.