By Jonathan Kent Bermuda's annual three-day festival of road running will get underway tonight at 7.30 when the gun fires to signal the start of the series of seven Front Street Mile races.

And International Race Weekend will continue with a 10K race tomorrow morning and a marathon and half-marathon on Sunday.

Large crowds traditionally line Hamilton's waterfront for the mile races and the first to perform tonight will be the under-12 girls and then boys.

The under-18 and local adult races will follow and the evening will climax with the elite mile, featuring a series of top overseas runners plus Bermuda's 1500 metres record holder Terrance Armstrong.

Never in the race's 12-year history has anyone managed to break the four-minute barrier -- even though past winners include the likes of Britain's great Olympian Steve Cram, American star Joe Falcon and Ireland's Marcus O'Sullivan.

No such big names are present in tonight's field, but six of the elite runners invited have posted sub-four-minute personal bests.

One of those is Canada's Rich Tremain, who has clocked 3:58.8 and ran the Front Street Mile two years ago.

Tremain felt that for anyone to break the elusive four-minute barrier and claim the $10,000 bonus on offer, everything would have to go perfectly.

"It's a very, very tough mile course,'' said Tremain, after going for a training run yesterday.

"With the two turns and the slight uphill slope most of the way, it makes it very difficult.

"I think, to be honest, it would be very difficult for anyone to break four minutes. You would need ideal conditions, a very good field and a fast early pace.

"My plan is not to worry about times, but just to try and run a good race and stay with the leaders.'' Tremain was delighted to return to what he regards as a special event.

"I think it's great the way the three events are incorporated over the weekend,'' said Tremain.

"And the whole community gets into it. When I went out for a run today, people were asking me which event I was doing.

"That's kind of refreshing. When you go to these meets on the east coast of the US, they are all so similar and nobody even knows you're there for an event.'' The 29-year-old Tremain, from Guelph near Toronto, is looking to follow up on a good year 2000 in which he finished second in the Canadian 1500 metres Olympic trials, but just missed out on the qualifying time and a trip to Sydney.

An injury sustained last week means two-time defending champion Karl Paranya will not be here to try for a hat-trick.

The three men who boast the fastest times in the field are all Kenyans -- Ben Kapsoiya (3:53.3), Leonard Mucheru (3:56) and Sammy Ng'eno (3:55).

But it was still uncertain yesterday whether Ng'eno, whose father is seriously ill, would arrive to compete in the mile and tomorrow's 10K, in which he would be defending his title.

Armstrong, who finished fifth last year, will be looking to do even better this time in front of home fans in what looks a wide open race.

With last year's winner Kavin Smith opting not to defend his title, policeman Michael Donawa will be among the favourites in the local men's race.

Donawa, who won the secondary boys' mile three times in succession in the mid-90s but has never won the senior race, was neck-and-neck with Smith last year but then pulled out through injury.

His likely challengers include Sheldon Thompson and the 1998 and 1999 winner, David Dunwoody.

Hot favourite for the women's mile will be defending champion Ashley Couper, although she will have to deal with the challenge of Race Weekend veteran Anna Eatherley.

Couper, the national 1500 metres record holder now studying at Stanford, California, has been training with her university cross country team but her track season has not yet started.

Eatherley has been in fine form of late, having cruised to victory in last week's Princess Race. But she is likely to have one eye on tomorrow, when she bids to win the local women's 10K for a record fifth time and Sunday's half-marathon, in which she will try for a hat-trick of local wins.

Asked how she rated her chances, Eatherley said: "I always run the same, my 5:20 or whatever it is I do, and if someone's faster than me, they'll beat me.'' She added that she had been running between eight and 14 miles per day, 60 to 70 miles per week in preparation for Race Weekend, although she has toned down her training this week.

Defending champ: Bermudian Ashley Couper, seen here winning last year's women's open mile, flew in last night from the USA to defend her crown.