Over the first two days of International Race Weekend, Paul Freary came up empty-handed. But the Leukaemia Society, whose US runners flocked in their hundreds to Bermuda, knew the odds were in their favour when they backed him for yesterday's Half-Marathon.

"I was talking to the leukaemia people last night and we went to a meeting that they were having and they gave me a vest there,'' said Freary. "So I wanted to win as well so they can get a nice picture in the paper.'' And win he did.

The 29-year-old Englishman saw off an early challenge from Moroccan Rachid Tbahi and cruised to his third straight triumph over this distance during Bermuda's biggest weekend of road racing.

His time of one hour, nine minutes and 30 seconds was meaningless in the overall scheme of things as all the runners underwent a searching examination along gusty North Shore; it was the win that mattered.

"It's hard work,'' said Freary, "but it's as hard as you make it. If you want to come in first it's always going to be hard. I always like running here and this year was no different.'' Tbahi threatened to send Freary home winless as he initiated a two-horse race at just under record pace for the first few miles. But his lack of conditioning, plus the fact that he is in the midst of the Ramadan fasting period, played into Freary's hands by the four-mile mark.

"I was working on tempo,'' said the likeable Tbahi after settling for third behind Canadian Christian Weber. "I was planning to run like 1:07, 1:08 at 5:15, 5:20 pace. That's what I was doing until nine miles when I felt a little bit tight, weak from fasting.'' By then Freary had long gone. He ran on his own terms and never let down.

"As it turned out I did get away quite early but you never can tell because it's really hard work,'' he said. "At 10 miles you can start hurting real bad. You may be 100 yards clear but someone can always creep on you if you don't keep it going.'' Weber, third in the 10K the day before, was running over uncharted territory for the most part and refused to gamble to catch the breakaway pair.

In the end, only Tbahi came back to him.

"After a couple of miles those guys sort of got away and I didn't see them after that,'' said Weber of the early going. "Every so often someone would say, `Oh, he's two minutes ahead of you, a minute and a half ahead of you, 40 seconds ahead of you. But (estimates) are all over the place at times and you didn't know where he is.

"I figured he was probably about a minute and a half ahead of me.'' Weber's guesstimate was almost spot-on as he crossed the line in 1:10:53 having closed the distance over the last few miles without ever seriously challenging Freary.

Tbahi, overtaken by Weber just after eight miles, sauntered over the line in 1:12:54 with Kavin Smith the top local and fourth overall in 1:14:49.

Smith began the race slowly and then kicked in at the two-mile mark where he first passed Jamal Hart and then David Dunwoody.

"After (Smith) passed me he just gradually disappeared,'' laughed Dunwoody, who clocked 1:17:48. "I caught Jamal at seven miles and it was just a matter of hanging in from there. The winds were murder.'' Hart, coming off a bout of the flu, had to settle for 1:19:40.

The story was almost identical on the women's side where 36-year-old Atlantan Wende Cherry ran unchallenged throughout to win in 1:26:00, good enough for 21st overall.

"The course was very hard, you had to stay focused and really watch the turns and the hills,'' she said.

"The marathoners? Hats off to them, it's a tough course. I had to do my own race. I finally decided to quit worrying about my splits. I just tried to stay real relaxed.'' Bermuda's Lynn Patchett snatched second place in 1:28:48, 24th overall, then admitted to have never seen Cherry. "I didn't know who she was so I never saw hert. I ran with a couple of the lead marathon ladies. I got into a rhythm with them because I wanted to get in a few consistent miles.

"I had an idea that it would be still a bit windy on North Shore Road. I just wanted to get a few good miles in and maintain my pace. I struggled the last few miles in the rain.'' Jane Christie was third female, and 26th overall, not far behind in 1:29:43.