even she was helpless to dim the torch of Kavin Smith.

Smith once again blazed a victorious trail from Somerset to Bernard Park, ruthlessly dismissing the field on his way to a record breaking seventh Derby title, eclipsing the previous record of six he shared with Ed Sherlock.

The race was essentially over as a contest at White Hill, less than three miles into the trek, when Smith began pulling away from Jay Donawa. He went on to break the tape at Bernard Park to rapturous cheers in a time of one hour, 11 minutes and three seconds, well off the course record 1:09:36 he set a year ago.

"Give God the glory. The Lord has not ceased to fail me yet and He brought me through today,'' said Smith at the finish, appearing fresh and unbothered despite having just traversed a difficult 13.3 miles.

"Under the circumstances I felt great and things went well. I expected a challenge in the beginning, the first mile was fast and I knew that would turn the race around, so I took advantage of it.'' Brushing aside speculation that he would take things out slowly at the start, Smith bolted through the first mile in 5:06 and continued to press the pace through the two mile mark with Donawa hard on his heels.

However, upon ascending White Hill Smith put in a telling surge to which Donawa had no answer.

By Barnes Corner Smith had moved into a 100-yard lead and, continuing his graceful glide, was left alone to accept the applause and cheers of the throng lining the route.

"Like I had said, it was always going to be a very strategic race,'' said Smith. "I knew that I was feeling good going into the race, I literally felt blessed and could feel the spirit of the Lord on me, so I knew it was going to be a good race because it's all about giving God the honour.

"In the beginning it was fast, so I knew that would work to my advantage, knowing Jay's times and the effects the hills would have after going through the first mile at close to five flat.

"So I took advantage of that, ran my flats easy and attacked the hills until I got to Inverurie and then ran it steady all the way home.'' While last year had Smith on a stated quest to achieve the race record, this year saw the opportunity of notching an unprecedented seventh victory as a major incentive.

"Winning number seven of course was a big motivator, being able to become the winningest runner of all time,'' said Smith. "Today was number seven and it means a lot to me.'' It was a dejected Donawa that spoke afterwards, having been once again foced to play second fiddle to Smith, placing second in 1:15:36.

However, the lithe runner remained confident that his time would eventually come, but that he would have to devise a new regimen if that moment is to arrive sooner rather than later.

"I need a different type of training,'' said Donawa, who was also second a year ago. "This race is not like a 5K or 10K, it's longer and you have to do a lot of strength work.

"As I'm getting older I'm getting stronger, obviously, but I still need to do the type of training that's going be conducive to running this race. But each time I'm learning and as the old adage says, `When you fail, keep trying', because one day you will be interviewing me as the number one guy. "I'll just keep my faith, I thank God for the strength and next time I'll hopefully have more strength.

"Today the thing was that I just didn't want to get caught up in running his style. He was surging and I kept catching him, but it wasn't that I was picking it up rather I was just maintaining the pace. He had the strength to surge and pick it up at times and it worked well for him.'' Former champion Tracy Wright held on for third in 1:16:18, but it was teenager Mark Morrison who created perhaps the biggest stir, bursting through to finish fourth in his first ever Marathon Derby and stamping himself as a future threat.

Aided by the likes of Anna Eatherley, Sylvester Jean-Pierre and another youngster, Larry Marshall Jr., Morrison felt his way along before releasing the reins at Burnt House Hill, steadily passing runners along Harbour Road and into Hamilton, eventually crossing the line in 1:16:37.

King Kavin romps to record 7th Derby win From Page 21 "I thought I'd take it easy at the beginning then I felt good, so I picked it up just before we got to Burnt House Hill and from there started picking people off,'' explained Morrison. "I passed Larry (Marshall) and when I got up to Sheldon (Thompson) on Front Street I was thinking `Oh, this is looking even better', and was able to go past him as well.

"I think I left it a little too late (to place up further), but that's a learning experience for the course.

"I haven't been doing too much training, so maybe next year if I boost the miles up a little bit maybe I can come nearer to the front.'' Marshall was fifth in 1:19:17 and there should be some intriguing battles down the line among the pair.

The Masters category was another area of intrigue with dark horse Manuel Lopes (1:19:37) using a late surge along Church Street to erase Sylvester Jean-Pierre's aspirations of emerging first in the category.

After stalking Jean-Pierre (1:20:14) for 12 miles Lopes pounced as the pair traversed the final mile and proved to have just a bit more fuel in the tank than his friendly rival.

"I put it down to patience,'' said Lopes, distinctive in his trademark white bandana. "I've run this race a long time and I figured if I held him within sight and kept a little bit in the bank, when I got to Town I would be able to take him.

"On Church Street I dug deep and pulled up to him, he came with me for a couple of steps but I stepped it up another notch and took it from there.

"About 10 years ago Jeff Payne was coaching me and he gave me an old adage, telling me `If you want to win you've got to go out quick ... then pick it up'', and that was my motto for today.'' Said Jean-Pierre: "I just tried to keep one pace and was thinking that Manuel's not a Master yet, but surprise, surprise.'' As a sidelight, Smith also achieved the qualifying standard for the CAC Games in El Salvador, his time at the 13.1 mile mark well under the standard of 1:11.

Record breaker: Kavin Smith crosses the finish line at Bernard Park to capture a record seventh Marathon Derby crown.