Saturday night after his unblemished record in 1998, appears on course for another banner year.

Smith lifted his third local title of 1999 yesterday, holding off Brett Forgesson by five seconds to win the annual Around the Town race over five miles in a time of 27:34.

That win added to victories in the Princess to Princess and Butterfield and Vallis 5K races earlier this year as well as solid performances in both the International 10K and half-marathon when he was first local to finish.

In windy conditions over a new course, Smith again dictated yesterday's race although Forgesson kept in touch as did Sheldon Thompson who grabbed third place in 27:50.

Newcomer to the Island John Wassenaar placed fourth in 28:07 while Mark Perry continued his comeback with a fifth-place finish in 28:25.

Anna Eatherley, meanwhile, was an easy winner among the women, clocking 30:58 for 12th overall. That was almost three minutes ahead of second-placed Jane Christie (33.41), the first female Master. Georgia Belboda was third woman in 33:54.

Results, see Scoreboard TEACHERS PUT ON A SHOW RUG Teachers put on a show Teachers 22 The Rest 12 Teachers romped to their second successive win in the 14th annual Denton Hurdle Memorial match at Nationals yesterday.

They raced into a 19-0 half-time lead on the back of two tries from guest player Josh McGavern and another from Geoff Ormond as the muddy conditions ensured a scrappy encounter.

Gareth Davies and Rob Morgan went over for the Rest after the interval as Teachers sat back a little, content with their afternoon's work.

Reds' skipper Patrick Cooper praised the approach of his side against a team selected by national coach Peter Shillingford.

"I think what happens is that Teachers are always up for this game,'' he said. "We go to church together at eight o'clock in the morning and spend the day together. So much team spirit puts The Rest on a bit of a downer.'' And he singled out Bobby Hurdle, nephew of the man the match commemorates, for his performance.

"He was absolutely fantastic,'' he said. "He tackled everything that moved, as you'd expect.''