when he comfortably won the Butterfield & Vallis/Gatorade 5K.

But the expected showdown between Smith and in-form Jay Donawa failed to materialise because of an injury to the latter which prevented him from starting.

Smith, who has taken a few weeks off competition since the start of the year, won in 16 minutes, two seconds, well clear of second-placed David Dunwoody (17:27), who edged out third-placed Devoe Whaley by one second.

Donawa, who won the Flying Colours 5K earlier this month, said he had intended to compete.

"I received an injury to my back on the Friday evening before the race,'' said Donawa.

"I went to the hospital on Saturday evening to check it out and I am now out of commission for an indefinite period of time. Right now I am very sore and I've been given a shot of an anti-inflammatory drug.'' Donawa was the first local home in the International Race Weekend half-marathon and a top-10 overall finisher in the International 10K last month, when he ran his best-ever time in the event. And he also won the Princess-to-Princess race the week before that.

"The disappointing thing is that now I can't even move around comfortably,'' added Donawa. "It's happened at a time when the running was going so well. I just want to get healthy again.''