popular race, the May 24 Marathon Derby.

This could be the year he finally comes of age.

It has long been a dream of Donawa's to join the distinguished list of champions in the Heritage Day event since he burst onto the scene in 1989 with a ninth place finish as a junior.

He was abroad in school for years after that and did not compete again until 1996 when he placed fourth. Last year, in his third race, Donawa pulled out with an injury just east of the former Inverurie Hotel.

"I had developed a cramp early in the race and it was a situation where my health became my primary concern,'' Donawa explained.

"I didn't want to continue running and jeopardise the rest of my season which was the CAC Track and Field Championships. But that was last year, I'm just looking at everything and keeping it in perspective. It's all a learning experience.'' With defending champion Kavin Smith missing from this year's race, the expectations are that Donawa and Tracy Wright will be the pair to beat.

"Based on what he did last year, if he was in that same type of shape this year then obviously he would be the number one favurite,'' said Donawa of Smith.

"He has made it public that he is not running but it is still a race. It's still 13.3 miles and anybody who thinks it's that much easier, because you still have to deal with the other guys in the field and the heat, is going to be mistaken.

"I think it's really going to be competitive with three or four guys who will be right there. So many things can happen on that day. I'm not going to be naive to overlook anyone.'' Wright is the more experienced of the pair, having had a string of top four Derby finishes since his only win in 1990. But Donawa has already learned some important lessons in his few outings.

"1996 wasn't the best race that I've had, I finished fourth -- what I consider a distant fourth -- but I was leading the race right up to Burnt House (Hill),'' explained Donawa.

"I think it was good because I learned a lot about the event itself, not only that it is 13.3 miles but also the elements, the hills, the heat and those things. I'm a lot more mature in terms of my running, with the way I approach things so definitely this year my approach, based on past experiences, will be different.'' Donawa is enjoying the hype leading up to the race but is careful not to get caught up in the expectations. He can do without the added pressure.

"That's something I'm trying to stay away from,'' he admits. "It's kind of fun in a sense that all of a sudden everybody has become an `expert' on running and no matter where I go people are telling me different things.

"It's amusing to me but the way I look at it the race wouldn't be much without the hype. It creates interest but as a runner you have to set a plan, a race strategy, and try to execute it and not get caught up on the other things. You don't want to have plans to do one thing and then do something else.'' Donawa's hopes high It would seem that Donawa was always cut out to be a runner after a story his mother told him about how, at the age of four, she took him to watch the Marathon Derby -- and he started to run with the leaders. Twelve years later he was running for real.

Donawa would like to get a win under his belt before his younger brother Michael graduates from college and becomes a regular feature again on the running scene, a reminder of the days when the Virgil twins, Neil and Neville, were a popular feature of the race.

Donawa is too young to remember their era and that of former champions like Ed Sherlock, Calvin Hansey and Cal Dill. But he does remember back to the 1980s when Tony Ryan and Mike Watson won three races each in the six years between 1984 and '89.

"In 1989 when I finished ninth was like a breakthrough year in terms of getting through to the next level. It was then that I realised that someday, if I continued to put in the hard work, that I could be rewarded with winning the race.

"People like Ed Sherlock and one of the Virgil twins, I talk to quite often and they have educated me on the event and what it means to Bermuda.

"I respect it for what it means and obviously I would like to become a winner like the Cal Beans, the Sherlocks and the Hanseys. I have respect for everyone of them because they have done something I haven't done.''