fulfilled last weekend when she ran the Fifth Avenue Mile in four minutes, 55.6 seconds.

Fisher is the first Bermudian woman to crack the five-minute barrier and, in doing so, smashed her own record of 5:02.5 set in the Miami Mile in January.

Last Saturday's race, formerly known as the Mercedes Mile, carried the runners on a flat course from 82nd to 62nd Street in near ideal conditions of 68 degrees.

Fisher yesterday said she was not aware of being on record pace until the 1,500-metre mark.

"I just ran. At the halfway mark I heard someone call out 2:21 so I figured if I could stay at that speed I would be all right,'' she said.

"I couldn't tell too much until 1,500 metres when I heard 4:39 and then I said to myself that I had to get going.'' Fisher, who has earned several accolades in a sterling athletics career, and is now dabbling into biathlon, ranks that latest milestone near the top. "I rank it as one of my highest achievements,'' said the 33-year-old mother of two, who has qualified for the next month's CAC Games in Puerto Rico in the 800 and 1,500 metres. "It is pretty tough to run a mile under five minutes.

You have to have a lot of speed and stamina.'' Her ambition to crack five minutes for the mile began after the 1983 Sir Henry Tucker Mile, hosted by Police Recreation Club's running section, when she clocked 5:05.

Fisher was in good company at the Fifth Avenue Mile as four American runners went under the former record of 4:40.44 and finished within a second of each other.

Lauren Gubicza of New York won the race in 4:37.9 followed by pre-race favourite Debbi Marshall of Pennsylvania (4:38.2), Julie Speights of Virginia (4:38.4) and Ceci St. Geme of California (4:38.8).