Smith goes it alone for runaway victory By Bob Amesse Kavin Smith found the perfect motivational tool to help propel him to victory in yesterday's Marathon Derby.

He simply put a videotape of his record-breaking performance from 1993 into the VCR and watched attentively.

The only problem was that by the time he finished viewing it, the 1995 race was about to begin.

So Smith jogged to the start line -- not far from his home in Somerset -- then burned up the course with as much energy as a pinball machine about to tilt to claim his second Derby crown in one hour, 12 minutes and 55 seconds -- one minute and 28 seconds shy of the record he established two years ago.

While it may have been Heritage Day, the day truly belonged to Smith.

A gutsy Tracy Wright, who finished second in 1:14.01, was the only runner to provide Smith with any kind of challenge, staying neck and neck with him for almost half the race. But Smith passed him with such stealth that Wright barely noticed.

The thousands who lined the course under a slate gray sky, cheered lustily and they were clearly in the mood for Smith to break the course record of 1:11.27.

It was an incredible showing from one of the Island's best athletes, made all the more remarkable because Smith has been competing again for just three months.

Defending champion Brett Forgesson, who finished fourth in 1:16.45, summed it up neatly by saying that his rival was in "a class of his own.'' "I think he's going to improve, so locally for anyone to beat him they are going to have a very difficult task,'' said Forgesson. "He's only been back three months and he's obviously on an upward swing.'' Echoed third place finisher Kevin Tucker, who ran the course in 1:16.07: "He's not going to be beaten by any local runner. One day I hope to get out there, but if I want to be like somebody I want to be like Kavin.'' Smith, proudly wearing a T-shirt proclaiming the name of his new sponsor, looked fresh and relaxed minutes before the race, unfazed by the blitzkrieg of publicity which followed him during the past few days.

He took the lead immediately after the starter's pistol with Forgesson and Wright close on his heels.

At Scaur Hill the Derby transformed into a two-man struggle, with Wright huffing and puffing up a steep incline, his fists clenched like he was holding a pair of grenades.

Smith allowed Wright to take the lead temporarily, but quickly assumed control.

He completed the first mile just under five minutes and there were whispers of a record being smashed. Those comments grew louder as he tore away from Wright at Whale Bay with a new record still a possibility as he approached Hamilton.

"I had brief thoughts of it,'' said Smith of the record. "But I was keeping track of my splits and unless I really, really could come up with something in the last few miles...I would have had to run five minute miles back to back.'' Smith, who declared prior to the race that he was hoping to run the 13.3 miles in 1:05 or 1:09, experienced his only bit of difficulty along East Broadway, his shoulders slumped while he gladly accepted ice from a spectator.

"I don't know, I thought my shoulders were relaxed but I was getting a bit of pain,'' he said. "I had the same thing happen in '93.

A woman helped him shoulder the load earlier when she ran with him along Harbour Road, until she was shouted off the road by an angry race official.

Smith's time was the second best since the course was changed in '92 and the eighth strongest since 1971.

Moments after his triumph, a beaming Smith praised his father for keeping him involved in road running.

"My father was always behind me, always pushing me into events,'' he said.

"I really liked the sport, but everyone was playing soccer.'' Later he added: "Today makes it all worthwhile.'' Wright, a race winner in 1990, said his gameplan was to get a big enough jump on everyone so that he could build a lead that wouldn't evaporate.

"I stayed with Kavin for the first six miles and I figured even if I die off in the latter stages then that lead would give me a margin over the other guys.'' Wright said he wasn't as sharp physically, which opened the door for Smith to reclaim Bermuda's most coveted road racing prize.

"I just tried to hang in there, but I found it a little humid today. It was warm even though it was raining.'' Glorying in a rush of bottled water, Forgesson viewed Smith's fitness as the key to victory.

"Kavin obviously had the fitness,'' he said, greeted by his wife Anna Eatherley and baby daughter Rebecca. "Tracy ran a brave race to go out with him and he obviously hung on well so he must be in pretty good shape too.'' Upbeat despite relinquishing the crown he held for only a year Forgesson said his objective yesterday was to run at a comfortable pace "in the first four or five miles and to pick it up over the last three or four, but it didn't work out that way. Coming into town my legs were still pretty flat, but I couldn't have gone out any harder. I gave it 100 percent today.'' Locked in a titanic struggle with Tucker for most of last year's event, Forgesson was this time better able to enjoy the race's atmosphere.

"It's a great race with the crowds and all the rest of it,'' Forgesson -- still a major force to be reckoned with -- said later. "Everyone wants to be a part of this race and that's obvious by the amount of people who come out and run.'' Tucker ran the race largely by himself, something which likely contributed to his inability to reel in any of the two front-runners.

"This year I was more mentally prepared,'' said Tucker later, no longer feeling alone and surrounded by a cluster of sweating bodies.

"I wanted to go out and run as hard as was physically possible and I did exactly that, but I didn't have anyone else to run with so nobody really pushed me along the course.

"From three miles on nobody was with me so I said `well, I guess I've got to go out by myself.' I did it all by myself from Somerset to Bernard Park and nobody passed me.'' Roger Dill was fifth overall, clocking 1:18.14, followed by Rod Allen -- the first of the mighty Masters -- 13 seconds later. Seventh placed Neil de ste Croix (1:18.33) finished ahead of two other Masters -- Leon Matthews (1:19.23) and Harry Patchett (1:20.04).

Tenth runner to cross the line was Gary Kelson, continuing his string of excellent results this year, in 1:20.39.

Top senior was lawyer Geof Bell (1:32.58) who edged former winner Ed Sherlock (1:33.42) by less than a minute.

HIP HIP HOORAY -- Kavin Smith gets a hearty round of applause from spectators lined along Crow Lane. Smith was one minute and 28 seconds shy of equalling the record he set in 1993.