Mike Watson made a statement last night -- several actually -- on Front Street, not only winning the local men's mile race, but smashing the record in the process.

The 38-year-old former winner of the May 24 Marathon and Olympian showed that he still has some mileage left, as he easily outclassed a field including two-time defending champion Jamal Hart and top qualifier David Dunwoody.

Watson strolled home looking fresh as ever in four minutes, 29.5 seconds, to easily outpace Dunwoody (4:32.4) and Hart (4:41.6).

From the start tension was evident, with there being two false starts before the men finally got underway.

Watson, Hart and Dunwoody hung back during the early stages as Cal Steede led through the first quarter mile followed by Thomas and Tony Smith. However, the cream steadily began to rise to the top, with first Hart, then Dunwoody and, finally, Watson surging.

Taking the lead at around the three-quarter mile mark, Watson left his foes for good, powering along the home stretch with calculated ease, never glancing back, for he knew this one was in the bag, with the record as a bonus.

Dunwoody and Hart simply had no answers to the Watson juggernaut, who rekindled memories of days past when he was all but untouchable.

"I never really ran, I never had to. Nobody came,'' said Watson, who appeared almost not to care about his victory. "At this stage of my career winning and losing doesn't matter, it's about having fun.'' Much more competitive was the earlier women's race, where Jennifer Fisher again reigned supreme, fighting off a stubborn challenge from Karen Adams along the final 100 metres to take the top prize.

Fisher clocked 5:08.9 compared to 5:10.8 for Adams and 5:40 for Jeanna Jones, who ran well for third.

Adams put in a burst near Parliament Street to move away from Fisher, butr the latter responded with a move of her own as they neared the finish line, eclipsing her game foe.

"I didn't know I had it, especially at the turnaround,'' said Fisher afterwards, well aware she had dodged a major bullet. "Karen came past me like a gazelle and I wasn't sure what I was going to do after that.

"But I said, OK, just be patient and she kept looking behind, so I said `Yeah, I'm cool' and poured it on in the last 100 (metres).'' RECORD BREAKERS -- Mike Watson (above left) and Jaynae Dillas (above right) both set new marks last night, Watson winning the local men's race in 4:29.5 and Dillas the primary girls event in 5:47.8.