overcame the challenge from a formidable African contingent to seize the Elite Mile title in a spectacular photo finish.

Biding his time among the pack through three quarters of the night's feature event, Tremain produced a tremendous finishing kick to overtake Kenya's Ben Kapsoiya, while holding off a hard charging Mohamed Amyn of Morocco.

Tremain burst through the tape to the rampant cheers of a large, enthusiastic crowd in a slow time of four minutes, 11.73 seconds. But, considering the tactical nature of the race, finishing times were merely relative.

"It really played into my hands,'' said a beaming Tremain, who hails from Guelph. "I'm more of a kick type racer, I stayed near the back of the pack, kept everybody in range and it played into my hands.

"I've been up in Canada in the snow for most of the time, so training's been tough and I haven't raced yet this year. I was a little unsure, but I thought that as long as I was in there, and they left me in long enough, I could kick with anybody.'' Probably most disappointed at the end was Kapsoiya, who was in control for most of the race, but wound up third in 4:12.03, just behind Amyn (4:11.77).

Kapsoiya, working with fellow countryman Francis Kirwa, led through the three-quarter-mile mark, before Kirwa dropped off. However, the lithe runner erred in his judgment of the finish line, surging too early and fading down the stretch.

"The race was good,'' said Kapsoiya, putting on a brave face. "My real objective was to make the last part of the race mine.

"The problem was that finishing line, the way I was looking, it looked so close and I accelerated, but if I would have waited about 10 metres or so then I would have become the champion, but I appreciate my position.'' Earlier Ashley Couper set the strip alive with a record-setting performance in the Women's Mile, blasting the field in a wire-to-wire run that saw her cross the line in 5:01.02, bettering the time of 5:02 shared by Karen Adams and Jennifer Fisher.

"I'm thrilled, so excited, it's awesome ... I'm so happy,'' said Couper when it was confirmed that she had broken the mark.

"I just wanted to do as well, if not a little better than last year. I ran a 5:11 last year, so I knew it would be really awesome to break the record. I was definitely gunning to win, the record was in the back of my mind, but I'm not one to make goals that are too lofty.'' Couper easily beat the likes of former winner Anna Eatherley, who was satisfied with second on this night at 5:23.03, with Victoria Fiddick (5:47.50) third.

"She (Couper) specialises in shorter distances, so she has a lot more speed, where I have more endurance,'' said Eatherley, a winner back in 1991. "I did what I normally do and it was good for second.'' Among the local men, Michael Donawa erased the disappointment of a year ago, when he came from behind to beat Sheldon Thompson, clocking 4:34.48 to the latter's 4:36.02.

The 2000 race saw Donawa threaten to run away with the title only to pull up with a hamstring problem some 400 metres from the finish line, allowing Kavin Smith to overhaul him and get the win ... but there would be no such gaps left this time.

Donawa pounced at the three-quarter mark, powering past Thompson through to the finish.

"I felt a lot stronger, a little more confident,'' said Donawa, the younger brother of another premier Bermudian distance runner, Jay. "It was more mental than anything, just a matter of putting my race together and then going out there and executing it, and it all worked out for me tonight.'' Meanwhile, a disconsolate Thompson was left to rue yet another second placing.

"Basically I didn't run the way I should have ran,'' said Thompson. "I left it down to a sprint finish, which I shouldn't have done. I should have taken it out harder, which is my strength, so I'm pretty much disappointed, knowing that I could have run a whole lot better.

"But you have to accept the good with the bad and move on.'' Photo finish: Canada's Rich Tremain (5) just pips Morocco's Mohamed Amyn (6) in the closest finish ever witnessed in the elite Front Street Mile.

Photos by Tony Cordeiro Dynamic duo: Ashley Couper (left) set a new women's record of five minutes, 1.2 seconds while Michael Donawa (right) lifted the local men's title in 4:34.38 during last night's Front Street Mile races.