At last a race, not a procession.

That's not to say that everybody who has partaken in the May 24 Derby hasn't given their all, but on most occasions in the last 100 years it's been one runner breaking away and making victory a foregone conclusion.

In the modern era, year after year Kavin Smith showed his rivals a clean pair of heels as he romped, almost casually, to the front of the field and by the time he got to Front Street he could look over his shoulder and see no-one in sight.

And year after year it was always the gutsy Jay Donawa who put up a fight but never managed to quite catch his nemesis. Nobody deserved a Derby title more than Donawa, but it never happened.

It was much the same when Terrence Armstrong flew back from his Washington home to take possession of Smith's crown and proceeded to win three in a row.

That said, Armstrong was pushed all the way by Smith and Donawa during one of those victories but ultimately proved too strong as the trio approached Bernard Park.

After Larry Marshall claimed his only victory, former top US track star Chris Estwanik arrived on the scene, and much like Smith, blew away the rest of the field.

He's done that for the last two years and on Monday he'll be aiming for his hat-trick.

But this year, it will almost certainly be a battle from start to finish.

Tyler Butterfield, who has developed into one the world's leading triathletes, comes into the race much fitter, faster and stronger than a year ago when he finished a distant second to Estwanik.

And then there's Larry's brother, Lamont Marshall, who has managed to maintain a low profile in the weeks leading up to the race but is known to be a much more competitive athlete over the 13.1 mile distance than in 2009.

He's shown his improvement in emphatic style with road race wins in the last 12 months.

So come Monday, hopefully at least one of the radio commentators will have much more to talk about than their own accomplishments as they have done in the past, watching one runner take command and the rest of the field some distance behind by the time their trucks trundled along Harbour Road and into East Broadway.

With Estwanik, Butterfield and Marshall jockeying for position in what might turn out to be a tactical race rather than one of sheer speed, even Smith and Donawa could again find themselves in the mix . . . although it's highly unlikely.

Estwanik is reportedly looking to pace himself at a very quick five minutes per mile which should result in a time of around one hour and seven minutes and that's a time certainly not out of reach for both Butterfield and Marshall.

In fact, Butterfield clocked a similar time over the same 13.1 mile distance in the recent St.Croix Half-Ironman triathlete – and that was after a 1.24 mile swim and a 56 mile cycle!

If strength and endurance prove to be a deciding factor, then he might be a slight favourite.

But the most intriguing factor prior to this year's race is that there is no outright favourite.

It's almost like the clock has been turned back to the mid 1980s when the likes of Ray Swan, Leon Matthews, Peter Lever, Gary Kelson and so many others all harboured hopes of claiming the Island's most prestigious road racing title.

In those days as many as 20 runners dipped under the one hour, twenty minute mark on a course much longer than that now adopted.

While Estwanik, Butterfield and Marshall might be about to take the event to another level, there aren't as many contenders as there were in those days.

As for the women this year, it could be a repeat of 2008 when Chris and Ashley became the first married couple to complete the 'double'.

Ashley missed out last year as she was about to give birth to her first child, but the Front Street Mile record holder will again be the one to beat. And perhaps only the evergreen Victoria Fiddick has a chance to do that, with other top female runners such as Jeny Allen and Karen Smith considered outsiders.

Of course, this historic race isn't about winners and losers.

Anyone who has completed the Somerset to Hamilton trek – particularly 73-year-old George Jones, who has run every race since 1976 and Midge Oliver who has completed almost as many (33 consecutively) since women became eligible to race in that same year – will tell you it's an event like no other, even the world renowned New York and Boston Marathons in which many Bermudians compete.

It's special because of its history and the crowds, ten times bigger than those who come out to watch Cup Match, who will urge the runners on when their legs are telling them to quit.

Very few of the 600-plus runners who are expected on the Somerset start line on Monday will fail to reach the Bernard Park finish line.

If they run, walk or crawl, somehow they'll make it.

It's the Marathon Derby, and there's no other race in the world like it.

– ADRIAN ROBSON