Shadrack Biwot the undisputed champion of International Race Weekend (IRW) will be back to defend his title treble.The Kenyan runner proved to be a cut above the rest of the elite male athletes in his IRW debut last year by winning the KPMG Invitational Front Street Mile, the 10K and Half-Marathon.Biwot, the brother of Duncan Kibet the second fastest marathon runner ever behind the legendary Haile Gebrselassie has confirmed he will compete in the Front Street Mile and 1OK next week. And he plans to run the Half-Marathon as long as his body feels up to it.Anthony Raynor, an IRW director, said he was thrilled 25-year-old Biwot had agreed to return to Bermuda for the annual event.“Shadrack Biwot, who won the Front Street Mile, 10K and Half-Marathon last year, will be returning,” said Raynor.“He’s had a very good season and performed very well at the Rock n Roll Mardi Gras Half-Marathon in New Orleans last year. His brother, Duncan Kibet, is the second fastest marathon runner ever so Shadrack is certainly from a good gene pool.”After winning last year’s 10K, Biwot said he intended to defend his title in 2011 after ‘falling in love’ with Bermuda.“I will definitely be back next year,” said the US-based runner. “I love this place. “The people are very nice here and really respect runners. I have been like ‘wow’. Where I am from people do not respect runners, they will be honking their horns at you and telling you to get out of way.”Also competing in the elite mile next Friday will be first-time visitors Kumsa Mergersa, of Ethiopia, who came second at the UKrups Monument 10K race in Richmond, Virginia, last March, Kenyan Philip Lagat and US road runner Luke Watson.Elite female runner Kenia Sinclair, of Jamaica, will be gunning for her third straight win in the Front Street Mile. She shaved nine-tenths of a second off her record time to win the women’s elite mile for the second successive year in 2010.Sinclair, who was prevented from competing in the Bermuda National Championships last year because of injury, will also run the 10K.Although last year’s Marathon champion Richard Tirop Kessio, of Kenya, will not be returning there will still be a raft of elite runners competing for top honours.Among them are Kessio's training partner, Lagat, and 2010 runner-up Teklu Terefera Deneke, who won the IRW Marathon in 2009 in a record time of 2.22.37.Deneke will also bring his training partner Dereje Hailegiorgis to compete. At last year’s New York Marathon, Deneke finished 16th while fellow Ethiopian Hailegiorgis came 15th.Rounding out the top elite runners in the Marathon is Ukrainian Sergii Okseniyka who came third in last year’s race.Raynor added: “The times just keeping on getting faster and faster and it should be another exciting International Race Weekend next week.”