A new KPMG Bermuda Invitational Elite Mile men’s champion will be crowned tonight.

Julius Bor, last year’s winner, has not returned to defend his title.

Among the pre-race favourites to claim the Kenyan’s vacant title is compatriot Phillip Lagat, the 2011 winner, and Zambian pair Jordan Chipangama and Harry Mulenga.

Chipangama finished third in last year’s event while Mulenga, the Fairmont to Fairmont champion, is among those making their debut in the annual spectacle.

Bermuda will be represented in the men’s Elite Mile by Shaquille Dill, Tre Simons and Chayce Smith.

Dill and Smith are among a handful of survivors from last year’s event, while Simons is making his debut.

Smith produced a stunning showing during the 2012 men’s Elite Mile after finishing third to become the first Bermudian to stand on the podium since Mike Watson achieved the feat in his heyday. The event was then known as the DJ Williams Mile and staged at the National Sports Centre.

Leonard Mucheru holds the course record. The Kenyan smashed Irishman Marcus O’Sullivan’s record (4:04.9) in 2002 after covering the distance in 4:02.6 but fell just shy of the magic four-minute mile barrier, which carries with it a $10,000 prize.

Back to defend his title in the local men’s mile is pre-race favourite Stephen Allen.

Juma Mouchette and Ryan Wilson, who finished second and third in the previous event, are also among the contenders.

Reigning women’s Elite Mile champion Heather Kampf, of the United States, one of few survivors from last year’s race, is also back to defend her crown.

And she is again expected to face fierce competition from compatriot Sarah Brown, who finished runner-up last year. Flying Bermuda’s banner in the women’s Elite Mile is Tamika Williams, who finished fifth in a personal-best time of 5:06.34 last year.

Three-times champion Kenia Sinclair, of Jamaica, holds the women’s Elite Mile course record of 4:33.61, which she achieved in 2011. A new champion will also be crowned in the local women’s mile, as last year’s winner Rose-Anna Hoey will not be defending her title.

Among those expected to be in the hunt for the pregnant Hoey’s vacant crown are past Bermuda Day Half-Marathon winners Ashley Estwanik, Deon Breary and Victoria Fiddick. Tonight’s event will also showcase some of Bermuda’s most promising runners during the Primary, Middle and Senior School mile races as well as the KPMG Open Mile, which is the first race of the Bermuda Triangle Challenge.

Since its inception in 1989, the KPMG Bermuda Invitational Mile has evolved into one of the most exciting events on the annual sporting calendar.

And Mike Charles, the race director, expects this year’s event to be no exception.

“As usual, we intend to put on a good show on Front Street in the KPMG Bermuda Invitational Mile,” he said. “We have some of our local men involved in the elite mile so they will be challenging.

“I know Tre has been running extremely well. He has been training hard and I see Chayce on the roads every day, so I think they are going to give a very good account of themselves. It will be good see Tamika and what she can do in the elite women’s mile. She did quite well last year and hopefully this year we are going to see a good run out of her.

“We have full participation at the Primary and Middle School levels. The only place we are lacking is the High School girls, where we do not have a full field.

“All in all, it is going to be very exciting and we just hope Mother Nature gives us a break.”

Tonight’s event starts at 6:30pm with a musical display by the Bermuda Regiment Band.