A new champion will be crowned in the Elite Men’s race at Friday’s KPMG Front Street Mile, with Harry Mulenga not among the hundreds coming in from overseas.

However, true to his word, fellow Zambian Jordan Chipangama, last year’s Elite Mile third-place finisher, 10K winner and new record holder in the HSBC Bermuda Half-Marathon, is returning to the Island, after promising last year “as long as they keep on having these races, I’ll keep on coming, this is heaven for me”.

Mulenga, who attends Central Arizona College with Bermudian runner Juma Mouchette, will not be back to defend his title, but there should be some exciting races during the evening with Chipangama and Diriba Yigezu, of Ethiopia, runner-up last year, battling for Mulenga’s title.

Heather Kampf, the Elite Mile women’s winner for the past two years, will be back in search of a third straight title, although fellow United States runner Sara Brown, runner-up in the last two years, will skip this year’s race.

Brown was also the women’s 10K winner in the last two years, finishing ahead of Kampf whose birthday again falls during Bermuda Marathon Weekend, this time on Sunday.

Kampf will face competition from Chloe Anderson, Charlotte Arter, Rolander Bell and Lauren Hagans, but neither the women’s or men’s Elite Mile races will have Bermudians in the field. Chayce Smith, who placed sixth last year, is out with an injury while Shaquille Dill, who came seventh, and Trey Simons, tenth, are also missing.

Ashley Estwanik, the third female finisher in last year’s 10K, will not be competing because of an injury.

“We had established some [mile] times that we had asked the locals to do, looking at any times posted over the last 12 months, and we did have a couple of locals who did those times but due to the flu and injury, they thought they wouldn’t be prepared to do it,” Anthony Raynor, the race director, said.

Still, some exciting races are expected over the three-day weekend, said Raynor, who has confirmed that overall numbers are up 300 on last year.

“Right now we have about 1,300 but that will go even higher after online registration closes [today],” said Raynor, who anticipates another busy weekend for both competitors and volunteers.

“In-person registration is on Friday afternoon and Saturday but only if we have space.”

Raynor expects somewhere in the region of 550 to 600 for the half-marathon and those doing the half-marathon challenge while the 10K and those also competing in the Bermuda Triangle Challenge (mile, 10K and half or full marathon) could be as high as 850. The full marathon will have about 150 competitors, “traditionally the smallest event”, Raynor said.

“We’ve had a lot of people registering over the last few days and I’m actually excited by the response to registration. I’m also excited that we’ve had tremendous support from people coming out to volunteer as course marshalls and in other positions over the weekend.

“It’s always a challenge to get people to come out and stand in the rain or wind for a couple of hours. The volunteers are going to ensure that it runs smoothly, them and the motoring public. We can still use more but we’re happy with what we have.”

Last year the 10K was run in torrential rain and the forecast suggests some wet weather during the mile races, although it will still be more favourable for those coming from the East Coast of the United States where it has been snowing.

“I know a lot of people are looking forward to visiting the Island this weekend, considering what the weather has been like in some places and we can safely guarantee there won’t be any snow!” Raynor said.

“The show will go on. A couple of years ago there was a hard downpour and the crowd stayed there. You will have all the kids out running and they will bring their family and friends, that guarantees the crowd will stay.

“We also have a Masters and Senior Masters category and they are going to run together with the open males. There is a lot more than just the elite races to watch.”

The local women’s race should be exciting with Rose-Anna Hoey, Jennifer Alen, Laura Wright, Tamika Williams and Deon Breary all signed up.

“At the mile trials, those three [Hoey, Alen and Breary] were very competitive, they came down the final straightaway together and it should be interesting to see how they separate themselves,” Raynor said.

Stephen Allen, the local male defending champion, will be out to defend his title. He held off a challenge from Mouchette last year to retain his title. Estwanik was the local women’s winner last year while Alen and Breary were second and third last year.

Race numbers can be collected at Pier 6, on Front Street, on Friday between 3.30pm and 6.30pm.

The KPMG Front Street Mile races, including the overseas elite adult races, will take place on Friday, starting at 6.45pm with the Bermuda Triangle Challenge mile races, followed by the local primary, middle and senior schools races, the local men and women’s races and then climaxing with the elite mile races.

On Saturday the 10K road race and walk starts and finishes at the National Sports Centre. The race begins at 9am. On Sunday the half-marathon and marathon start and finish on Front Street. The races begin together at 8am.