Donawa toyed with the field before showing his true class and easing to victory during yesterday's Romanoff 5K.

Leading from the opening gun Donawa cruised through the first mile closely shadowed by Sheldon Thompson, but a sudden surge from Donawa near the Birdcage on Front Street left Thompson and the rest of the 80-odd member field gasping in his wake.

Donawa was all alone as he made the final trek along Church Street toward the finish line outside Romanoff Restaurant, the youngster still appearing as fresh as when his journey began.

His time of 15 minutes, 51 seconds bettered that of second place finisher Brett Forgesson (16.50) by almost a minute, although Forgesson carried the extra burden of a baby's stroller which he pushed throughout.

Thompson (16.51) finished third after he successfully held off a furious late burst from Tracy Wright (16.54) along the final stretch.

The top three men's positions mirrored that of the Labour Day event contested over five miles, with Donowa again in the spotlight.

"I just came back for a three week break and while continuing my base training I use these races as a means of complementing these workouts,'' said the 22-year old Auburn University senior, who spent most of the summer in summer school working toward a degree in Health Promotion.

"Today I got up and did five miles this morning and I'll run another four or five miles after the race, so basically it's just training.

"I figured there wouldn't be anybody to really push me, so I just ran against myself. I felt real relaxed out there today.

"I've had some major injuries. I was hurt in February and the race on Labour Day was the first I'd run since. I missed three months of training so for the last 10-12 weeks I've been trying to build myself back up to where I was before, but I'm nowhere near the shape that I could be in if I hadn't missed all that time.

"I'm just trying to get strong enough for when I begin running indoor track in January. I'm pointing for next year as my goal and looking at doing 29 minutes for 10K and sub-14 minutes for 5,000 so this is just preparation for my body.'' Not too deep in Donawa's mind was a place on Bermuda's Olympic team for Atlanta in 1996 and he openly marvelled at the accomplishments of the Island's top track and field men Brian Wellman and Troy Douglas, saying that he hoped to one day be in a similar position.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Fisher stamped her dominance on the women's field, placing first in 19.10, 17 seconds ahead of second woman Anna Eatherley.

Fisher, like Donawa, led from the outset and never relinquished her advantage.

Third among the women was Jane Christie, the first Master, in 20.14.