TWO runners who were involved in one of Bermuda International Race Weekend's most controversial moments are due to line up together on the streets of Hamilton this Sunday for the first time since their infamous moment on Front Street in 2005.

Morocco's El-Afoui Boubker and Kenya's Simon Sawe face a rematch four years after the bizarre scenes at the end of the marathon as the pair sprinted for the finish line.

After battling for 26.2 miles the two runners were neck-and-neck as they began a sprint for the finish. But race official Gerry Swan inadvertently stood in front of a direction sign and barrier designed to guide the runners to the finish line resulting in Sawe mistakenly taking a few steps towards the wrong side of the road before he realising his mistake.

Boubker narrowly crossed the line first, but four hours later after a race inquiry that included viewing video footage, the race was declared a dead-heat and both runners were awarded first-place prize money.

Moroccan Boubker is now a firm crowd favourite, having won the race six times in the past seven years. He reclaimed his title last year after having his consecutive string of victories interrupted in 2007 by Russian Edvard Tukhbatullin.

Also returning this year is Ukrainian Oleksander Golovnytskiy, who was third last year and has an impressive personal best of two hours, 18 minutes and nine seconds

This year's 10K, half marathon and marathon races feature a number of new international faces, making it harder to predict who is going to pick up the top prizes.

US-based Kenyan Joel Melly was third in a sprint finish in the Eurasia 15K race in Turkey, where he clocked 43.25. He won the Dismal Swamp Half Marathon in Virginia last year in 1.04.30, and during the same month was victorious in the Pike Peak 10K, in Maryland, where he knocked out 4.40 miles for the first six miles before a sprint finish to record a time of 29.01. If Melly can come close to reproducing those performances he might well claim a Race Weekend double.

American Sean Quigley, 26, has an outstanding pedigree at race distances from the mile up to 10K. His mile best was set only four months ago in New York when he achieved a time of 4.01.35. But it is in the 10K that he looks the strongest bet, on the strength of a blistering 28.03 run in Palo Alto, California last April.

Rod Koborsi, 24, is an eight-times All American championship athlete. He has run 13.30 for 5,000m on the track and although his current focus is on the 5K and 10K distances he has turned in a 1.03 half marathon time, proving he has the talent and range of ability to spring a surprise.

American-based Kenyan Abraham Ng'Etich will also be in the mix in the 10K. He boasts a track mile best of 4.01, a 5,000m of 13.51 and a 10K of 30.04.

Amongst the women the Ukraine's Kateryna Stetsenko, 26, is an intriguing prospect. She has her name down to compete in the mile, 10K and the half marathon. Her best for a full marathon is a highly competitive 2.39.04, which she achieved in the Baltimore Marathon in 2007 when she finished fourth in the women's race. Over the half marathon distance she ran 1.16.18 in Bolougne in 2007.

Kenya's Jane Muia, 22, is a talented 800m runner and half marathoner. Her best half marathon was run in Bristol, England, in 2007 when she achieved 1.10.26, last year she posted a time of 1.12.07 in Pune, India.

With a string of top performances Karolina Jarzynska, of Poland, is another one to watch this weekend. She ran her fastest half marathon last April in Poznan, Poland, clocking 1.12.33 and two months later set her lifetime best over 10,000m in Ostrava, Czech Republic, with a time of 33.24.

Ethiopia's Aziza Aliya, 24, set lifetime bests at 10K and half marathon during 2008. Her 10K time came in Jersey City, New Jersey, where she ran 32.43, and she followed that up in September's Philadelphia half marathon with a highly competitive 1.11.07.

Marathon runner Margarita Plaksina, 30, of Russia, set two personal bests last year over vastly different distances. In Ireland she ran a 9.08 for 3,000m, but this Sunday she is due to run the full marathon, and for that she can look to her 2.40.47 set in Helsinki in August.

Plaskina's fellow countrywoman Zinaida Semyonova is now in her 40s and her fastest marathon was run back in 2001 when she was amongst the world's best achieving a 2.26.51 at St. Paul in Minnesota. She shouldn't be discounted as yesterday's woman. As recently as 2006 she turned in a 2.31.27 marathon in Hamburg.

l Tonight's Front Street Mile races begin at 6.30 p.m. Saturday's 10K race starts at 10 a.m. from outside the National Sports Centre, and the marathon and half marathon both start together at the Flagpole on Front Street at 8 a.m. on Sunday.