Nikolic Srba just wants to go home.

While the latter erased concerns over lost luggage and an invalid visa to win the Bank of Butterfield Marathon yesterday, it was Plastinina who stole the show -- and the purse -- with a record-setting performance.

The 33-year-old Ukrainian led from coast to coast, finishing in a time of two hours, 40 minutes and 50 seconds, easily the fastest time recorded by a woman in the 19-year history of the event.

Srba, a 30-year-old native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, pulled away at the 19-mile mark and broke the Front Street tape in 2:26:56, more than two minutes ahead of Russia's Eduard Tukhbatullin. American Jerod Neas was third in 2:30:00.

In easily defeating both three-time winner Roxie Erickson in winds of up to 30 knots, Plastinina picked up a cheque of $3,000 and a $10,000 bonus from the Bank of Butterfield, the biggest haul ever by a Race Weekend participant.

Afterwards, her legs so stiff that she could barely walk, Plastinina, answering questions through an interpreter, asked to give a "special thanks'' to the crowds and Bermudians in general.

"They helped me a lot,'' she said through team manager Sergei Krasmochekov.

She didn't appear to need help on the undulating course that twice took runners on a loop along Front Street, South Shore Road, through Flatts Village, back along the blustery North shore and down Pitts Bay Road.

Krasmochekov said Plastinina, the Ukrainian half-marathon champion, came to Bermuda fully intending to break Sally Eastall's 1990 record of 2:42:47. And the way to do it, he said, was to go out fast and maintain a steady pace to the finish -- a strategy that has failed in the past, most recently last year among one of Krasmochekov's runners.

Krasmochekov put that down to lack of preparation. "This year, we told (Plastinina) two months ago that she would probably be going (to Bermuda) and to start working towards it.'' Incredibly, Plastinina ran near identical 13.1-mile splits of about an hour and 20 minutes. Finishing seventh overall, she was three minutes ahead of Erickson at the half-way point and 12 minutes ahead at the finish.

Erickson was ninth overall with a 2:52:16 clocking, more than seven minutes slower than what she managed in winning a year ago.

Finishing in between the pair was the top Bermudian finisher, Brett Forgesson, who arrived in 2:45:41. Forgesson, who had been training hard for the event and ran a 2:41 last year, wasn't especially pleased with his result. "At the end of the day, I was pretty pleased to see that finish line,'' he said.

The top Bermuda woman wasn't, for the first time in five years, Jane Christie or Kim Mason. Marina Jones beat Mason for her first marathon victory. The Southampton resident finished in 3:32:44 and was 48th overall.

Srba had two concerns in addition to the race. The first was a missing bag containing his race shoes, although it finally arrived at Bermuda Airport late on Saturday. The second was a visa allowing to him to travel to Bermuda from his base in Westchester, New York -- but not back.

He admitted afterwards he was still worried after discussions with the US Consulate, although the victory and a $3,000 winners cheque went a a long way toward improving his outlook.

Srba's time of 2:26:56 was one of the slowest the event has seen but it was a tactical duel. First Neas broke up an eight-man lead pack with a surge at 11 miles and then Srba decimated the remaining five runners with bursts after 16 miles and another three miles later. It was the latter that broke Tukhbatullin, mostly by accident as it turned out.

"I turned to him and said, `Help me, let's work together.' He said something I didn't understand. I asked him again and he didn't do anything so I was a little bit upset,'' Srba said.

"I moved 20 metres ahead and I turned and he's still behind me. So I said to myself, `Don't turn (anymore). Just go to the front'.'' Srba said he later asked members of the television crew aboard the lead vehicle how far Tukhbatullin was behind "but they wouldn't tell me.'' Finally, after 23 miles, Srba relaxed, knowing he had the victory. And no one was more surprised than the winner himself.

Coming off a horrid 2:38 effort at the New York City Marathon, in which he broke down after a 1:45 through the first 20 miles, Srba said he wasn't particularly confident coming here.

That, on top of his other worries, led him to believe that "I might get fourth or fifth place and maybe make some money.

"I'm so surprised. I can't believe I won today.'' UKRAINE EXPRESS -- Yelena Plastinina took the lead and never looked back, eclipsing the International Race Weekend Marathon record with a time of 2:40:50.

Photos by David Skinner ONE IN A THOUSAND -- Runners (above) head down Front Street at the start of the International Marathon and Half Marathon yesterday. At the marathon finish line, though, it was Yugoslavia's Srba Nickolic (right) all by himself.