And after holding off Marcus O'Sullivan to win the Bank of Butterfield Mile last night, who can blame him.

On a night when Mother Nature did her darndest to spoil the festivities, Aden and O'Sullivan put on a scintillating battle along Front Street.

Aden's winning time -- 4:08.3 to O'Sullivan's 4:08.9 -- didn't come close to Joe Falcon's six-year-old course record, nor of course, to the bank's $10,000 bonus for a four-minute mile.

Gusting winds that slapped runners in the face as they entered the stretch saw to that, as did driving rain, which only stopped for the last time shortly before the start. Then there was the tough Front Street course, which has frustrated many a competitor over the past six years.

All this didn't matter to Aden, a 25-year-old originally from Somalia but now living and training in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

"I'm extremely happy,'' said Aden, still grinning minutes after his virtually wire-to-wire win over the man who had won the race the past two years.

"I really like it here -- I'll definitely come back next year.'' This was Aden's first time here and he was relishing every minute of it, from the crowds to the course. Shrugging off the two hair-pin turns and the grade along the east end, Aden, who ran a personal best 3:36.47 over 1,500 metres last year in the Stuttgart Grand Prix, said he was unconcerned about O'Sullivan's experience or his vaunted finishing kick.

"I have a lot of confidence in myself,'' he acknowledged. "I was waiting for Marcus to make his move and I was planning to make mine at the same time. I knew no one would be able to catch me. I could have run another half-mile if I had to.'' In fact, O'Sullivan wasn't the only one to make a charge over the final 400 metres. Rueben Chesane, Karl Paranya and Daniel Hill -- who finished third through fifth, respectively -- were also in the mix.

"There were runners on both sides of me,'' Aden said. "Everyone took off and I thought `This is it'.'' This would ordinarily be O'Sullivan's moment but he didn't have enough in his 36-year-old tank to overtake Aden, who crossed the finish three steps ahead of the Irishman.

The win was worth $1,000 to Aden, with O'Sullivan pocketing $600 and Chesane $300.

Anthony Whiteman, who was second last year, said then that winning and losing didn't matter -- only breaking four minutes. Aden last night took the opposite approach: Never mind the time, just being on the top podium was enough -- especially under the conditions.

Aden rounded the Longtail statue in a quick 2:02 and would've had a realistic shot at the record without the headwind.

David Dunwoody and Karen Adams, who won the local men's and women's races, said the wind and rain were of little consequence in their landslide victories.

"I didn't really notice it all,'' said Dunwoody, whose time of 4:32.8 was more than eight seconds faster than second-place Sheldon Thompson.

The two were even until about the half-way point, when Dunwoody, following his pre-race strategy to perfection, picked up the pace and ran Thompson into the ground.

Tilo Raufenstrauch was third in 4:42.0.

Crediting long-distance training -- he ran the New York Marathon in November -- Dunwoody just got stronger as the race went on.

The women's race wasn't much different.

Adams, who won in 1992 and 1993, took advantage of the absence of Jennifer Fisher who has won the last four years, with a nine-second romp over Lynn Patchett.

She took the lead early and save for one push by Alison Cameron at the one-third mark, went unchallenged, roaring across the finish line in a time of 5:21.7. Patchett arrived in 5:30.8.

Anna Eatherley, the 1991 winner, took third in 5:46.0.

Photos by Arthur Bean JUBILATION -- Somalian Ibrahim Aden celebrates with the crowd after his thrilling victory in last night's Front Street Mile.

FRONT STREET MILE RUN