in yesterday's Lindo's 5-mile road race.

Even the merciless climb up Chaingate Hill in the final half mile couldn't stop them. Second-placed Kevin Tucker and Maria Conroy Haydon offered some challenge, but otherwise the winners led just about all the way around the five-mile hilly loop course.

Although de ste Croix is no stranger to victory in triathlons (he won the Bank of Bermuda and Sprint triathlons last year), a win in a major road race has eluded him since his only previous triumph, the 1992 Dunkley's/Wheels 10K, where he clocked 34 minutes even. Last month he came close when he was bridesmaid to Brett Forgesson in the MRM Flat Five Miles Race where he managed 26:47 to the winner's 26:09. A fifth place in the recent Tropicana/Wheels 10K and regular strong performances have earned him top open place in the KPMG Peat Marwick Road Racing rankings where he holds 5,759 points after seven races compared to Tracy Wright who holds 5,190.

De ste Croix spoke after the race about tactics and goals later in the year.

He led all the way apart from a brief spell after the one mile point along South Shore when Tracy Wright put in a surge and was later overtaken by a strong looking Tucker.

"I didn't know how Kevin was going to run.'' de ste Croix said. "I still think he's in better shape but he's not letting on.'' De ste Croix, who is notorious for his strong finishes, led Tucker by approximately 20-30 seconds during the closing stages and ate up the hills.

"I kicked all the hills as hard as I could to keep the gap.'' The multi-disciplined athlete is now training hard for the Triangle Triathlon in April, the first local qualifying event for the World Triathlon Championships to be held in Cancun, Mexico in November.

A fresh-looking Fisher barely had time to accept her prize before jetting off to the Pan-Am Games in Argentina. With the 1,500 and 800 metres waiting for her in South America, yesterday was just an easy run. That still enabled her to improve on her winning time of 30:14 last year as she crossed the line in 29:59 with Conroy Haydon just ten seconds behind.

"I didn't want to go out too hard because I knew that later in the day I had to fly to Argentina,'' Fisher said. "The first two miles were six minutes pace so naturally I thought, OK, pick it up a bit, see how you feel.'' Her first event in Argentina will be the 1,500 metres. There is every possibility that due to relatively small numbers in the event she could go straight into the final.

She is then scheduled to run in the 800 metres which again could be a straight final. She will face some very powerful competition from nations such as the US, Canada and Mexico to name a few, but she is obviously in great shape and ready to give her best shot for Bermuda.

There were 113 runners completing the challenging course, down slightly from the 120 who finished last year, but a good turnout for this stalwart race.

Laura Turner had a convincing win in the Under-19 women's division in 34:21 which was good enough to place the 14-year-old American 42nd overall. She has dominated all the junior races she has competed in. Some idea of how far ahead she is can be gained by comparing her time to second placed Gabrielle Butler, who was over seven minutes behind.

Turner leads in the KPMG rankings where she has accumulated a staggering 2,268 points after only five races with second-placed AJ Crane holding 596 points.

The US Naval Air Station based youngster will be leaving Bermuda in June or July when her family moves to Rhode Island. Her mother admitted that Turner runs very few miles but loves to race and has obviously got a bright athletic future.

Kris Hedges took honours in the Under-19 men's division in 32:23 and was 27th overall. De ste Croix was first among the 20-39 men with 27:34. Harry Patchett continues to hold the cards in the Masters rankings by finishing third overall and first master in 28:06. He was chased most of the way by Rod Allen, who was under half a minute behind, with the perennial Mike Whalley rounding out for third place. Giorgio Zanol took honours in the hotly-contested Senior Masters division where he just edged out Mike Rickards. Zanol was timed at 33:29 with Rickards managing 33:37, just one place behind. The pair were no doubt relieved that Geoff Bell did not compete as he appears unbeatable in the 50-plus division at present.

Fisher, naturally, won the women's 20-30 age group and Jane Christie had an easy win in the female Masters (40-plus) age group. Christie finished in 33:54 which earned her 41st place overall. Christine De Silva, coming back from injury, had a splendid run in the women's Senior Masters division where she soundly beat her London Marathon bound husband Stephen -- 46:47 to his 47:49.

Stephen De Silva did have a reasonable excuse because for him, the race was just part of a 20 mile training run and he was late for the start.

Yesterday also saw a good run by Gary Kelson, who has raced infrequently of late. But he showed he still has the speed required to stay with the leaders and finish fifth overall.

Neil de ste Croix