Is Kavin Smith up to his old tricks again? Back in May, prior to the Bermuda Marathon Derby, the Island's leading road runner proclaimed he had no incentive to beat his previous record over the 13.3-mile course.

Several days later, after a sponsor had taken him at his word and put up a carrot of $1,000, he knocked nearly two minutes off his time of just over 1:11 for his fourth win in five years.

Afterwards he admitted his seeming indifference had been part of a "psych game'' to destabilise his opponents.

Now, despite reliable judges suggesting he could overturn Ray Swan's Island record when he takes part in the New York City Marathon in 10 days' time, Smith is again playing down his chances.

Knowledgeable observers say Swan's time of 2:26.37, set in Boston 16 years ago, is well within Smith's grasp: his half-marathon times would also suggest so -- the clock was stopped at 1:09.10 for the first 13.1 miles of the Derby's Somerset to Hamilton course.

But Smith is having none of it.

"I'm not putting any time on it,'' he says. "New York will be my first marathon outside the Island and I'm just going to take it as it comes.

"I'm going there to learn from the experience, with a positive attitude and looking to build towards other marathons in the future.'' Smith also cites the ligament injury he suffered in August: it's still hampering him, he claims.

Nevertheless, he seems to be in fine form. On Sunday, he ran away with the inaugural BSPA 10K, his time of 32:54 putting him more than two and a half minutes ahead of his nearest challenger. And that was over a gruelling, hilly course whereas New York is relatively flat.

In his first marathon, over the tough Bermuda International route in 1993, he clocked a decent 2:37.45. New York is known to encourage somewhat faster times. Many pundits, indeed, believe the distance to be potentially Smith's best. His strength and endurance lend themselves to it while he lacks the speed required to compete at the highest level over 10K, they say.

The only thing that might genuinely be against him are the conditions. Coming out of a warm climate to the cooler environment of New York could be difficult. And he adds: "I don't like running in the cold.'' Kidology or not, there will be plenty of Bermudian interest in this year's event.

The biggest and most competitive field that has ever travelled from the Island is set to descend on the Big Apple for the 10.40 a.m. start on November 2.

Forty-six runners, including former Bank of Butterfield Front Street Mile champion Jamal Hart and regulars such as Brett Forgesson, will be there.

They will be joining around 29,000 treading the five borough route on what has become the world's biggest marathon.

KAVIN SMITH -- refuses to be baited by Ray Swan's marathon record of 2:26.37.

RUNNING RUN