bronchitis was finally behind him.

Also behind him were 164 runners in yesterday's 17th edition of the Princess to Princess race.

Smith won the event in a gutsy 38 minutes and 32 seconds, precisely a minute shy of his personal best time and also the record for local males he set in 1989.

In the process, Smith served notice that he will once again be a major factor during Friday night's Bank of Butterfield Front Street Mile and Saturday's ADT Bermuda 10-K, two of the marquee events he will participate in during International Race Weekend.

Less than a minute behind was Brett Forgesson (39:21) in second place and Tracy Wright sewed up third place 21 seconds later (39:42).

Sandra Mewett, who spent a restless night, was the first woman to cross the finish line (20th overall) at Whaler Inn, ending the gruelling 7.2-mile odyssey in 45:03 to take the title for a remarkable ninth time.

Her margin of victory was a mere 17 seconds, with Anna Eatherley in second spot at 45:20. Eatherley moved up a notch from a year ago when she finished third while Karen Adams, second a year ago, finished in third this time, clocking in at 47:13.

Smith, however, grabbed all the attention with an inspiring performance, reclaiming the title he lost to Paul Freary of England a year ago.

Fighting off the effects of a serious episode of bronchitis and still taking antibiotics, Smith admitted later that he had little energy to spare.

Even his opponents were in awe.

"Kavin sort of disappeared from the start,'' said Forgesson, who finished fourth in 1993, but managed a personal best time yesterday.

"He went out hard. Kevin Tucker (fourth place, 40:50) and Tracy (Wright) were together for about four miles while I ran with Vernon Tankard. I caught those guys at the bottom of Burnt House and just pushed.'' A week ago Smith would have needed much more than a push, more like a shove, from his coach Duncan Newby, to even get to the starting line.

"The main point was coming out over the sickness and all,'' said Smith, at least four pounds lighter. "I felt weak and didn't have the energy I needed, but my form felt good and the drive was there.

"I didn't really run the hills very hard because I knew that if I did, what little energy I did have would probably get zapped.'' Mewett, who had only a few hours' sleep because she was nervous about the race, considered her first-place showing a `gift'. She felt that Eatherley failed to run with her trademark competitive zeal.

"I couldn't have run any harder if she'd (Eathlerley) challenged,'' said Mewett, who established the local woman's record in the race (41:32) six years ago, and will run in Sunday's marathon. "It does give you confidence if you can run this one well. It makes you feel good inside. In my case I feel like maybe there's still something in there.'' Eatherley admitted easing off after the first mile but, "I didn't mean to. I mean, I just tried to hang in there, but I'm having sort of a break at the moment. I did a lot of mileage and I had a hard season so I wasn't in the sort of frame of mind to push myself really hard today.

"To tell you the truth I've never had a good Princess and I think it's probably in my mind that I probably never will.'' Triathlete Greg Hopkins, a newcomer to the male masters (40-49) division, was a deserving winner in his debut, finishing at 41:17, an impressive seventh overall. The title capped a delightful week, which saw Hopkins become a father for the first time when his wife Mary gave birth to a son.

"This is the first road race I've done in almost a year and I've really keyed on it,'' said Hopkins. "It's got to be a tactical race on this course because the last three miles are so tough.'' Winner of the senior masters division was Sid Howard in 44:39 while Kalvin Bean was first male in the 19-and-under category in 54:53. First senior female was Jeanne Quinn, clocking in at 1:03:15.

KAVIN SMITH -- The champion crosses finish line yesterday in 38:32, overcoming a brutal spell of bronchitis. Smith intends to run in at least two events during International Race Weekend.

SANDRA MEWETT -- Her pre-race butterflies proved unwarranted as she captured a ninth Princess to Princess women's title yesterday.