Marathon Derby could be a clear signal that momentum is high heading into Monday's prestigious road race from Somerset to Hamilton.

Race director Richard Tucker said that already 390 runners had officially confirmed their participation and noted that the overall total was expected to exceed 400.

"It looks like another good field of runners, so we are expecting the usual interesting and very competitive race,'' said Tucker.

Brett Forgesson, who finished third to Smith last year, not only made sure his name was in early but took advantage of Sunday's final tune-up -- the Bermuda Regiment's Breakfast Five-Mile Run -- to register a confidence-boosting victory.

Sunday's race excluded Derby contenders such as Smith, Mike Watson and Jay Donawa -- first, second and fourth last year -- and Forgesson has readily admitted that Smith is in a class of his own.

"It was a pretty good tune-up. I felt fairly comfortable out there from start to finish,'' said Forgesson, whose time of 27.24 was a trifle faster than his winning time last year.

"The fact that it was a little faster is always a good sign, the humidity was close to 90 so it was also encouraging to feel good under the conditions.'' But Forgesson wasn't getting carried away with his latest triumph and was quick to point out that without the elite runners the win meant little.

Looking ahead to Monday's 13.3-mile event, he's hopeful he can turn in another good performance but declined to make any predictions.

"My fitness compared to last year at this stage is pretty much the same. I didn't have a great race last year, but so much about running is on the day.

No matter where you feel your fitness level is, you just hope to have a good race on the day.'' While Forgesson did well in his final race before Monday, top female Julia Hawley also excelled in her last outing -- the triathlon at St. David's where she finished 13th overall and won the women's division.

"I was very pleased to finish as well as I did,'' said Hawley, who still reckoned that defending champion Karen Adams was the person to beat on Monday.

Hawley, though, is anxious to see how well she will cope with the tough course at a time when she enters the race in peak condition.

"This time last year I was recovering from mononucleosis. I also had it the year before and I wasn't really training like I am now in the triathlon. But things have been going really well for me,'' she added.

Hawley has no real specific time in mind, although she wants to run the course in under one hour and 30 minutes, which would give her a personal best over the course.

"I am still shooting for it. I have done a sub 1:30 on other courses but not this one. My best on this one is 1:30.30 about four years ago when I was also doing triathlon training.

"You have to be very careful on this course about times. You have to go for position. You have to simply run your own race on the day. There is so much pressure, it's always hot, there is always some controversy or whatever and it's just a tough race to run,'' she said.

Full results from last Sunday's Regiment road race have not been provided by organisers.