time, yesterday admitted that her main challenger along the course from Somerset was the torrid heat and humidity.

Mewett, who was 17th overall with a time of 1:23:27, was well ahead of her closest rival Anna Eatherley (1:27:18) who was 30th overall.

"There was no breeze out there at all today. It was very hot, in fact one of the hottest days we've had for the race in recent years,'' said Mewett, who was satisfied with her performance after being absent from the road running scene since the ADT Bermuda Marathon in January.

"The time was never a concern, I just wanted to enjoy my run and make it to the finish line. I had no problems along the way.'' But Mewett did agree that there were times when she had to adjust tactics along the way, especially after starting out pretty fast. She was later forced to slow her pace somewhat after reaching Harbour Road where she maintained a steady, comfortable pace until the very end.

"I was probably hyped up too much at the start when adrenalin set in,'' she joked about her faster than ordinary start.

She had no qualms about being slower than last year when she was 16th overall with a time of 1:21:08.

Mewett overtook Eatherley after a half-mile and there was not anything that the latter could do when she breezed by.

"She just flew by me and I surely wasn't going to go out after her in all of that heat,'' said Eatherley, who finished third last year and fifth in 1990.

"I wasn't concentrating on Sandra or anybody else for that matter, it was just too hot for me to push out. In fact after the three-mile point I eased up a bit because I didn't want to become dehydrated,'' said Eatherley.

Like Mewett, Eatherley's time this year was slower compared to her time of 1:24:45 a year ago.

This was how it was predicted, Mewett winning easily with Eatherley coming a distant second after making it clear going into the race that she would probably run a little faster than a jog after being unable to train for the event like she hoped because of sickness earlier in the year.

One prominent female runner who did finish further back in the field of her division after hoping to come home around 1:25:26 was Jane Christie.

"The humidity out there today was just too much for me, so I changed my mind altogether about the time of 1:25:26,'' said Christie.

"I tried to push a bit when I got on Harbour Road but just couldn't sustain the pace, so I just eased back and enjoyed the support of the crowd to the finish line,'' she added.

Finishing ahead of Christie was former winner Debbie Butterfield (1:29:14).

QUEEN OF THE ROADS -- Sandra Mewett crosses the Marathon Derby finish line first for an unprecedented seventh time.