next few days leading up to Tuesday's Marathon Derby.

Accustomed to training runs amounting to 80 to 90 miles each week, Forgesson will spend the weekend "doing the easy stuff, probably some half hour jogs''.

He will arrive at the starting line in Somerset on Tuesday in the best shape he has been in for a Marathon Derby since 1991 and he hopes to keep it that way.

That is especially so since May 24 seems to inspire more painful memories for him than good ones.

Pain as in the aching right hamstring injury he suffered three weeks before the 1992 race, which eventually prevented him from running that year, and the strained right achilles tendon which kept him in last year's event but saw him "run out of steam half way''.

As it turned out the limping 30-year-old finished a respectable third behind Kavin Smith and Mark Perry with a time of 1:14.10, only a minute shy of his splendid finish of 1991 (1:13.30), his best time so far.

"I tend to stay injury free until May, but just prior to the race something always seems to happen,'' the soft-spoken New Zealander said yesterday from his office. "It's nice to come into this year's race feeling good and healthy.'' Forgesson has since shaken off any aches and pains and was particularly impressive when he qualified for the Commonwealth Games in December at the California International Marathon. With a personal best time of 2:26.58, he shaved more than four minutes off his previous high (2:31) and parlayed that into a first place finish among local runners (2:39.17) and fifth overall in the International Marathon in January.

Most recently he has produced first place finishes in the North Shore 10 Miler (52:55) and the Pure Water 10K (32:30).

"Yeah, everything seems to be going fairly well, I'm fairly pleased with my form,'' said Forgesson. "I'm just trying to stay injury free and this year's been good except for the odd niggle.'' Forgesson will have the spotlight focused on him since Kavin Smith, last year's champion, seems unlikely to compete. Smith, believed to be at odds with the Bermuda Track and Field Association, has skipped most of the events on the racing calendar this year but did participate in the End-to-End run at the weekend.

"I tend not to worry about who's racing, it's really a wasted effort doing that,'' said Forgesson. "You can only worry about yourself.'' At five-foot-ten-inches, Forgesson has no trouble keeping his weight around 160 pounds.

He has come a long way since clocking 1:16 and finishing 10th in his first Marathon Derby in 1990 and maintains a consistent training regimen that is best suited for marathons.

Also absent from this year's race will be his wife Anna Eatherley, last year's winner in the women's division, who has taken a break from running. "The time is right for her to ease off right now,'' said Forgesson. "Everyone needs a break sometimes.'' But that would be the farthest thing from his mind as he trains for the Commonwealth Games, set for Victoria, British Columbia, in August.

Forgesson refuses to set any goals for Tuesday, not wanting to aim for a particular time or finish. He anticipates his stiffest competition will come from Tracy Wright, who finished a notch below him a year ago (1:15.18) and Antonio Correia.

From the moment the starter's pistol is fired at 9.30 a.m. Forgesson said his instincts take over.

"It really doesn't pay to have too many set tactics,'' he said. "You've got to be flexible, but my instincts, well, they tend to come and go.'' He's trained for all possibilities, keenly aware of how gruelling the race can be in humid conditions.

"I'm not worried about that, but training for a race like this is as much a matter of luck as good planning. A hot day like the guys got in New York for the marathon last year, that can make a difference of about 10 minutes to your time.'' Most of all he sees Tuesday as an opportunity to redeem himself from last year's race where he, along with everyone else, watched helplessly as Smith broke away from the pack to lead from start to finish.

`I'd just like to have a good run.'' There are 451 runners entered for Tuesday's race and everyone is reminded that numbers will be issued beginning tonight from 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. and tomorrow between 3 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. at Devonshire Recreation Club.

BRETT FORGESSON -- bidding for his first Derby win.