take on individually a host of teams in the annual Deloitte and Touche 12-mile road relay.

Yesterday he said he expected the battle at Dockyard to be both "interesting and exciting''.

And he declared he would be gunning for overall victory.

"It's definitely going to be a big challenge, it's one person against four,'' said the ace of Bermuda's road running scene.

"People say that since I win every race here by as much as two minutes, I might as well go for a bigger challenge like this and I admit that this is something different. But it remains to see how things will turn out.'' Yesterday there was still no indication of how strong the top teams would be when they assemble for the 10 a.m. start. Organisers were anticipating that most of the teams would be confirmed by late this afternoon.

One prominent runner unlikely to be involved is former Marathon Derby champion Brett Forgesson who has just returned from running the New York Marathon on Sunday.

Since the race is designed to help raise money for Smith's international schedule for next year, Smith said he intended to run hard and help make it a spectacular event.

"I am in good shape and expect to be very competitive. My hope is that the public will come out and support me,'' he said. "I know that the other runners are going to be telling themselves `we can't let this one man beat four'.

"It should pull the best out of all of the teams and myself. It certainly should be exciting and interesting.'' But Smith claimed he had no planned tactics or targets.

"The hardest thing is for me just to go out and beat the fastest team, which I hope to make a sincere effort to do.'' He said he didn't expect to make any attempt to pace himself at any time, noting that would be unwise as he was unaware of who was running against him and who would be running certain legs.

"It's really going to be blind for me. I don't know who I will be coming up against. I can't think much about pacing myself. Whatever pace I use just may not work. Even if I did, I wouldn't let out this information,'' he joked.

While Smith is concentrating on Sunday's event, he still remains focused on his build-up for the Olympics next year.

Sunday's event gives him an opportunity to fully extend himself on the local scene after brushing aside all opponents in the last year. And he's aware of the importance to get funding so that he can spend more time running and training overseas.

"The way I beat the guys here, guys beat me abroad. But I know that if I get among them on a regular basis I will be much more competitive,'' he added.

"But I am at a point where I just cannot travel away to meets or for training like I once did. My finances are just burnt out.'' KAVIN SMITH -- aiming for overall victory.