REIGNING women’s champion Dawn Richardson had the element of surprise on her side when she won the 2006 Bermuda Marathon Derby at her first attempt, writes Scott Neil.And while she no longer has that advantage all bets are off that she will do anything but win again come Thursday.

Hailing from northern England, Richardson often shies away from publicity and, as she fine-tuned herself this week, again opted not to speculate on her race plan or how she is shaping up. Her most recent race was the “Sir” Stanley Burgess 5K, which she won by more than a minute in 18 minutes 43 seconds.

At the start of the year she was first local woman in the Bermuda International Race Weekend full marathon running a time of 3:13.

And while she has missed a number of local races this year she appears capable of retaining her crown, particularly in light of the fact that her closest rival last year Karen Bordage will be competing elsewhere.

Last year Richardson had been racing on the island for only a month before May 24 and was still mostly an unknown quantity despite securing victories in two previous races leading up to the signature Bermuda race.

Bordage had been widely seen as the favourite for the race, but that reckoning was thrown into doubt when sub-three hour marathoner Richardson showed up and won the RMS 20K race a month earlier and then pipped Bordage in the “Sir” Stanley Burgess 5k.

On May 24, Richardson started the slower of the two but kept Bordage in her sights and in the final mile, as the Canadian tired, Richardson had the strength to pass her and claim the title.

Richardson has admitted being somewhat distracted from racing lately, although that did not prevent her from recording a victory of more than one minute in this month’s “Sir” Stanley Burgess 5K with a time of 18:43, despite having trained 13 miles two days before and cycled the previous day.

Her training includes weights and kick-boxing sessions.

After the 5K, and in her most recent public comment, Richardson said of May 24: “I’m going to turn up. I think I got lucky last year.”

Richardson most recent outing at the half-marathon distance was her victory in the BTFA Fall race last November when she ran 1:29:28, nine seconds faster than her 2006 winning May 24 time.

Richardson defends May 24 title