The last overseas runner to win the Fairmont to Fairmont road race, Carl Kinney, may return next year to compete in the event that remains one of his career highlights.And he has revealed how he took inspiration from boxing legend Mohammad Ali to fire himself up to achieve one of the road race’s most unexpected victories of recent times.The annual 7.2-mile race, which starts at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and finishes at the Fairmont Southampton, will be staged for the 34th time this Sunday and is expected to attract hundreds of runnersColorado-based Kinney famously won the 30th anniversary edition of the race in 2007, setting what was then the third fastest time for the course.What made Kinney’s victory memorable was the way in which it was achieved. He arrived on the Island more than a week before the International Race Weekend, which was to be his primary goal. Consequently, when he lined up for the Fairmont event no one knew who he was not even the reigning champion Jay Donawa.In the days leading up to the 2007 race, Kinney had read a newspaper article about how Donawa was aiming to win for a record-breaking eighth consecutive year.Kinney, who at the time was 25, was reading a biography of boxer Mohammad Ali.“I was in this place where I was more confident than I had ever been. I saw the article on Jay, and I had just read how Mohammad Ali psyched out his opponents,” said Kinney. He felt in tune with the indestructible attitude of the world famous boxing champion.“I remember warming up for the race in a quiet spot on my own. I was bouncing up and down in front of my reflection in the glass window of an office building and it looked as though I was getting ready for a street fight but not in a malicious way.“When you have a road race it is like a street fight in a way. I remember clearly the whole atmosphere with the people cheering on the course, the architecture and colours of the buildings. I can remember every single step of that race. It is one of only two or three moments in my career when everything came together for me.”Initially Donawa and Kinney ran shoulder-to-shoulder, but as the runners swung onto Harbour Road it was the American who began to open up a lead. Kinney, who has a 10K best of 29.20, was in the form of his life and it showed. As the miles went by he increased his lead and crossed the finish line in 37.07, making him the third fastest runner up to that point in the event’s long history.“It is one of the most challenging courses, but also one of the most inviting and the atmosphere is always there. The course has potential,” said Kinney.“From my experience I feel it would be great if it could be incorporated in some way with the International Race Weekend - if there was some sort of tie-in.”After his 2007 victory he went on to finish fourth in the International Race Weekend 10K six-days later.Despite hoping to make a speedy return to Bermuda, Kinney has yet to visit again. He is no longer a competition-seeking athlete having lost much of his enthusiasm for that aspect of the sport when he lost his sponsorship and place in an elite running team based in Boulder, Colorado.But he still runs more or less everyday, and says he has rekindled his original love of running purely as an activity that enhances his life.“I didn’t do a single race last year. I have done training on the track and I ran a measure 5K through one of the mountain passes and ran 16.20. Running has so much more meaning for me now that it did when I was doing race. I started to realise I had missed all the best parts of running,” he said.Living and training at altitude, Kinney speaks passionately about how it feels to go running along Boulder’s beautiful Magnolia Road.“It’s a new world of appreciation,” he said. Kinney was delighted to hear that his key rival in 2007, Donawa, continues to improve as a runner - most notably with a 2.30 personal record in last year’s New York Marathon. “I’m glad to hear that; he’s a really good guy,” he said.He added that he would love to see someone like current three-time champion Chris Estwanik or Donawa or even another surprise overseas runner have a crack at the Fairmont to Fairmont course record, which was set in 1989 by David Swainson when he ran 36.08.And Kinney, who is studying to be a teacher, aims to get his finances together in order to make a return appearance at the race he so famously won. He’d like that to be in 2012, and he hasn’t ruled out trying to break the record himself.“It would be cool to have that closeness to the event.”n This Sunday’s Fairmont to Fairmont race starts at 9am from outside the Fairmont Hamilton Princess. There is also a junior 3K from Heron Bay MarketPlace to the Fairmont Southampton, which starts at 8.30am. Late registration and number pick-up for both races is tomorrow at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess between noon and 2pm.