FIRST Bermuda runner across the line in Sunday’s New York Marathon is likely to be a straight battle between Manuel Lopes, Colin Swan and Danny Kendall.The trio, along with Ricky Sousa, are the stand-out names in a list of at least 40 athletes from the island lined up to take to the streets of Manhattan and a number of other New York boroughs to race for 26.2 miles.

However, Sousa has opted to concentrate on January’s Miami Marathon where he set his best time of two hours 52 minutes last year. He’ll be going through the motions in the Big Apple and views Lopes as the man most likely to lead home the Bermuda charge.

Lopes has shown strong pedigree on the NY course during the past two decades, including pushing close to a 2:30 finishing time in the early 1990s.

At 47 he has been competing in the Masters category for a number of years but regardless is again likely to be up amongst the island’s fastest. However, he’ll have strong competition from training partner Colin Swan and the more youthful Danny Kendall.

All three are capable of breaking the three-hour barrier. Swan and Lopes are Sunday morning training partners. An indication of what they might achieve came three weeks ago when two other members of the “long run” training squad Brett Forgesson and Geoffrey Blee both recorded sub-three hour marathons. Forgesson clocked 2:50 in the Niagara Falls Marathon and Blee knocking out a 2:57 in Chicago.

Sousa, another leading Master from the island, will be toeing the start line at Staten Island on Sunday morning. But he is treating it as little more than a stepping stone with his focus on January’s Miami event.

This will be his seventh consecutive NY marathon. Having a break from running over the summer following the May 24 Marathon Derby he is not expecting to run a particularly fast time. Sousa does however has one intention this weekend. And that is to beat multi-Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong now that the cycling king is off his bike and aiming to complete a marathon race on foot.

For many New York is the jewel of the autumn marathon season, but other marathons have attracted interest from Bermuda athletes — notably Chicago and Berlin. In Chicago Bermuda’s South African twins Evan and Riaan Naude led the way as they ran 2:44 and 2:48 respectively, while Kim McMullen managed a 3:17 to finish in a good position in the women’s category.

In the Berlin Marathon in September, Bermuda’s Cal Steede ducked under 3:19 by a matter of seconds. In the same race Stephen Dunkley ran four hours “feeling good” and has a best of 3:42 set in London in April. He is making his second appearance at the New York race this weekend.

“I’m aiming to do all the ‘major’ marathons; New York, Chicago, Boston, London and Berlin. So this year it was Berlin, then a late opening came up to compete in New York so I thought I’d do it as I’ve already put in all the training,” he said.

Others taking part in the Big Apple race are Teachers Rugby Football Club players James Dockeray and Matt Clarke. At this year’s May 24 race they ran to raise money for 12-year-old Yushae Simmons, who suffers from cerebral palsy and decided to keep their running going to tackle a full marathon. Neither has run beyond the half marathon distance before.

Dockeray said beating the four-hour barrier with a 3:59:59 “sounds nice.” He added: “I’m just hoping to enjoy the experience and cross it off the life ‘to do’ list.”

Erica Fulton also ran May 24 this year, her longest race, and has used that as a springboard towards a full marathon. The 25-year-old from Smith’s is raising funds for the Windreach Recreational village and would like to run 4:15 in New York.

Another debutant is James Corby, raising money for Cancer Research and seeking a time of four-and-a-half hours or better. His only previous race was May 24.

Experienced runner Simon Turner aims to run two marathons in the space of three weeks. New York is now the secondary race to his main target of the Seattle Marathon at the end of November. If he runs a negative split (a faster second half) and a time of 3:30 he’ll consider it a good morning’s work on Sunday.

Not content with taking part in the Great Floridian Ironman Triathlon, where he finished second in the 18-24 age group and put in a 4:59 marathon after cycling 112 miles and swimming two miles, Spencer Conway is being cautious about predicting what he might achieve so soon after that energy-sapping endeavor but a 3:30 would keep him happy and appears to within his ability judging by his 1:35 on May 24.

In the women’s race Lisa Van Wanrooy is seeking a 3:50 finish in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon. This is her fourth consecutive NY marathon. She has also entered this December’s Las Vegas Marathon.

And Lynn Patchett has her sights on a return to the Miami Marathon in January. In New York she intends to keep a friend company for the first 16 miles before pulling out and saving her energy for Florida.

q Entry forms have gone out for this year’s BAC Kool Running Timeless 10K. The event features a 10K race and a 5K event for walkers and juniors, starting and finishing at Bermuda Air Conditioning in Mills Creek, Pembroke.

Runners and walkers will not be allowed to wear any kind of watch or timing event as the aim of the race is to predict your finishing time before you start. Prizes are awarded to those finishers who come closest to their pre-race prediction.

This year’s 10K course has been changed and will now simply be two laps of the 5K route. The first 150 entrants will receive a T-shirt. The race, organised by Mid-Atlantic Athletic Club, is on Sunday, November 12 starting at 9 a.m.