In the most memorable Marathon Derby for decades, Terrance Armstrong ran a flawless race to dethrone Kavin Smith as Bermuda's king of the road yesterday.

Ironically, it was the USA-based Bermudian's sprinting prowess that ultimately won him an enthralling three-way dogfight which saw he, perennial winner Smith - seeking a sixth successive and tenth overall victory - and repeated second-place finisher Jay Donawa virtually shoulder-to-shoulder until the last half mile.

Growing in confidence and with boisterous cheering echoing in his ears, Armstrong made his deadly and decisive move just before the junction of Middle and Montpelier Roads, pushing on ahead of his good friend Donawa - with Smith fading uncharacteristically - to claim a famous win inside the National Sports Centre.

It mattered not that the one hour, 14 minutes, 52 seconds required for him to journey 13.2 miles from Somerset to the stadium was well off any records.

It simply mattered that he achieved what no other runner had in the past five years - to outfox Smith at his own game and, in the process, present fellow Bermudians with one of the best Marathon Derby tussles ever.

“I'm lost for words right now. It's overwhelming . . . This is all I have trained for from last September until now.

“I put everything into this race. Last year I came into it with 75 percent but this year I put 100 percent in with winter training - through the cold and snow and doing 100-mile weeks. This is probably the best training for a distance event I have ever done,” declared a triumphant Armstrong as the magnitude of his accomplishment washed over him.

Donawa too took a significant leap forward in his road-running career, finally overcoming the man in whose shadow he has existed for years. However, yet again, he could only celebrate second best, this time to his long-standing pal.

“It's bitter-sweet,” confessed the runner-up who clocked 1:15:13. “But I'm very thankful. I've proven a lot to myself. In years gone I've been a distant second but today it was a race and all the people who said I didn't have the heart or the guts, I've proven them wrong.

“I didn't win but, at the same time, Terrance and I beat Kavin. Everybody has been asking when are we going to beat him and today we did it.

“For anyone who questions my ability or tenacity I showed, right up until the end, that I've got what it takes and I know this race is going to be mine and I'm going to keep coming.”

For Smith, there was defeat but certainly no disgrace. He crossed the line third in 1:15:33.

“I can't take anything from anybody. I'm happy for Terrance and Jay and I'm happy for myself because third in my 11th time running this race is still great.

“It would have been great to get (victory) number ten but wanting it is not enough to get it. These guys came to get it and I didn't have my usual snap, crackle, pop,” said the 37-year-old.

Asked why he did not attempt to distance himself from his challengers, he shrugged and replied: “I couldn't, not this year. My body was tired I guess.”

It was a race truly befitting of the official start of summer. The manner in which it unfolded - if not the pace - was hot, hot, hot.

Unlike May 24th races of recent vintage, in which Smith cut down his opposition with precision and stamina in a one-man show of power, this one was the stuff of folkloric proportions.

It's a tale which will no doubt be recounted later in life to Armstrong's 11-month-old son Nathan who - for all the fuss surrounding his dad - was more captivated by the medal which all finishers receive.

Armstrong, eyes hidden behind sunglasses, kept close tabs on Smith from the start while Donawa was content to hang back and watch things develop at the front. Spectators, predicting the usually-explosive Smith would surge ahead, were pleasantly tantalised to see Armstrong matching him through Southampton, Warwick and onto Burnt House Hill.

When they reached Harbour Road and it was still neck and neck - and with Donawa closing rapidly - onlookers sensed this would be something special and it was!

The triumvirate of local road-racing remained deadlocked for the next four miles - passing the points where Smith overhauled Armstrong (Inverurie Hill) and Donawa (The Lane) last year - and onto their Hamilton showdown.

Front Street greeted them with a deafening roar, cheering as much to egg on the runners as for the sporting spectacle before them. In the end, it was to be Armstrong's day as the Island's former Commonwealth and Pan-Am Games representative reaped the rewards of years of track campaigns in the 800 and 1500 metres.

“I said if it goes down to the last mile and I still feel good I would just try to take it from there and that's what happened. I'm really, really happy the race went the way it did,” he said of his tactics following his disappointing front-running last year.

“This year I said ‘I would sit back and not push the race. I sat back and stayed as patient as I could for as long as I could.

“On Front Street I felt very comfortable and confident knowing I would finish strong. I had no idea how those two would finish or how they would feel but I felt very good.

“I felt 100 percent, like I had just started the race. It was just a matter of how much effort I had to put into it.”

He was among countless runners who stressed the humidity factor and the toll it exacted as if determined to remind all of the seasonal change.

Humble in triumph, the 32-year-old paid tribute to sacrifices by his wife, Marianne, and to the competitive spirit which he shares with Smith and Donawa.

Flinging her arms around her husband in delight, Marianne declared “this has been six months of my life”.

“This means a lot. He has been training very hard with a new baby and all. It's huge. He sacrificed a lot for this and he deserves it,” she said.

Donawa - who has the same October 2 birthday as Armstrong and Marianne - revealed his plan was to be conservative in the first half of the Marathon Derby but be within striking distance of the leader on Harbour Road “and make a race of it”.

“I figured as the champion, Kavin had the responsibility to take it to us. We battled it out and it came down to the person with the most leg speed and Terrance - with his track background - is superior to both of us,” he said, adding he “would never have believed” the way events transpired.

While extremely happy for his friend, with whom he has had a close bond since primary school, Donawa longs to savour the glory for himself and vowed to compete again in 2005.

“I know that one day I'm going to come across this line victorious,” said the 31-year-old.

Meanwhile, almost forgotten amidst the high drama, a young titan announced himself as a potential future winner of the landmark event.

Lamont Marshall, running the race of his life, jumped four places above his 2003 result to cop fourth in 1:20:52.

“I'm definitely pleased with my run. I'm glad to improve my time and my placing. I felt pretty comfortable for the first ten miles until town when I started to labour,” recalled the 19-year-old who was on Donawa's shoulder in the early miles.

As for his prospects of winning the Marathon Derby sometime soon, it's clearly something he desires.

“Yes, each year I'm getting better and better,” he noted.

In the Masters, Andrew Wadman beat Ricky Sousa and Brett Forgesson for the title, clocking 1:21:42 to take fifth overall.

“I'm pleased because I've been plagued with injuries. It was hot as well and the times were slower than last year. It was a good race but I'm glad it's over,” said the 45-year-old Wadman cooling down.