Terrance Armstrong claimed his third straight Marathon Derby title in a hot and noisy day on the roads yesterday ? and had to hold off the determined Marshall brothers to do it.

The 34-year-old former track star made his break on mile seven and never looked in danger of being caught despite the desperate efforts of the impressive young Lamont Marshall.

Despite suffering some cramps in the race's latter stages, Armstrong ? without his trademark long white socks ? cut an impressive figure crossing the Bernard Park finish line in one hour, 12 minutes and 27 seconds.

With a desperately frustrated Jay Donawa forced to pull out at the eleventh hour with a rolled ankle and thus denied the chance to improve on his seven straight runner-up finishes, Armstrong and the Marshall brothers ? Lamont placed second and Larry third ? were left to rule the roost and even from the early stages the two youngsters were the only ones challenging the double defending champion.

"They made me work hard for it ? they were real tough," said Armstrong, who recovered remarkably quickly from his efforts.

"I feel fantastic and I felt fantastic most of the way round. I've been working hard to prepare for this and I felt in good shape, even if I did struggle a little to acclimatise to the conditions.

"I was running strongly but so were they, so it was just a case of trying to stretch them when I could and I did that on Harbour Road.

"I had some trouble around mile ten or so, I was cramping a little on my side and in my calf, so I eased off a little although I didn't know how far ahead I was, so I couldn't relax too much."

As Armstrong took the foot of the pedal that had seen him complete 5.05 and 5.10 miles, the lead shortened but it was still a little too large for Lamont who gamely battled to the finish, even putting in a sprint as they rounded the Tennis Stadium.

The final gap was only 19 seconds but the victory ? which "means an awful lot to me" ? was all but a foregone conclusion once Armstrong had pushed hard.

"I wanted this third victory, it meant a lot to me and I have worked hard for it," continued Armstrong, who flew in from New Jersey four days ago for his first trip home since last year's victory.

"And I have to thank my parents for allowing me to train for this the way I have. My mum and dad came over for three months to help look after the kids to give me time to train.

"It is something I really appreciated because it gave me the freedom to concentrate on my training. Last year I was having to go out running really early in the mornings but this year, thanks to my employers, I was also able to go out at lunchtimes as well.

"I felt very happy about my training although I wasn't able to come back at Easter to acclimatise like last time."

Armstrong looked good from the start although it was veteran Cal Steede who came away from the Somerset start line first, leading out the 608 runners with an early burst.

His contribution at the front lasted less than a mile by which time an early group of seven pacesetters had formed and the first mile marker was passed in 5:30.

Lamont then took the group up Fort Scaur and by the time they reached the top, there were just four left with Evan Naude hanging on with the Marshalls and Armstrong.

At the three mile mark, Naude fell away leaving the three jetsetters to control the race for the next four miles.

Larry Marshall briefly took the lead as they passed the six mile mark in 32:40 but it wasn't long before Armstrong made his move. Lamont held on longer than his older brother but Armstrong was just too good ? although that doesn't mean the 21-year-old Lamont can't be proud of his 1:12.46 finish.

"There were times I thought I could catch him," said the Front Street Mile record holder and the man who ran one of Bermuda's fastest 5Ks within the last month.

"The strategy was for me and my brother to stick together, try and feed off each other's energy and stay with him for as long as we could ? then whoever had more left on Harbour Road would go for it.

"We stayed with him for a while, but when he moved away I wasn't that concerned. I didn't panic because I thought I could bring it back. The aim was to just keep going quickly to try and chip away at his lead but he was just too strong.

"Going around Crow Lane by the bakery, I thought I was catching him but he held on."

Larry Marshall picked up third in 1:14.24 while Naude finished in 1:16.58. Former winner Kavin Smith wasn't in the running, finishing fifth in 1:17.08 and looking very uncomfortable doing so.

Fast Master over the line was Tracy Wright, sixth overall, in 1:18.58 closely followed by Ricky Sousa.