He expects to finish in the top three come tomorrow ? but not necessarily first.

After suffering a rare defeat last year, Kavin Smith is prepared for a rematch with Terrance Armstrong and Jay Donawa but the nine-time Marathon Derby winner is far from certain that this will be his tenth victory.

?This year I?m feeling good. I?m quite happy and comfortable. I?ll probably have a good race. I?m looking at being third,? he stated candidly.

?I will be competitive, you know why? Outside of the top three, how quick is the next person? They are running around six minutes per mile. I can run six-minute pace easily. For my standard of running, that?s nothing. I?m a 5.30 (minutes per mile) and lower man.

?So it?s simple reasoning. The next runner isn?t able to run faster than 5.45 or six-minute pace and for me that?s comfortable. That?s my natural level. I don?t have to train hard to do that.

?That?s my training pace but that?s other guys? race pace. When I?m really racing I?m running at 5.20 or 5.10 and lower.?

However, to turn the tables on the two men who beat him to the line last year, he acknowledged it would necessitate a special effort.

Reflecting on defending champion Armstrong?s revelation earlier this week that he completed a ten-mile race in 50.45, Smith noted that equated to 5.04 minutes per mile which is faster than he is accustomed to running now.

?There?s no way I can run 5.04 or 5.10. At the pace I run now, based on the training I do, it?s not realistic that I should win though I would like to win,? surmised the 38-year-old.

Smith, who of late has been competing in international marathons and cycling races, ?can?t wait? for the race which he has dominated to begin, declaring it?s an event that requires ?a strong heart?.

The wily veteran counselled that it takes a combination of intense training and planning for one?s opponents to win the coveted Bermuda Day crown ? elements that he has not put together as compared to previous years.

?To win May 24 you have to have a high level of stamina. That means a lot of mile repeats, a lot of two and three-mile repeats also ? long, steady, hard runs. I haven?t done those things and don?t plan on doing them for the next year.

?That?s different to before because whenever I went out to win, I won it. I did everything to cover my bases. I went in with the attitude that whoever else wants this is going to have to pick up the pace considering the pace I?m going to be running.

?Unlike the comments I see in the paper I don?t believe that what you?ve done building up to the marathon doesn?t count for anything. It?s everything. When I won in the past it was purely from how I trained.

?I entered the race confident, knowing what I had to do. I had studied my competitors. In order to win that race you have to take it to your rivals.

?When I wanted to win I went to the starting line with attitude, with anger and I went for it ? to break my (fellow) competitors. I set the tone and I won eight times.?

His ninth success in 2003 he felt was ?given? to him after pacesetters Armstrong and Donawa burnt themselves out midway through the trek from Somerset to the National Sports Centre.

The only way Smith sees himself winning on this occasion is if an encore of two years ago occurs.

?If I?m going to win on Tuesday it would have to be the same scenario. I stay in shape, I run, I cycle but I don?t have a training routine.

?I?m not going to kid myself. I?ve not put in the training that I did when I spoke boldly in the past about winning and going for records. I?m having fun now but that doesn?t mean I won?t have a good race and be up there.?