races, Jennifer Fisher was hoping to benefit from the hard work of others here on Saturday in the `A' stream 800 metres at the Times-Colonist International Track Meet.

Instead, outfoxed by her competitors, Fisher found herself setting the pace again -- and for the second time in four days narrowly missed the Commonwealth Games 800 metres qualifying standard.

Fisher ran the third-fastest 800 metres of her life, finishing in 2:08.65 to place eighth. The 800 metres qualifying standard, set by the Bermuda Olympic Association, is 2:08.0. The difference between the standard, and her time on Saturday, Fisher said, is "about one long stride. I was close, and yet I'm still far away.'' In cool and overcast conditions, Fisher was hoping to fall in with the second group of runners, and benefit from the pace set by the front-runners in that group. But it didn't work out that way. Instead of using Canadians Jill McDermid and Heather DeGeest as rabbits, they were able to use Fisher to set the pace.

"The girls I wanted to fall in behind started in the inside lanes,'' said Fisher, who drew a lane eight start. "I waited for them to come by so I could settle in behind them, but they didn't come. I finally had to break in -- I couldn't turn around to see where they were. They stayed behind, and then went with me, probably because they knew I was a good pacer. Then, at the end, they just went by me like I was standing still.'' "Jennifer didn't run the smartest of races,'' acknowledged her husband Eddie, Jennifer's chief motivator on this tour of B.C. "When you're running, you don't have much chance to think about what you're doing, but we knew the race would split in two. Jennifer had to get the benefit of the other girls setting the pace. But the reverse happened, and at the business end of the race, they took off.'' Fisher finished Saturday's race with a pounding headache, a symptom she attributed to fatigue. The race was her seventh in her two weeks in B.C.

"I felt fine for the first 400 metres, but somewhere between 500 metres and 600 metres I could feel fatigue setting in,'' she said. "The last 100 metres, I was really digging in, grinding my teeth. When I finished, I felt like my head was going to explode. I have never, ever felt that way before at the end of a race. Normally, my lungs and throat are burning -- but this time, my head was just pounding. Maybe that's a sign I've been overdoing it a little.'' Tamara Kupriyanovich of Belarus won the race in a blazing time of 2:00.84.

Kupriyanovich was named the meet's outstanding athlete, and took home $2,000.

Rita Paulaviciene, a Lithuanian-born runner who has landed immigrant status in Canada, was second in 2:01.48. Named the third best performer at the meet, she hopes to become a Canadian citizen in time for August's Commonwealth Games.

Russians Olga Marjina and Olga Kuznetsova finished third and fourth respectively, in 2:02.67 and 2:03.66.

The Fishers, with their two children in tow, leave this morning for Seattle where Jennifer will run in another 800 metres event tomorrow night at the Seattle International Track Classic.