she "is in better shape'' this time.

Maria Conroy-Haydon will be returning after a year's absence and considers it "a privilege'' to be part of a race which includes some of the top distance runners in the world.

Lynn Kynoch is back for a third time and refuses to predict the time it will take for her to run the 7.1-mile course because she is superstitious but, adding zestfully, "I've trained well, so I'm well prepared.'' Sandra Mewett, an old hand at it and participating in her fifth race, says it will be extra special this time because, "I was injured for so long this year so it's been a real struggle to get there. I really, really wanted to go.'' The four women will be part of a large Bermuda contingent that will be putting on their colourful new track suits -- splashed with blue, black and purple -- as they embark tomorrow for Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the 22nd Falmouth Road Race which takes place on Sunday.

The race is considered one of the most scenic in the world because its route snakes along the ocean in one of the most attractive little hamlets around.

Bermuda's representatives will get an added bonus for going through the excruciating torment of the race -- along the way they will be able to see the tidy clapboard and traditional shingled houses Cape Cod is famous for.

The road race has also been judged as the best short race in the United States, according to Runner's World magazine.

Ultimately, it is the reward for Bermuda's top runners in the KPMG Series, those who finished at or near the top of their respective classes.

Joining Eatherley, Conroy-Haydon, Kynoch and Mewett will be the top three finishers in the men's division of the May 24 Marathon Derby -- Kavin Smith, Mark Perry and Brett Forgesson. Also going will be Harry Patchett, Giorgio Zanol, Mike and Rosalie Rickarts, Geoffrey Blee, Peggy Couper, Jane Christie, Dorothy Gilchrist, Elaine Watkinson, Debbie Butterfield, Karen Robson and team manager Raymond Ming, the only member of the unit not actually running the course.

Once again the race is expected to be dominated by Kenyans, but if US President Bill Clinton accepts the invitation and takes the 45-minute ferry ride from Martha's Vineyard, which sits off the shoulder of Cape Cod and where he is vacationing, the spotlight instead will be focussed on America's most famous jogger.

Organisers remained uncertain yesterday whether Clinton will line up with the anticipated 7,500 runners, and they secretly hope he will decline their invitation since his presence would turn out to be a security crush that is bound to overwhelm the scene.

Definitely not running will be last year's champions, Bentson Masya of Kenya and Lynn Jennings of Newmarket, New Hampshire, who shattered the course records for male and female runners. Masya, who clocked in at 31.52, broke American Alberto Salazar's long-standing mark of 31.53, established in 1982.

Jennings, meanwhile, set the new women's standard of 36.13, smashing the old time of 36.17 set by Joan Benoit Samuelson in 1985.

Jennings' victory was almost expected, especially since she was coming off a bronze medal victory in the 10,000 metres only 10 days earler at the Barcelona Olympics. Salazar's record had been around for so long no one expected it to be seriously challenged.

One theory suggests the records were broken because weather conditions were ideal -- after several days of rain conditions were cool and dry.

In 1991, the year Conroy-Haydon ran the event in 42.47 and Kynoch ran it in the "neighbourhood of 45 minutes'', the conditions were typically sticky and humid, but not as bad as the following day when a hurricane whacked Cape Cod and destroyed a portion of the road where thousands of runners had whirled off into the rough scrimmage of the race only 24 hours earlier. Luckily, the Bermuda runners escaped the storm unscathed.

The narrow roads along the western fringe of Falmouth are in perfect shape once again with the race running from Woods Hole Village to Falmouth Heights.

Expected to dominate Sunday's race are favourites Simon Karori of Kenya, who finished second in 1992 in 32.05, and Thomas Osano, also from the African nation.

Previous winners in the male division have been Frank Shorter -- who captured it two years straight in 1975 and in 1976, a few days after winning the silver medal in the marathon at the Montreal Olympics -- Arturo Barrios of Mexico (1986) and Rod Dixon of New Zealand (1980).

Top women's champions include six-time winner Samuelson, Greta Waitz of Norway (1980) and Lorraine Miller of New Zealand (1986).

"I remember running alongside Bill Rodgers and Jennings a couple of years ago,'' said Kynoch, "and it was quite a thrill. It's really a good event for Bermudians to compete in. Plus, everyone has such a good time.'' ANNA EATHERLEY -- Falmouth road race caps a solid year for the Bermuda runner.