Chayce Smith is looking forward to taking on his “good friend” Lamont Marshall when the two Bermudians line up against the elite runners from around the world in tomorrow’s KPMG Invitational Front Street Mile.Smith and Marshall were given permission to race late last year, with Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) president Donna Watson pleading his case for acceptance.The 23-year-old has already won the local men’s race as a junior and will now look to make a name for himself against the big guns.“I will run in the elite mile this year, they invited me to run it and that is the decision I made,” said Smith. “I mainly based my decision on the fact that I have already won the local mile when I was a junior.“The next year Lamont (Marshall) had beat me and the following year I didn’t race, so this will be a good time to step up in competition and see how I get along.”Smith isn’t sure how he’s going to do against professional athletes, but he does think it’ll be a tight race.“I don’t know how it will pan out because I have never raced against these guys before,” he said. “But from what I’m reading about them in the paper and so forth, they are experienced runners and I expect it to be a real strategised race with the pace starting off a bit slow with no one looking to break the four minute barrier.“Everyone would probably be bunched in the early stages and look to have a big kick coming back.”Smith was by far the fastest local runner in the trials, stopping the clock at four minutes, 27.6 seconds, at the National Sports Centre, almost 25 seconds ahead of second-placed qualifier Darico Clarke who is the favourite to win the local men’s race.Smith moved to downplay the rivalry between himself and Marshall and said he hoped the Bermuda public would come out to support both local runners.“We’re good friends (Marshall) and his father used to coach me when I was younger and fathered me through a bit along with my coach from Mid-Atlantic (Athletic Club),” he said.“I don’t really have a rivalry with him, I’m honoured that we are the two representatives for Bermuda and hopefully Bermuda will come out and support us.“It will be better for the two of us that we are together instead of running alone, that would add more pressure by being the lone person out there.“I don’t have a strategy but running all comes down to the day and how you feel at that time. I am going to see how I feel in the day and how the field looks, but I will be looking to win the race. That’s the competitive nature in me, to do my best so we will see how it goes.”Also running tomorrow night will be Shadrack Biwot the undisputed champion of International Race WeekendThe Kenyan runner proved to be a cut above the rest of the elite male athletes in his IRW debut last year by winning the KPMG Invitational Front Street Mile, the 10K and Half-Marathon.Biwot, the brother of Duncan Kibet the second fastest marathon runner ever behind the legendary Haile Gebrselassie will compete in the Front Street Mile and 1OK on Saturday. He plans to run the Half-Marathon as long as his body feels up to it.n Tomorrow’s races start at 6.30pm, with Saturday’s 10k beginning at 10am, and Sunday’s race at 8am.