Some of Bermuda?s best runners from past and present are continuing to sign up for a 24-hour charity event which could result in one of the most impressive gatherings of local athletic talent ever seen.

Leading coach and former track star Steve Burgess is the man behind the Remembrance Day relay which will involve walkers and cyclists as well as runners and will be aimed at raising funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Burgess stresses that the event, which will see entrants complete laps at both the Arboretum and National Sports Centre as well as take a baton out to Dockyard and back and then out to St. George?s and back, is not competitive.

But it will involve a number of leading competitors, among them multiple Marathon Derby champion Kavin Smith and former greats Ed Sherlock and Gary Wilkinson.

Jay Donawa is also hoping to be in the field while leading ladies Debbie Butterfield and Anna Eatherley could make an appearance. Victoria Fiddick, winner of the recent PartnerRe 5K, has already confirmed. And Marilyn Steede, who previously completed a solo 24-hour walk for charity, has agreed to again walk for the entire 24 hours.

?We?re still waiting for confirmation from some runners, but the response so far has been fantastic,? said Burgess. ?We want walkers as well as runners, and there will also be a segment for cyclists ? the only criteria is that they all have pledge forms.

?It isn?t competitive but Larry and Lamont Marshall, for instance, have indicated they?ll be running their laps as part of a training session and will be stepping up the pace.?

More than 20 years ago a similar 24-hour charity relay, organised by Roland Lines, proved a huge success when held at the Saltus field as team runners took turns to complete a one-mile course throughout the day and night.

Burgess? event is different in that teams, which can be made up of any number of runners or walkers, will not be competing against each other but working together.

The relay is scheduled to start at 6 a.m. on November 11 when Mike Charles and Patrick Outerbridge will take the baton from the Arboretum in Paget into Hamilton and back again. From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. runners will complete loops at the Arboretum ? 1-2 p.m. set aside for the Hour of Youth, involving top junior runners.

At 2 p.m. the baton will begin its journey west along the railway trails, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. it will continue out to Dockyard and back to the May 24 Marathon Derby start in Somerset, and from 6 to 8 p.m. it?s hoped that Donawa and leading master runner Sylvester Jean Pierre will be among those bringing it back to the National Sports Centre.

Bermuda?s Living Legends, including the likes of Sherlock, Wilkinson, former Premier David Saul and Bob Oliver, will take over at the NSC between 9 and 10 p.m. before another veteran, Cal Steede, begins the journey east to St. George?s.

There town mayor E.Michael Jones will complete 24 laps of the town square before handing over to Kavin Smith who will help bring the baton back to the Sports Centre.

A pyjama walk has been arranged in between 2.00 and 3.00 a.m., cyclists will carry the baton between 3.00 and 5.00 and it?s hoped that all those who have participated will gather again for the grand finale from between 5 and 6 p.m.

A meeting for the Living Legends has been scheduled this Friday at the Horticultural Hall in the Botanical Gardens, starting at 7.30 p.m.

Pledge forms can be picked up from Sports R Us.