Lack of funds, increased competition from other overseas events, repeated inclement weather, courses not conducive to fast times - all valid reasons, perhaps, why Bermuda's International Race Weekend, which kicks off this evening, has regressed in recent years.

While the three-day race festival remains this month's biggest sporting occasion and one of the most anticipated on the entire calendar, make no mistake it has lost much of its lustre.

Sadly, it's now just a shadow of the showpiece which 15 to 20 years ago attracted some of the best known athletes on the planet.

The elite runners flying in this weekend might be extremely talented, but hardly household names - barely comparable to the likes of Grete Waitz, Joan Benoit, Steve Cram, Joe Falcon and other world beaters who once put in an appearance.

And while the organising Bermuda Track and Field Association can't shoulder all the blame for this demise, it was predictable earlier this week that president Judy Simmons chose to cite negative publicity as one of the key reasons why the annual Weekend hasn't continued to blossom.

Shooting the messenger appears to be a popular pastime among those in the BTFA, and for that matter, other governing bodies.

Recently director Mike Watson attempted to defend the current CARIFTA Games farce by accusing this writer of "poisoning" public minds and engaging in a personal vendetta.

Mike's entitled to his opinion but he would have served his association better had he attempted to answer some of the questions central to the issue - such as why the BTFA continues to refuse to hold Games trials for all athletes, regardless of whether they're in the national programme or not.

It's the same with Simmons. She may feel her organisation has had a bad rap from the media, but might want to take a closer look at the BTFA's own shortcomings before apportioning blame elsewhere.

If Race Weekend is short on funds and can no longer attract sponsors, that's hardly the media's fault.

Corporate supporters will climb on board if they think they're backing a sound product. The fact that Race Weekend hasn't had a major corporate sponsor for some years, and thus can't hope to compete with events such as the Houston Marathon which also takes place this weekend, speaks for itself.

Let's not forget that only a few years ago the Bank of Butterfield offered to continue their sponsorship but were rejected by the BTFA who, wrongly as it turned out, thought they could get a better deal elsewhere.

While numbers might be up this weekend, the vast majority of those taking part in either tomorrow's 10K or Sunday's half and full marathons are doing so for a charitable cause.

Perhaps as many as half will be walking rather than running.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course. If charities such as those supporting diabetes, heart disease and leukaemia are benefiting, so much the better.

And if the event encourages people to get out and exercise, that's another plus.

Even without the stars from overseas, it remains a wonderful weekend - due in no small part to the army of volunteers who play a huge role in ensuring that the hundreds of competitors who fly in are well looked after.

Simmons got it right when she admitted that the Island's reputation for warm hospitality was responsible for so many overseas athletes returning year after year.

But hospitality's only a small part of the equation.

If the elite athletes receive their invitations only a couple of weeks before the event - we were informed that one such runner received hers just last Friday; and if prizewinners' cheques 'bounce', as was reportedly the case last year, then there's little hope that the event will ever again attract the calibre of runner that once made International Race Weekend one of the most envied road race festivals in the world.