Sean Trott will not be defending his title in the Gosling’s to Fairmont race on Sunday as he wants to concentrate on preparing for the marathon in Bermuda Marathon Weekend next weekend.

Trott, who won the Open category at the National Cross-Country Championships in November, has confirmed he will rest this weekend before tackling his first full marathon.

The marathon, the third and final event of Bermuda Marathon Weekend, has a new route and will start in Dockyard at 7am, heading east along South Shore to John Smith’s Bay en route to Hamilton through North Shore and Pitts Bay Road.

“I’ve followed a four-month training plan for the marathon which I’ve followed pretty strictly,” Trott, 29, said.

“I’ve been building up miles over the past four months, getting stronger and holding a quicker pace over the longer distance and extending what I can from the half-marathon.

“I’m pretty confident I can go 20 miles or more at a pretty good pace. I’d hope to do something in the 2:30-2:40 range.

“That’s my conservative estimate and anything better than that would definitely exceed my expectations.”

Trott won the Gosling’s to Fairmont Southampton race last year by 33 seconds after finishing the 7.2-mile course in 39min 40sec.

The race has been held annually since 1978, first known at the Princess to Princess and then the Fairmont to Fairmont before Gosling’s became one of the sponsors in 2015.

Trott has had some impressive results since returning to competitive racing in 2017 after taking a break in 2013.

“Prior to the National Cross Country Championships, he was edged out by Sammy DeGraff in the Friends of Hospice/Hannover Re half-marathon. DeGraff, a former Bermuda footballer, won by just over a minute in 1:15.

Trott decided to sit out the Gosling’s to Fairmont race after competing in Triangle Challenge during Bermuda Marathon Weekend last year left him exhausted.

“I can recall in the Triangle Challenge the following week that I didn’t have the ‘pop’ in the legs,” he said.

“When you’re racing, you want to feel like you have extra spring in your legs and they kind of felt flat, so I didn’t want that happening in the marathon.

“The new route is what attracted me to the marathon, previously it has been two loops of the same course.

“The race’s coming out of Dockyard and taking in South Shore, which is my familiar training ground. Plus, the early start helps avoid any extra heat.”

After the marathon, Trott will set his sights on the Bermuda Day Half-Marathon Derby.

“I’ll just focus on resting up after the marathon for a week or so and then getting back to training pretty hard again,” he said.

Now married and with a five-month-old son, Gideon, Trott has a clear vision for his goals this year, which includes pushing for a first Bermuda Day Half-Marathon Derby title.

He has twice finished runner-up in the island’s oldest and most popular road race.

Trott has a string of top-five finishes, including runner-up to Chris Estwanik in 2012 and again in 2018 and 2019 when Lamont Marshall claimed back-to-back titles. He is mindful not to put extra pressure on himself to achieve that first win.

“Sometimes there is more pressure from other people, especially around the time of the race,” he said.

“I try to not put too much pressure on myself, just try to remember the work I’ve put in and to focus on doing what I can do rather than trying to live up to other people’s expectations. I hope to keep this up to at least 40 or so.”

The Bermuda Marathon Weekend starts with the Front Street Mile races on the Friday night before continuing with the 10K on Saturday and the half and full marathon on Sunday.

Runners will also compete in The Royal Gazette Triangle Challenge which will involve the mile, 10K and either the half or full marathon.