managed to rustle up for this weekend's international road races.

Following the manner in which the Bank of Butterfield's sponsorship was declined, there were some fears that the event might disappear from the calendar altogether.

Yet it won't have gone unnoticed that having failed to replace the chief sponsors, Bermuda Track and Field Association have had to rely heavily on the Department of Tourism to finance the races. In other words you and I -- the taxpayer -- are filling the void.

And it could be argued, in the realms of sport at least, such money might be better spent.

In recent years and despite generous contributions from the bank, International Race Weekend has lost much of its lustre.

Gone are the days when world class runners such as Grete Waitz, Geoff Smith, Joan Benoit, Yvonne Murray, Steve Cram, Joe Falcon, Michal Bartoszak, Frank Shorter et al graced our roads.

While the athletes arriving this weekend boast some impressive times, they're hardly household names.

And that doesn't necessarily reflect badly on the organisers. Top quality athletes these days demand appearance fees, much higher purses than Bermuda can hope to offer, and in any case are rarely at peak fitness so early in the year.

But also discouraging is the total number of athletes, regardless of standard, who now fly in for the event. Earlier this week the total for all four events stood at little over 800. There was a time when the 10K alone would have attracted that many.

If it weren't for the huge group of US charity runners/walkers who now compete each year, numbers would be drastically lower.

This perhaps is a reflection in the decline in popularity of road running worldwide, or perhaps even the tourism slump in which Bermuda is now mired.

But whatever the reason, the BTFA might have at least considered lowering their late entry fees in order to bolster the fields.

Anybody caught up in the euphoria of Race Weekend this week and wanting to enter either tomorrow's 10K or Sunday's half-marathon or marathon would have to fork out a hefty $50.

Such runners would probably only want to compete for fun but are unlikely to pay that kind of price.

Yes, the reason for such exorbitant late fees is normally to deter late entrants and therefore give organisers a better idea of what to expect in terms of numbers and be able to better prepare.

But the fact is, many recreational runners don't even think about Race Weekend and aren't sure what kind of shape they're in until after the Christmas holiday, by which time it's too late.

The early deadline is December 15, a full month before the event, the late deadline January 5, and the late, late deadline (costing competitors $50) on the eve of the races.

With Race Weekend's significance as a major local sports event slipping, the accent should be on attracting as many runners as possible rather than driving away potential competitors with extortionate fees.

*** STILL on road running, if the BTFA's refusal to sanction last weekend's inaugural junior Princess Race was bewildering (they are, after all, supposed to be in the business of promoting athletics), then even moreso was a rambling statement which followed from Mid Atlantic Athletic Club (MAAC).

President Ernest Dunphy, in an apparent effort to soothe members' concerns, e-mailed each and every one suggesting that there had been nothing untoward in the BTFA's refusal to support the race and in fact the public had been misled by media sensationalism.

Get real, Ernie! If the governing body of athletics decline to sanction a new race for juniors and in the process refuse to give a reason, there's something very wrong. And as one of the largest, if not the largest road running club on the Island, it's up to MAAC to present a sound and sensible argument to challenge that decision.

Instead, it seems, club leaders chose to pussyfoot around the issue, pretend nothing was wrong, and hope no more damage would be inflicted on an already strained relationship with the governing body.

To accept the BTFA's reasoning that the junior race could not be sanctioned because it clashed with a `Race Weekend warm-up' track meet the previous day, is utter nonsense. While BTFA president Judy Simmons refused to comment on the issue, that was reportedly the reason given to MAAC.

If anything, runners both senior and junior were going to use Sunday's Princess races as a warm-up for this weekend and not a low key track meet with a handful of events which ultimately attracted no more than three competitors in each.

If the BTFA can't properly run the sport, it's incumbent on the clubs to show strong leadership and ensure that road running doesn't fall further into the abyss.

Such leadership was sadly lacking from MAAC.

-- ADRIAN ROBSON