The head of Bermuda's largest road running club is proposing a split from the sport's national governing body.

Tired of "playing second fiddle'' within the Bermuda Track and Field Association, Mid-Atlantic Athletic Club president Brett Forgesson has called on members to support the formation of a new Bermuda Road Racing Association.

"I personally feel the time has come for our club to take a stand,'' Forgesson wrote in the MAAC April newsletter. "If the Bermuda Track and Field Association is not willing to provide the positive leadership and funding our sport needs, then it should step aside and let us find better ways of progressing the sport on our own. Road running should demand to be recognised for what is is -- a highly popular and enjoyable sport in its own right.'' Reached yesterday, Forgesson stood by his comments but stressed they were part of a "discussion paper'' for MAAC's 200-plus members and not the views of his club. However, the initiative will be put forward at the MAAC annual meeting in June, after which Forgesson will seek support of the Island's other main running club, Swan's.

The 34-year-old veteran of more than two dozen marathons already has an important ally in George Sutherland, a vice president of the BTFA until resigning six weeks ago in a dispute over road running. "I'm in favour of it,'' Sutherland said yesterday.

Sutherland would not discuss his resignation but did say: "Not enough attention is paid to road running by the BTFA.'' According to Sutherland, of the 800 BTFA members, about 90 percent are strictly road runners.

And yet Forgesson and Sutherland both say road running is all but ignored in attempts to gain funding or support for junior development programmes.

Citing a drop in participants -- about 25 percent in the past four years -- Forgesson said road running had little choice but to strike out on its own.

"The BTFA is a track and field organisation. That is its primary focus and I believe it always will be,'' he wrote.

Particularly galling for Forgesson is that under the BTFA constitution, MAAC must pay 20 percent of all race entry fees to the BTFA as an administrative levy. In addition, BTFA registration fees from MAAC members amount to nearly $3,000 per year.

Of this, road running gets virtually nothing in return, Forgesson said. There has been no road running series since 1994-1995, nor support for junior road races and or overseas events open to Bermudians and non-Bermudians.

Non-Bermudians make up the bulk of road runners.

Sutherland would not say how much of the BTFA's funding -- they submitted a request to the Ministry for more than $75,000 this year -- is directed toward road running but conceded "nothing specific is allocated.'' Added Forgesson: "I'm certainly not aware of any budget (for road running).'' This is in contrast to the early 1990s, when, under Phil Guishard, road running and cross-country received nearly the same amount as track and field, some $20,000.

He said he has had "both positive and negative feedback'' to his proposal, adding that there had been an "ongoing dialogue'' with the BTFA over the issue.

Leaving the BTFA umbrella carries with it a penalty, however: The International Amateur Athletics Federation only recognises one national governing body per country, meaning the proposed Bermuda Road Runners Association may be viewed as an outlaw organisation.

This has stalled previous attempts at forming a road running body, Sutherland said, but Forgesson said yesterday it would "not be a major issue. It won'`t affect too many members as far as I'm concerned.'' Of juniors or elite runners being discriminated against by the BTFA, Forgesson said: "I would hope people will not be that narrow-minded and look at it in terms of the betterment of the sport.'' Forgesson pointed to a precedent set by the Road Runners Club of America, which boasts some 500 US clubs and has adopted a Bill of Rights allowing its athletes to compete in any open competition.

BRETT FORGESSON