Dage Minors ran his fastest time in the Butterfield Invitational Mile on Friday night, but he says he may have competed in the popular race on Front Street for the last time.

Bermuda’s top middle-distance athlete clocked 4min 13.86sec to finish fourth in a contest won by his training partner, Ben Claridge, with the time faster than the 4:15.57 he achieved when runner-up to American Patrick Casey in 2020.

However, that may not be enough to persuade him to run again in one of Bermuda’s biggest races.

“This might have been my last Front Street Mile,” the 29-year-old told The Royal Gazette.

“I don’t want to rule it out completely but there’s a possibility that it might have been my last one. It would have been nice to go out on the podium, but I’ve had good experiences on Front Street.”

As he approaches his third decade, Minors is switching his focus to longer races and is eyeing his track swan song at a couple of major events in 2026.

“I’m getting a bit older, so some of my goals are changing and I’m looking to probably do more 5K, 10K and the half-marathon,” Minors said.

“This year or next year is probably my last on the track and next year is a big one as we've got the Commonwealth Games and the Central American and Caribbean Games, where I want to win medals.

“I’ll still be running and still competing, but I won’t run as many 1,500s and miles on the track next year. I’m getting older and my good days are numbered. I think I still have some good days left in me, but I just have to be smarter.

“I’ll probably not race as much this year as I've raced in the past and over the next couple of weeks, I’ve got nothing lined up. I’ll maybe do a few cross-country races, but no 1,500s and no miles until probably the summer. Between now and then, I’ll be training out in Bristol, England, and maybe I’ll do some road races.”

While he may be lost to the Butterfield Mile spectators, the Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby could be set to gain an interesting new participant in the years to come, with Minors contemplating competing in the Bermuda Day race in the future.

“May 24 is an important race for Bermuda,” Minors said.

“There is a lot of history and cultural significance attached to it, and I completely understand it.

“When I was in middle school, I actually read an entire book about May 24. That’s how much of a fan I am of that race, so I don’t appreciate it when people believe that I don’t want to run the race because I think I’m too good for it.

“It’s the complete opposite of that, as it’s a race that people in Bermuda will remember for ever. That’s a race that I want to do before I retire and become more of a part-time runner, and it’s a race I want to do when I’m capable of running my best.

“Growing up, I had two goals; to make it to the Olympics and win May 24. I've done neither of them, but it’s never really worked out for me to run the race because it usually comes during my track season.

“As the years have gone by, I’ve pondered it a bit more. This year probably not, but in a year or two I want to do it.”

With a best time of 1:10:05 at the Cambridge Half-Marathon in England last March, Minors will run the Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby not only with the intention of winning it but also of targeting Chris Estwanik’s time of 1:08:25, which he set at the age of 28 in 2008.

“I want to do May 24 when I’m ready,” Minors said. “I’m not going to run the race because I’m bored on a Friday.

“I also don’t want to do it when I’m still a 1,500 runner. I want to do a fast half-marathon when I’m a half-marathon runner.

“I want to go out and break Chris Estwanik’s record of 68 minutes, and cement my name in the history books. I’m just not ready to train for a half-marathon yet as you’re talking about 90-plus weeks and physically I’m not ready to do that.”

Minors, who holds the 13 years and under record for the Front Street Mile, is also excited about the future of his nephew, Khol Smith, who competed in the event for the first time. In a field of 23, the nine-year-old finished fourteenth in a time of 6:22.40.

“I was more nervous for my nephew running in the primary school boys than for me,” the three-times Mile champion said.’’

“Seeing him do that was more important than me running. If he says he wants to continue running, I’ll help my sister and my brother-in-law in with whatever they want with him. For now, I’m just glad that he’s enjoying it and the best thing I heard after his race was him afterwards saying he wants to do it again.”