The onward march of time has barely aged Ed Sherlock, one of Bermuda’s greatest living distance runners.He will celebrate his 80th birthday in November, yet he could easily pass for a man many decades younger. And even today, though his glory days are now half-a-century in the past, on occasions you might still catch a glimpse of him running across the sand and through the dunes around Horseshoe Bay, just as he did during his competitive years.The Southampton-born athlete’s recall of incidents and exploits in the Island’s famous May 24 Marathon Derby road race during the 1950s and early 1960s when he famously became a six-time champion remains clear and vibrant.Incredibly, it is now 55 years since he won his first May 24 title in 1956. He went on to achieve a record-setting five consecutive wins between the years 1958 and 1962 a tally of unbroken victories that only Kavin Smith has ever matched amongst the men (Sandra Mewett also won five back-to-back women’s titles).Describing the running life of the mid-1950s, Sherlock said: “In those days there were no running shoes. We just wore sneakers. I used to box and I took a pair of my boxing shoes and cut off the top so they would not hurt my ankle and put Vaseline all around my feet so they wouldn’t blister.“And we didn’t have any fancy running gear. We just wore a regular undervest and white shorts and carried a piece of cork in our hands or some of the runners carried a piece of cane.”Explaining the mystery of the bits of stick seen in the hands of May 24 runners in many of yesteryear’s faded, grainy pictures, Sherlock said that gripping a bit of cane or cork was a way to ward off cramp.As a young man he watched the May 24 race one year from a vantage point near White’s grocery store, and was inspired to take part. Soon afterwards he saw marathon runner Josh DeSilva training and asked if he could join in. He said yes. Sherlock ran every day on the beach and soon was taken under the wing of coaches Max Smith Sr and Archie Tucker.Smith Sr had himself won the May 24 title in 1931, and again from 1936 to 1939. He also won the breakaway ‘Marathon Group’ alternative race in 1930.Under expert guidance, Sherlock flourished. He would do a lot of training on the beach, running from the firm sand by the water’s edge into the softer sections of sand. He also used a skipping rope building himself up from five minutes of skipping to a level of fitness where he could ‘skip/run’ for an hour up and down the steep hill at Horseshoe Bay. He fuelled his body with cereals and oat flakes.“When you are training it takes a lot out of your body. You have to put the starch and salt back in because otherwise you get sick. I never took no beer or soda, but I drank plenty of water,” he said.Unlike today, when various road races are held throughout the year, in the middle of the last century the May 24 Marathon Derby Classic was the Island’s only road race. Most athletes would therefore only begin their training for the event two or three months beforehand, rather than train all year round, said Sherlock.He ran his first May 24 race in 1955, finishing third behind the great Arthur (Goo Gip) Lambert and Wycliffe Williams. He recalls overtaking May 24’s greatest legend ‘Sir’ Stanley Burgess near the tennis courts on the outskirts of Hamilton. The race that year had started in St George’s.In 1956 the runners ran from Somerset to Hamilton. Sherlock’s biggest rival was the then five-time champion Lambert.“He paced me all the way. ’Goo’ was a hard man. We were shoulder-to-shoulder at Crow Lane. I couldn’t shake him off. My coach Max came alongside on a bicycle. He asked how I was and I gave him a signal that I was okay,” said Sherlock.Smith stretched out his hand to encourage Sherlock to keep up as he moved ahead. The young runner responded and, by the time he reached the fire station, had opened up a winning gap over Lambert.However, it was the following year that Sherlock learned his biggest lesson as a road racer. Lambert was back and seeking to regain his title. He and Sherlock were soon in a head-to-head battle as they ran from Hamilton to Somerset.“Everyone seemed to be shouting ‘Come on, Goo’. I thought I would take him on Scaur Hill and I ran up it as best I could, but when I looked to my right, there he was. That took the wind out of me. He broke my spirit. But I learned from that and put it straight back on him,” said Sherlock.Sherlock went on to win his record-setting five consecutive titles, starting in 1958. In 1961 he had a new rival to contend with Max Smith Jr, the son of his coach. “Max said he couldn’t train me as he was now training his son,” said Sherlock.Max Smith Jr proved to be a tough competitor in 1961, but Sherlock used his experience in dueling with Lambert to run side-by-side with the younger athlete and keep the pressure on, despite the blistering pace.“He was like a wild horse. I was hurting too, but I stayed right with him and didn’t let it show that it was hurting me.”In the days when athletes were not allowed roadside drinks, Smith Jr’s challenge came to an end along Harbour Road as dehydration took its toll. However, Smith would return to earn victory two years later in 1963.Today, Sherlock sometimes runs as many as five times a week on the beach. “I don’t like training on the roads now because of the traffic and sometimes there is no respect for the runners. So I train on the beach.”And of May 24, which he last ran in 2009 the 100th anniversary race, he intends to be part of the great event again, although probably not in this year’s edition.He said: “I would get so excited about that race. I still get butterflies in my stomach the night before the race. May 24 is my day and I look forward to it.”