When Giorgio Zanol and his 10-year-old son Marco ran the May 24 Derby for the first time in 1978 neither could have imagined that 33 years later they’d be planning to run together on Mount Everest.But that’s what the father and son running buddies have lined up as their ultimate goal for this year. Their sights are set on completing a full marathon race on the world’s highest mountain this coming December.As they prepare for that daunting challenge, the pair reflected on their first steps into the sport when they ran side-by-side in the Derby Marathon of 1978.It was Marco, then aged only 10, who provided the motivation to compete in the Island’s signature road race. In January of that year he and Giorgio watched the Bermuda International Marathon as it wound its way around Harrington Sound, led by legendary Commonwealth Games champion Ron Hill.“I saw Ron Hill and Kirkiados Lazardies together and then Ray Swan and Jim Butterfield came running past and I got caught up in the adreneline. These guys looked so fit and I thought ‘that’s cool’,” he said.Neither he nor his father were runners, but Marco, who’d also found inspiration watching a previous May 24 Derby race, announced he would run the Derby.“I’d run around the yard 20 times and when I told my dad I was going to run the Derby, he said ‘Oh yeah’. I asked my dad if he wanted to come for a run. Our first run was around Vesey Street. My dad shot out ahead while my uncle was on a push bike pacing me. I passed my dad at halfway and beat him and felt pumped-up by that.”Both the Zanols had caught the running bug and took part in fun runs organised by the MAAC running club in the Botanical Gardens.Giorgio recalls running what he thought was a good time and collapsing on the grass, only to be told by runner Jim Butterfield that he was capable of doing better and then seeing Butterfield and fellow racers Peter Lever and Jeff Payne head off to run another 17 miles.In their May 24 debut, Giorgio and Marco ran together, however Marco was also part of a group of friends that included Rosemary Jones, Robert Jones and Roland Lines Jr who were in the race and were all aged between nine and 12. The youngsters attracted cheers from the crowd, something which further strengthened Marco’s love of the sport.“I was running with my dad but I kept wanting to leave him. I was running within myself and kept asking ‘Can I go now?’ but he sensibly paced me and held me back until the last mile when he said I could go. I remember trying to catch Joe Lopes near the end.”Although the youngsters completed the May 24 race, with Marco running a good time of one hour 35 minutes, the race organisers made a ruling that for subsequent years the minimum age for competitors would be 16. Marco was not to be dissuaded and took part without a number in the years that immediately followed.He flourished as a track runner, setting school records at Saltus for 800m, 1500m and 3000m. However he stopped running when he went to college and did not return to the sport until being inspired by his wife Judith when she completed a marathon in 2005.After that initial May 24 Derby, Giorgio improved dramatically and ran his first full marathon in 1979 in 3.07, followed by a 2.56 in New York that same year. His best came at Boston in the early 1980s when he ran 2.45.The Lindos supermarket boss, now 70, has been a road runner ever since and has run May 24 almost every year.He said: “May 24 is the best race in Bermuda because it gets everyone together. All the Bermudians are cheering you and making you welcome.”On Tuesday Giorgio will run in the Derby once again. Marco will sit it out to help his ankle recover from a training strain as he focuses on the duo’s upcoming challenge of a 50-mile race in Davos, Switzerland in July.That race will be a prelude to an epic adventure at the end of the year when the father and son intend to compete in the Everest Marathon the world’s highest marathon, which starts at an altitude of three miles above sea level.Marco said of his father’s running successes: “Once he got the bit between his teeth he was off. I will not be able to replicate what he has done, like a 2.45 marathon. His endurance and determination has got him where he is today.”And Giorgio said: “I’m looking forward to the 50-mile race and the Everest Marathon with Marco. Running has kept our family together.”