Bermuda Marathon Weekend will be deprived of one of its biggest draws this year.Top middle distance runner Shadrack Biwot has been forced to withdraw at the eleventh hour following the death of his father.The Kenyan captured the hearts of local race fans two years ago when he clinched an unprecedented Bermuda Marathon Weekend treble (Men’s Elite Mile, 10K and Half Marathon) at the first attempt.And, had he not been forced to abort his travel plans this year would have seen Biwott gunning for a third straight win in the 10K and Half Marathon, having successfully retained those respective titles last year.Confirming that the affable athlete will not be returning this year was Bermuda Marathon Weekend race committee member Lee Tucker.“We were informed that Biwot’s father had passed on suddenly and so therefore he had to cancel his trip to Bermuda,” he said. “We have some good runners here but Biwott would’ve been one of the favourites.“He was one of the fan favourites and he proved this point a couple of years ago with the performance he did.“This is a setback but on the other hand this has happened before where runners have had to cancel out at the last moment.”Past World Marathon Champion and Olympic silver medallist Douglas Wakiihuri, who also hails from Kenya, said his compatriot’s presence will be missed.“I think it would have been better if he would’ve been here with us because he is one of the better challengers,” he added.As for the circumstances surrounding Biwott’s late withdrawal, Wakiihuri said: “Some things in life come and go and we have no control over that.“But I think we ought to make the best of the race over the weekend.“I’m still here and I still believe there’s some other guys equally capable of being in contention. I think the race will be equally as good.”Tucker echoed Wakiihuri’s sentiments, adding: “I think we will get around this one and we have some good runners here.“We have two or three Ethiopians as well as some of the lady runners here that will give us a good performance and we are confident that we will have a good event.“We are hoping the other runners that are here will perform to their maximum and we will still have an enjoyable weekend.”