His name might have been absent from official list of competitors for the Bermuda Marathon Weekend but Chris Estwanik has confirmed he will compete in Sunday’s half-marathon.

The Island’s top distance runner has been slowly easing back into competitive running after torn muscles in the back of his right knee took him off the road last May, denying him the chance of a sixth straight win in the May 24 Half Marathon Derby.

He signalled he is well on the road to full recovery recently when he placed second in the Fairmont to Fairmont Race, equalling the course record in the process, and now the five-times May 24 Half-Marathon Derby winner is ready to mix it up with top competition from overseas.

“I was a little surprised that I didn’t see it [name] there myself but I just confirmed that I had registered online,” Estwanik said.

“Whenever they took that cut of the individuals from online, maybe they just missed my name. I registered about a week and a half ago.”

Estwanik’s participation has ensured there will be a local interest in Sunday’s half-marathon, which features top runners from Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ethiopia.Estwanik always welcomes the competition. The Fairmont to Fairmont race provided a good test for his knee before the longer half-marathon.

“It’s all feeling so-so, the knee held up as best as I could expect,” said Estwanik, whose primary focus is a few months down the road. “Ultimately, I’m just trying to test it over the longer distance to see how my preparation for May 24 holds up. It’s not 100 per cent yet, but it is going in that direction.

“The quality of the competition is fantastic, so I’ll use the opportunity to run with those guys, like I had the opportunity in the Fairmont race to run with quality competition. I’d rather run a minute faster and not win than to win and run a minute slower.

“The reality is on this island we only get so many opportunities to run really fast and this is one of the weekends. It is a good weekend for Bermuda and I look forward to being out there mixing it up.”

Estwanik has been putting in some training during his lunch hour. He was seen one Saturday morning over Christmas running with wife Ashley, who will be on the road with him on Sunday, competing in the Bermuda Half Triangle Challenge, which involves tonight’s Mile and the 10K tomorrow.

“Lunch hour is when I do a lot of my training, trading off with the wife who does more of her training in the morning,” said Estwanik, who added that the couple have to schedule their running around raising two young children.