Bermuda Day Half-Marathon Derby legend Ed Sherlock has paid homage to late rival Neville Virgil.

Virgil, a two-times Derby winner, died last week aged 70 after a lengthy illness.

“Neville was a good runner and the Derby has lost another big figure,” said Sherlock, 83.

Virgil won Bermuda’s biggest road race in 1964 and the next year held off six-times winner Sherlock to defend his title.

“He beat me coming from St George’s in 1965 when Winslow “Scaley” Williams picked him up after he finished on Court Street near Place’s Place,” Sherlock said. “Neville came first and I came second.”

Virgil’s victory in 1965 placed him on the verge of a hat-trick which he was denied as college student Tommy Smith was the first to hit the tape at Somerset Cricket Club.

“Neville was going for his third straight win but Tommy Smith won that year,” Sherlock recalled. “I was second and Neville third.”

Having been upstaged by Virgil the year before, Sherlock had a personal score to settle with his rival heading into the 1966 race.

He said a comment Virgil made to him after his second successive victory gave him added incentive — to put it mildly.

“He beat me coming from St George’s so in the dressing room after the race I shook his hand and he said “I could never beat him’ and I just laughed,” Sherlock said. “But the next year I didn’t worry about nobody else and I never forgot what he told me the year before.

“I did not worry about Tommy Smith, I was going to take care of Neville — and I did. We always used to talk about that race all the time.”

The late runner was the twin brother of Neil Virgil.

In 1964, the Virgil twins achieved a unique feat that has yet to be equalled after finishing first and second.

“Neville was a good runner and he was stronger than Neil,” added Sherlock, who did not compete until that year. “Neville was strong on the hills and he and his brother had a good coach in Conrad Symonds (the former West End Rovers and Somerset Trojans coach).

“They trained very hard and because they were identical twins and I often got them mixed up. Conrad had those boys training hard, running up and down the bleachers at Somerset Cricket Club.”

During the 1965 Derby, the twins wore white gloves to wipe their foreheads while running, something which became their trademark.

“Going to Somerset in 1966 they were dressed up sharp and wore their white gloves,” Sherlock recalled. “Their mother, who lived abroad, also came back to watch them.”

Dale Butler, author of the book The May 24th Bermuda Marathon Derby Classic, added: “Neville and Neil excited Bermudians with their victories and wrote their names into history with their classic white gloves at a time when interest was declining in the race and organisers were looking for a stimulus.

“He was a real gentlemen who did not say an unkind word about anyone. He deserves a special place in the Bermuda Marathon Derby Hall of Fame because of his accomplishments and his love of the race.”