When Mike Watson learnt a year ago that the Appleby Bermuda Day Half-Marathon Derby would be coming out of St George’s this year, he began preparing for a comeback ... but only for sentimental reasons.

The four-times winner of the race is a St Georgian who never got to run the East End course and it has been 19 years since his last May 24 race, when he finished second to Kavin Smith. Watson, a former 800 metres record-holder who still holds the high school record for the distance — 1min 56sec set in 1976 — always considered himself a track runner first and a half-marathon runner on the occasion of the Island’s most popular road race.

“My grandfather, Edward ‘Boar’ Watson, who was a Cup Match player, influenced me to run it after I finished college,” Watson, 57, said. “He said he would like to see me win it before he died, which I ended up doing.”

Watson is also a descendant of Richard “Ifty” Darrell, who in 1926 was the first St Georgian to win the race. Watson claimed the title in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1991, but do not expect him to try to be competitive — not even in his age group, he says.

“I’m no longer a competitive runner and consider myself 100 per cent retired, but I coach and keep fit and always said I would do it as a commemorative run if they came out of St George’s,” Watson said.

“I remember it coming out of St George’s as a kid; in fact, I watched all those events. That’s what inspired me to want to win the race one day, apart from my grandfather encouraging me to run it. As a child, I watched different people win the race. I remember watching Neville Virgil win the race.

“I grew up watching Kenny Bascome and Eric ‘Joe Bags’ Basden running the race who were the top contenders from St George’s apart from Alvin [Alabama] Anderson who was quite good but used to skylark.

“‘Ifty’ Darrell lived right in my neighbourhood, was the first St Georgian to win it and was a relative of mine.”

This month’s race will be an emotional one for those close to the 100-year-old event after the death two weeks ago of Virgil, a two-times winner of the race in the mid-1960s, while Trevor Cann, a race director, died last December.

Watson is running in memory of both men, with Cann having been a former training partner of his and a member of the 1980 Bermuda Carifta Games-winning team.

“The [Derby] committee asked me to consider a route from St George’s and finally Trevor made the ultimate decision and had the course certified,” Watson said.

He is inviting those wanting to prepare for the upcoming race to join him in training over the next three Wednesday evenings and two Sunday mornings, starting at Shelly Bay Field this Wednesday at 6.30 and running the last half of the course or from St George’s to Shelly Bay on Sunday mornings at 10.00 from Town Square.

The aim, he says, is to help participants to prepare for the race and to encourage health, fitness and nutrition.

“All are welcome, if you want company and encouragement while learning the course,” Watson said. “Let’s also make this year’s race bigger than ever.”

It is generally accepted that the course will be much tougher than the Somerset to Bernard Park route because of the many inclines. “I started training for it when I knew they were seriously considering the new course,” said Watson, who has been a race commentator for most of his retirement.

“In the first four months of that training, I stopped one day and stopped and talked to Neville Virgil, who lived in Shelly Bay.

“He was sitting on the wall and I stopped and we talked, reminiscing about the old days. Of course he was curious what I was doing and we talked about the race coming from St George’s.

“Funny thing I was probably fitter then than what I am now because I was putting in the work, but I had a few injuries along the way and had to back off a bit.

“The first four months, I was feeling so good I said, ‘I’m going to give those young [guys] a scare coming out of St George’s’, but in the next two or three months, I got a few injuries and figured I may just be competitive in my age group.

“A month or two after that, I said I’d better just concentrate on making the distance, so that’s what I have reduced it to. I’m good for five miles right now and now that I’m older, I realise that’s not my inclination, the longer distance. The last time I raced, I won the US Masters indoor 800 metres championship when I ran 1:58 as a 40-year-old in Boston.

“I considered myself retired then, but because I was good friends with Sid Howard [a regular visitor to Bermuda] and happened to be in Boston when it was going on, I jumped into the race. Sid had the Bermuda flag and came running over like I had won the Olympics.”

• Anyone interested in training with Watson can contact him at 747-7433.