With 700 overseas visitors signed up to take part in next month’s Bermuda Marathon Weekend, organisers are encouraging Island athletes to get their entries in quick if they want to be part of the running festival.The event, which is being held for the 38th time, is welcoming back a sizeable group of competitors from the Leukemia Society Team in Training. It has been almost a decade since the US-based group organised a formal group to participate in Bermuda. Their return has been welcomed by race weekend director Anthony Rayner.“I’m excited that they are coming. It is the New York chapter. We’ve had one or two people come independently in recent years, but this is the first time since about 2004 that the organisation has come as a group,” he said.The race weekend is shaping up to continue the event’s resurgence of recent years, with the projected number of visiting athletes getting close to the high figures seen in the early 2000s.Raynor is encouraging locals who would like to be part of the three-day running spectacle to get their entries in before the end of year deadline.He has also sent out a message of thanks to the people of Bermuda for all their help in the past and asking them to show the same spirit of cooperation and welcoming attitudes when the Island hosts the major sporting event on January 18-20.“I want to thank the public for working with us in the past and ask that they once again understand we are doing this for the Island. We have 700 tourists registered — that is just the participants, not counting the family members that will come with them,” he said.The Bermuda Marathon Weekend will begin on Friday, January 18 with the Front Street Mile races, followed the day after with a 10K run and walk from the National Sports Centre. On Sunday, January 20, the final races will be the marathon and half-marathon which start and finish on Front Street.Many competitors will be raising funds for the Bermuda Diabetes Association, and Raynor is encouraging participants to gather pledges for the charity. He is also asking for any sports-related businesses, or people with sports products, merchandising or services to sell, to contact him if they would like to be part of the race weekend’s expo.“We have a large audience of active, health-minded people who are all going to be in one place,” he said.Raynor can be contacted by e-mail at: athlete@logic.bmBermuda Marathon Weekend race entries can be made online at www.bermudaraceweekend.com. Late entries will also be accepted at race number pick-up at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on January 18.