unners in Bermuda are a breed apart. That was brought home to me by a Bermudian who invited me to run on Warwick Long Beach.

A nice social training run he promised. Five miles later, gasping for breath, drenched in sweat and leaden-legged I asked if it ever gets much harder. He smiled and said: ?Wait till the summer when you hit the beach and it?s 82 degrees first thing in the morning.?

?Cheers,? I replied, for some reason thinking of the title of a long ago horror movie The Incredible Melting Man. ?Now tell me when it gets cold round here so I can plan my next appearance.?

Of course, it doesn?t get ?cold? in Bermuda and that?s just one of the challenges a runner faces on the Island.

With 26 years of virtually unbroken participation in road running I thought I?d experienced all the extremes of running conditions, from 120 Fahrenheit in the Australian outback to sub-zero streets in Moscow.

But Bermuda trumps them all and, without a doubt, it is the humidity that is the ?not so funny after a couple of miles? joker in the pack.

During the past few months there has been a noticeable increase in the number of runners out and about on the roads and trails.

The reason for many is the upcoming May 24 Marathon Derby when 500 or so residents aim to complete Bermuda?s signature running event over an undulating 13-and-a-bit miles of relentless road.

Running from Dockyard to Hamilton is not a feat to be taken lightly at any time of the year, let alone on the first official day of summer. Just about any type of conditions can be expected on the day. Heat and humidity are pretty much guaranteed and, if there is an early morning shower, it has been known for curtains of steam to rise from the hot road as the runners head off.

Running in Bermuda has its unique foibles, as I learned on my first full day on the Island having consulted a map and figured on a nice long run from Paget to Dockyard and back along the Railway Trial, foolhardily disregarding the fact it was early September and the temperature was near 80F.

Thirty minutes later I'd lost my swaggering invincibility. Reaching Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, a fraction of my intended route and turning around I seriously wondered if I'd make it back. My fears were confirmed as I stopped for a couple of ?breathers? at mile intervals.

It was like being a novice again. Hundreds of road races, tens of thousands of miles training and a fleeting moment of British provincial schoolboy glory as a 1500m runner counted for nothing. ?Don't worry, you'll soon acclimatise,? came the reassurance of others. Well, I'm still waiting.

The idiosyncrasies of running in Bermuda are many. For a start it is mostly better to run ?with? the direction of the traffic rather than against it, the opposite to every other country I've experienced. Running on the road is pretty much a necessity because of the sporadic nature of pavements. On the whole motorists appear to be respectful enough to move over a foot or so as they pass. And it doesn't take long to get to know friendly faces in the running fraternity. But without question running in Bermuda is not for the faint-hearted. The culprits are ?the three Hs? - heat, hills and humidity. The heat needs no explanation. As for the hills, well there is a constant supply of small but noticeable inclines in almost every direction despite the Island appearing relatively flat until you pull on a pair of running shoes.

And then there is the humidity. While at the British Olympic Medical Centre I once marvelled at a humidity chamber rigged up to push athletes to new levels of endurance. If only it were possible to work out in one of those, I thought. Well, here in Bermuda you don't have to wish. The entire island does a pretty good impression of being a humidity chamber without walls. When you run your body creates a large amount of heat and, in order to dissipate the heat, sweats. Which is fine until you find yourself in high humidity where there is already too much water vapour in the air for sweat to evaporate. As a consequence the body's cooling mechanism becomes less and less effective. Unable to manage its rising core temperature the body reverts to Plan B to lessen the heat - it forces you to run slower.

To avoid having to venture out into the cold of a British winter I resorted to using a treadmill running machine. In Bermuda the treadmill option works in reverse, it's a chance to get indoors and escape the worst of the heat and sun.

Yes, running in Bermuda is another world.

It's pleaasing to see how Bermuda genuinely honours and remembers its running legends, from the white handkerchiefs in memory of ?Sir? Stanley Burgess at this month's 5km event, to the reverence afforded living legends such as Kavin Smith, Raymond Swan and Ludwig Cann.

And where else in the world can you turn up for a Sunday morning race and rub shoulders on the start line with both the Sports Minister and Shadow Sports Minister?

@$:Runners on occasion experience the sensation of gliding along effortlessly. I beginning to suspect that sensation comes few and far between in Bermuda, but I live in hope. Between Dockyard and Barnard Park on May 24 would be a good moment.

Still learning about the foibles of running in Bermuda, Scott Neil finishing the Butterfield and Vallis 5km race earlier this year and now preparing for the May 24 Marathon Derby.