IT'S destination Toronto for a group of around 20 runners and supporters who will travel from Bermuda to take part in next month's Toronto Marathon and its associated half marathon, 5K and relay.

And there could be even more as it is hoped others will join this latest contingent of athletes travelling en masse to represent Bermuda and help promote the island's International Race Weekend.

The party will also be renewing a friendship with the Toronto race director Jay Glassman, who most recently came to Bermuda last January to participate in Bermuda's major running festival.

"He came over here to see how we did the Bermuda Race Weekend and Victoria (Fiddick) put him up. As a return favour Jay said he will host us and help promote International Race Weekend," said two-times former May 24 women's champion Dawn Richardson.

In Toronto, the Bermuda party will wear special T-shirts to highlight the island connection and hold a cocktail event, linked with the Department of Tourism, to promote International Race Weekend.

Joining Richardson in Canada will be at least 12 competing athletes, together with almost as many non-running supporters. It is hoped a few more will decide to join the trip, for which there is still time to book.

Amongst those travelling is 2007 Island Games half-marathon medallist Victoria Fiddick and marathon veteran Cal Steede ¿ who will be chalking up his 84th career marathon.

Never one to take the easy way, Steede will be sandwiching the Toronto Marathon between two other full marathons he'll run on the weekends either side. He is scheduled to compete in the Baltimore Marathon on October 11, which gives him eight days to recover before doing it all again in Toronto and then only seven days until he lines up in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC.

The three marathons will be his 83rd, 84th and 85th marathons respectively. In between events Steede will return to Bermuda for a few days before flying back out for his next event. If he successfully finishes all three, his total number of the marathons for the year will stand at six ¿ a figure that has become the norm for the Bermudian over the years.

It is the ambition to complete 100 marathons that keeps him going.

"No one else (in Bermuda) has done that many marathons," said Steede, adding that he would be pleased simply to finish his up-coming triple challenge although running a time of around three hours 30 minutes in the races would be extra satisfying.

For Richardson, who took gold in last summer's Island Games half-marathon in Rhodes, the target is to get as near 3:10 or below as possible in order to maintain her right to an elite corral start in big city marathons.

Fiddick is concentrating on the half marathon. She said: "It's a flat and fast course. It's nice to have something to focus on and a way to test yourself against overseas athletes."

Her ideal would be to run a 1:24 race, but she would be delighted to trim something off her current personal best of 1:26:03. Her daughter Melissa is also a travelling athlete, lining up for the 5K event.

The Toronto Marathon is on October 19. Anyone who is interested in taking part and joining with the Bermuda contingent should get in touch with Dawn Richardson or Victoria Fiddick directly, or alternatively contact Scott Neil at sneilroyalgazette.bm