Put up a $1million prize for a world record and your Island will be swarming with the very best athletes.

That's the view of runner and entrepreneur Phillip Sly, who believes his inventive plan to boost the profile of International Race Weekend is not an impossibility in this, the reinsurance capital of the world.

Australian Sly, who finished third in both Saturday's 10K and Sunday's half-marathon, believes offering a ridiculous sum such as $1million would throw the competition into the global spotlight, with the Island's notoriously hilly courses probably enough to prevent the cash actually being given out.

But even if a top athlete were to break an international record here, with insurers and reinsurers aplenty in situ, it wouldn't hit the coffers of a cash-strapped Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) too hard.

“I think this is a great event as it is and I am not trying to tell people how to run it,” said Sly, who as well as competing in top class athletics, runs a software company with offices in both London and his native Melbourne.

“But to put up a $1million prize would, I'm sure, be possible here - and it would certainly get the world's top athletes coming to the Island.

“A prize like that would be an inspirational sum, something that would make people come here and really go for it. I don't know if it is possible in the marathon or the 10K or even the Mile to break a world record, but certainly in the half-marathon it would be something that some athletes would see as attainable.

“The worst that could happen would be that a lot of top competitors come here and put in some fantastic times and create some great races - and if someone did win, the exposure the Island would get in the sporting press across the globe would be worth a lot more than a million to the tourism industry.”

BTFA president Judith Simmons, who has already had some discussions with Sly in relation to marketing the event through his multimedia company, seemed intrigued by the idea and openly admitted that larger sums were needed to boost the race's profile and field.

“A prize money injection would certainly be a good thing,” she told The Royal Gazette.

“And I think this is a great idea. We have been trying to attract additional sponsorship. We are looking at whatever way we can to bring in further elite athletes.

“But we already do attract athletes of a very high calibre - we were very fortunate to have Elfenesh (Alemu) here and the same with Tegla Loroupe last year.

“There is no doubt that we need to look at sponsorship very carefully to be able to increase the prize money. It has never been our policy to pay appearance money - we want people to want to come here and give their all in the races.

“But certainly bigger prize funds are needed.”

She added that in the immediate future, the BTFA would be concentrating on hosting Easter's CARIFTA Games, but after that the focus would return to International Race Weekend, with extra prize money set to be one of the main items on the agenda.