The bad weather sweeping the US has left athletes struggling to make it to Bermuda in time for the start of International Race Weekend.Organisers have had to re-route several elite athletes to make sure they can get to the Island in time for tonight’s KPMG Invitational Mile, and are keeping their fingers crossed that everyone makes it to the Island.And they have also fielded numerous calls over the past couple of days from entrants worried that they will miss their number pick-up and not be able to race in the 10K tomorrow, or the half and full marathons on Sunday.“When you’re on standby anything is liable to happen, so we have our fingers crossed, and we’ll have to wait and ride this one out,” said race organiser Anthony Raynor.“Hopefully when it’s all over they’ll be here.”With snow wreaking havoc on flights across North America, many of the 624 visitors, elite and amateur runners, expected to descend on the Island aren’t likely to arrive until tonight.As a precaution the race weekend committee have already started on contingency plans for those stuck in various cities in the US, and overseas athletes who arrive late will be allowed to pick up their numbers at the National Sports Centre before the start of tomorrow’s 10K race.“I’ve had calls from people asking what they are going to do about their number,” said race organiser Pam Shailer.“We will have the numbers at the National Sports Centre tomorrow morning to give out. Obviously we will accomodate people who are late, but they need to come up before 9am.“Some of them, because of the snow can only get on the late flight out of New York.”The number of calls that organisers have recieved highlights the huge number of overseas visitors coming to the Island for the race. Of the 624 expected, 118 are taking part in the 10K, 195 are taking part in either the half or full marathon, and 311 are registered for the Triple Challenge.It is the largest number of overseas participants since 2004, and Raynor said it wasn’t just a boost for the event, but the Island as a whole.“We can only be pleased with the increase in our overseas numbers,” he said, “and we can’t stress enough how this event, it’s not just about running a track and field event, but this event really touches Bermuda economically and socially.“It’s good for tourism, the world economy hasn’t quite recovered yet, people haven’t started to freely travel, so it’s good. We’re very happy.”