ONE of Bermuda's most talented and respected runners Lamont Marshall says he has been let down by the sport's governing body and is now unlikely ever to run in the number one showpiece mile race in his homeland – the KPMG Invitational Elite Front Street Mile.

And his coach and father Larry Marshall Sr. says he stands 100 percent behind his son's decision to ignore a late-in-the-day invite to participate this month after being overlooked so many times before even as he put Bermuda on the map with impressive results in the Fifth Avenue Mile races in New York City.

Marshall Sr. said the fact that the invite was mistakenly addressed to Lamont's older brother Larry Jr. – who has not competed locally since winning the May 24 Half Marathon in 2007 – showed that "not much thought" had gone into it and it reflected the "willy-nilly" approach to young athletes in the country.

And he said his two sons, Larry Jr. and Lamont, feel so badly treated by the Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) during the past 10 years that they have no desire now to represent Bermuda in an official capacity as athletes.

Marshall, 24, normally lets his running do the talking, but on the issue of his exclusion from past elite mile races he presents a forthright case. In 2006 he ran a four minutes 18 seconds road mile on the streets of New York City, he ran 4.15 in 2007 and again in September this year – those times would place him within striking distance of the elite pack in the blue ribbon Front Street event.

Yet despite asking for guidance on what time he would need to achieve to earn a starting place with the international elite guests, Marshall and his father say they have never been given an answer.

"Me and my father asked at the mile trials in 2006 what time I had to post to get in the elite mile, they never answered," said Marshall. Instead, he has been left to run in the local invitational race, invariably winning by an embarrassing margin (25 seconds last year) but with no competition near enough to motivate or push him towards bettering his performance.

"I was fed up last year. How many times do I need to prove myself?" he asked. "I said last year that would be my last time and I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I said I would do the (International Race Weekend) 10K and be with the elite athletes on the line."

Contrasting his treatment overseas with that at home he said: "I did the Fifth Avenue Mile and ran fast enough for them to put me in the next string and they came and asked me to run in that race.

"The BTFA has been failing for the last 20 years. The sport is dying. If it wasn't for me and my sponsors I would not be getting races overseas.

"Because I don't train under the national coach I can't represent the country or do the elite mile. But I refuse to be held back by incompetence. You have to ask yourself, you see these young athletes doing well but then there is nothing for them when the international athletes come to race here."

He added: "My sponsors help me with five races a year. They are small business owners – Ernest Signer of Solid Rock Construction and Vince Trott of VT Construction – who asked how they could help. I call them up a month in advance and they set everything up. The athletics association, which is dedicated to the sport, does not do anything so how can an athlete be encouraged?"

Marshall's father said: "If you are not part of the so-called national programme they try to ignore you and act as though you do not exist. What really disgusted me was that they made sure Lamont did not have an opportunity to prove himself in 2007 when they invited Edgar Bermudez who did a slower time than Lamont."

And he said the inconsistent approach could be seen in the way Bermuda's fastest resident miler Chris Estwanik was treated when the former US Olympic middle-distance triallist was given a place in last year's elite race without running a trial heat, even though he had offered to do so, according to Marshall Sr.

Ironically, Estwanik – for whom the Marshalls say they have the utmost respect – ran this year's mile trials earlier this month, while Marshall didn't, but Marshall got an invite begging the question: 'Is there a set standard for a local athlete to be included in the elite race or is it a purely arbitrary decision?'

Marshall Sr. said: "It is so inconsistent and it does not encourage anyone. They are all over the place. Last year Lamont defended his local title without any real competition and he made the decision then to concentrate on the 10K rather than the local race.

"At the beginning of November he had a lengthy conversation with BTFA president Clarence Smith and Anthony Raynor and made it clear he did not want to run in the elite race. So it is strange that they made this invite after that conversation," he added.

"Lamont and his brother are prepared to not represent Bermuda. They have no desire to represent the country after the way they have been treated for the past 10 years. Had they encouraged Lamont he could have got more races overseas. But he was completely ignored.

"We are content to do our running as individuals and not as Bermuda and I'm behind Lamont 100 percent."

In response to the comments about the BTFA, Clarence Smith – who became president just under three years ago – admitted it had been the case in the past that athletes outside the national programme had been overlooked but he said: "That used to be the case but that is not the case now if an athlete makes themselves available for selection."

And on whether or not the BTFA had been failing for the past 20 years, Smith said: "I would not say that. It is a double-edged sword. It is true we have not been as successful as we would have liked to have been, but we are making positive changes."