AN impressive field of more than 600 competed in the May 24 Marathon Derby last week, a sure sign that road running?s still alive and well.

But a health check on its sister sport, track and field, might not be as encouraging, as we?re about to find out this weekend.

What should be one of the Island?s major sporting occasions, the national track and field championships, take place at the Sports Centre over Saturday and Sunday. Yet it?s quite likely that for those reading this column, it?s the first they?ve heard of it.

For a variety of reasons, over the past 20 years or more the event has virtually disappeared off the radar screen, to such an extent that the organising Track and Field Association barely bother to promote it.

Strangely it seems to be treated as just another meet, not one that will determine our national champions.

Of the hundreds who ran from Somerset to Hamilton last week ? granted few of them would actually label themselves as ?athletes? ? less than a handful will be on the track this weekend.

Most would be comfortable from the 1500 metres up to the 10,000 and would likely find the occasion enjoyable and competitive.

More than a few would also get a kick out of hurling the discus, leaping into the sand pit or arching their back over the high jump bar, probably for the first time since leaving school.

But again, for whatever reason it won?t happen.

The national championships, as they have been for so many years now, will be a gathering of primary and secondary school athletes, in effect a junior championship. The number of entrants from the senior ranks will be minimal ? one or at best two in any given event.

And that?s a great shame given Bermuda?s tradition of producing world class athletes ? such as Debbie Jones, Troy Douglas, Brian Wellman and Clarence Saunders.

With a first class stadium in which to compete, far better than that which those mentioned above were afforded during the early days of their careers, even our recreational athletes might consider the championships an opportunity to broaden their horizons.

While the BTFA probably haven?t pushed as hard as they should in advertising the event, it?s also up to the Island?s road running clubs, Swan?s and Mid Atlantic Athletic Club in particular, to help rejuvenate the championships.

Pacers, Striders and Flyers, who put an emphasis on track and field, can be assured to play their part, but will provide only the bulk of the junior contingent.

And unless they can find a way of maintaining interest among members once they grow out of their teens, then the sport as a whole and this meet in particular, wouldn?t seem to have a very bright future.

Somehow, Clarence Smith who succeeded Judy Simmons as BTFA president earlier this year, along with his executive, need to find ways of broadening the sport?s appeal.

Simply hosting a national championships isn?t enough.

It needs to be sold to the public and to the athletes. And this year, as with those past, that hasn?t happened.

OUR national team cricketers are getting match practice over the other side of the pond this and next week, in England and the Channel Islands.

And as much as they need every competitive game they can get, the point made that they?re in the wrong place at the wrong time isn?t a bad one.

The weather in England at this time of year isn?t particularly welcoming. As our players have discovered, it?s been wet, cold, and generally miserable, providing playing conditions exactly the opposite to what they can expect at the World Cup next year.

How much they gain from the trip remains to be seen.

But time spent in the Caribbean or warmer climes might have served them better.