Elite US road runner Luke Watson will be attempting an unusual double in this month’s Bermuda Marathon Weekend.He’ll be racing at opposite ends of the spectrum as he lines up in the KPMG Elite Invitational Mile on Friday and then the full marathon two days later.And Watson, 30, has the pedigree to pull off a surprise in both races. He has run a stunning mile best of three minutes 57 seconds, and has clocked 2.15.29 for the marathon.It is usual for a road runner to have such a formidable range, and while Watson expects his mile time to be a few seconds slower than what he was once able to achieve during his track racing prime, he has every intention of being in close contention with the other elite milers.“On a track I can probably run somewhere in the low four minutes. On a road course it could be trickier. My strategy will be to get in there and mix it up with the leaders, and if I’m in there with them I’ll use my finishing kick,” he said.A native of Minnesota, Watson is presently transitioning to becoming a road running specialist with the marathon his main focus. He has completed the full 26.2-mile distance twice, his debut was a stunning 2.15.29 in the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis-St Paul in 2009. Last October he set a course record in the Steamtown Marathon, Pennsylvania, racing to a time of 2.16.41.He has already secured a place in the 2012 US Olympic Team marathon qualifying trials, set for next January in Euston.His appearance in the Bermuda Marathon Weekend (formerly known as the Bermuda International Race Weekend), will be his first trip to the Island. Asked how he felt about running the elite mile followed by a marathon with only one day’s rest in between, Watson said: “I’ve never done anything like this. It will be a cool challenge. Once you get the speed in your legs from the mile race the marathon pace feels easier.“There will be athletes doing the Bermuda Triangle Challenge, which is a mile, a 10K and then a marathon [or half-marathon], and that’s probably equally as tough.” He added: “I do some hard back-to-back workouts in training, so I am used to that.”And, as a former training partner and teammate of the late Ryan Shay, he has plenty of experience of what it takes to train hard to reap the rewards.American elite runner Shay, who was also a friend of Bermuda’s top running couple Chris and Ashley Estwanik, died during the US Olympic team marathon trials in New York City in 2007. At the time he was considered one of the most talented upcoming US athletes.“Ryan was an inspiration as far as the marathon goes. He showed me how to train really hard and that’s what you have to do. When you went training with him you never had it easy.”Watson’s wife Georganne Watson, will also be competing as one of the invited elite athletes. She has previously run a 4.46 mile and a 2.05 for 800m. During the marathon weekend she will run both the mile and 10K.