Veteran runner Jay Donawa will miss Bermuda Marathon Weekend for the second straight year as he puts his focus on next week’s NACAC Cross-Country Championships in Mandeville, Jamaica.Donawa opted to skip this year’s running festival after recovering from a bout of the flu which affected his time at the recent Fairmont to Fairmont race, though he still finished third. With the cross-country eight days away, Donawa — who will wear two hats as participant and manager/coach of the boys team — opted to make that event his priority.Donawa is in a 12-member Bermuda team of three seniors and nine juniors who will fly to Jamaica next Thursday for the championships on Saturday afternoon before returning on Sunday.“It is a combination of the two, healthwise I’m back to 100 percent, but just getting back,” said Donawa, now 40.“After the Fairmont race I took a few days off to try to recover, and made the decision to forego competing this weekend. I wasn’t sure which one to do anyway, the 10K or the half (marathon). Normally I would do the half for sure and at one time used to do both but just started focusing on the half on the Sunday.“It’s just too close to compete in the half and then get on the plane on Thursday morning for a full travel day and then try to recover. I’m not 27 anymore, I’m 40 so I have to manage the competitions I’m participating in a little more so that I can get the best out of my body because of the age factor.”Donawa also missed last year’s races after recovering from injury. “I was coming off an injury that I sustained in December and missed the cross-country championships here, so going into Race Weekend I wasn’t in really good shape and passed that up and trained for the (NACAC) cross-country which was in March,” he said.“I was set up to do the New York Marathon and obviously that got cancelled due to the hurricane. Now I’ll get through CACAC and do the New York Marathon which is in November but will probably look to do 24th of May and the Island Games which is going to be held here. I definitely won’t do an April or spring marathon like I did last year. This year I won’t do London or Boston.”Donawa will take a keen interest in tonight’s KPMG Invitational Front Street Mile races as most of the junior members of the team for Jamaica will be competing.Lamont Marshall and Tamika Williams are the other adults making the trip and will also compete and manage and coach the junior teams made up of Juma Mouchette, Daniel Oatley, Nate Hartwig, Michaiag Robinson and Nico Barclay in the boys and Kyrah Scraders, Zakiyyah Showers, Quaashie Douglas and Quinnae Outerbridge in the girls.“At NACAC I’m wearing two hats as manager and coach of the boys and that’s my main focus, to ensure the safety and welfare of them,” said Donawa. “I had informed Donna Watson (BNAA President) that I had an interest to participate but I would really like to go from an administrative standpoint.“Because of my performances over the years it put me in a position where I could do both. It will be my first time doing that. There is only one other person who has participated in the NACAC before, Juma Mouchette, so with the rest of them, even Lamont and Tamika, none of them have competed in the NACAC cross-country.Added Donawa: “I started going to them in 1996 and they were called the CAC at that time, but the NACAC Cross-Country rolled out in 2005 and I’ve been going every since 2005. Most of the time it has been just me flying the flag, but one year it was Kavin Smith and me and last year it was three of us, me, Chase Smith and Sean Trott. It will be good to contribute as an athlete but also from a coaching and administration standpoint. That’s what I’m really looking forward to, trying to impart some of my wisdom on the kids.“It is a totally different discipline from a road mile to a cross-country on golf course-type terrain. This will be the most (athletes) for the cross-country, the first time we’ve had two full junior teams, male and female. The only one who I understand is not competing in the mile is Daniel Oatley while Juma is in the local adult race because of his age.”Donawa believes the youngsters in the cross-country team represent the best of the young crop coming through. “Lamont is significantly younger than me and there’s nobody between him and me and then obviously these guys are ten years his junior.“Hopefully they will keep a keen interest in the sport for a long time.”It is expected the United States, Canada and hosts Jamaica will be the dominant teams next weekend. “USA and Canada usually bring very good athletes to the event,” added Donawa.