Lamont Marshall got his World Athletics Championships qualifying bid off to an encouraging start at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University at the weekend.

The distance runner finished eighth in his 3,000 metres heat in a time of 8min 18.01sec, which placed him 21st in field of 94 at the indoor track meet.

Marshall’s time was seven seconds shy of his personal best indoor time of 8:11, which he achieved at the same event six years ago, and seven seconds faster than the Bermuda record which he holds.

It was Marshall’s first appearance of the year after skipping the Bermuda Marathon Weekend to focus on qualifying in the 3,000 metres steeplechase for the World Athletics Championships in London in August.

“Skipping Race Weekend was the best decision because already it’s paying dividends,” said Marshall’s father and coach, Larry Marshall Sr.

“To open with an 8.18 is very pleasing because it’s obviously his first race of the year and it was also really pleasing to see him run his second fastest time in his opening race. He ran faster than his outdoor Bermuda record which is unusual because indoors is slower than outdoors because of the tight turns.”

Marshall’s time might have been faster had it not been for a tactical error.

“He made a tactical error of running in lane two for nine of the 15 laps after getting caught up in traffic and that cost him about three or four seconds because when you are out in lane two obviously you are running longer,” Larry Marshall added.

“But overall I’m very pleased because this sets Lamont up well for his goal to qualify for the World Championships.”

Marshall is using the indoor 3,000 event as base training for the outdoor 3,000 metres steeplechase.

“The objective of these 3,000 metres flats is to familiarise himself with the distance and also to get a time that’s considerably faster than what he needs for the steeplechase,” Larry Marshall Sr added.

“In the steeplechase you are jumping over hurdles but you still need a quicker time in the flat to get the speed and strength for the steeplechase. You do the flat just to get the speed and you can make the adjustments.”

Marshall, who competed at the Pan Am Games in Toronto in 2015, has a personal best in the steeplechase of 8:58, which he needs to lower by another 28 seconds to qualify for the World Championships. The Bermuda record for the 3,000 metre steeplechase stands at 8:53.06 which was set by Terrance Armstrong in Williamsburg in 1996.