The Mid Atlantic Athletic Club’s Dash in the Dark races are set to make a return at the Flora Duffy Stadium.

The popular event showcasing Primary school student athletes has been cancelled for the past two years owing to the global coronavirus pandemic.

However, it now set to resume on May 20 (6:30pm) with the opening race of the three-race series involving athletes ages four to 11 who will compete on various courses.

Youngsters ages four to five will compete in a 400 metre race, six to seven, 800m, eight to nine, 1,200m and ten to 11 in one mile race.

All participants will receive medals and T-shirts with special prizes to be awarded to the podium finishers in each category.

Rose-Anna Hoey, the race director, is looking forward to what promises to be another exciting event and is encouraged by the level of interests shown by those keen to put their running skills to the test on the big stage.

“At the moment we have almost 150 registrants across the age ranges and we would love to get closer to 300 as was typically associated with this event, pre-pandemic,” she told The Royal Gazette.

“As we know the inter-schools championships were cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions and this would be an excellent opportunity for young keen athletes to see how they stack up against their peers from other schools in Bermuda.”

Hoey said the main objective of the event is to introduce more people to the sport.

“The races are fundamentally about encouraging participation in athletics and trying your best,” she added. “Our motto is ‘If you’ve had fun, you’ve already won!’.

“Families and friends can come out and support, and we expect an enjoyable evening to be had by all.”

All registration must be completed online at www.racedayworld.com prior to the registration deadline at 6pm on May 19. Participants can obtain their race number on the night of the event, starting from 5.30pm.