Dage Minors has moved to Britain permanently for what he calls “crunch time” in his career. Minors has settled into a new routine in Bristol, a city in the southwest of England also home to footballer Nahki Wells, but still travels to nearby Welsh capital Cardiff once a week to train with a top group of middle-distance runners. The Bermudian views this year as crucial as he attempts to hit the times needed to represent the island at some major events in 2026. “It’s crunch time in my career,” Minors said. “Next year is a big year with the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Commonwealth Games and so I’ve moved to the UK full time, I’m working two part-time jobs and training. “It’s got its challenges but I’m training with a good group once a week and it seems to be working out right now. I live in Bristol and my girlfriend is at university here, but I still go over to Cardiff once a week to train with that group. “I’m trying to hit those times so next year can be easy going into those big events and I can focus more on training and getting into the possible shape I can be. Last year was a bit up and down under a new coach and it took some time to adjust to different training methods but now things are starting to trend upwards. I’m looking forward to the rest of 2025 and beyond.” Now a British national champion after forming part of the successful Bristol and West Athletics Club team in the Road Relay Championships last Saturday, Minors was thrilled to be involved in the historic race which features 12 athletes each running a 5km leg before the winners are crowned. Minors’s talent was deployed by Bristol in leg three and he ran the third-fastest time of 5min 13sec, leaving his team in the lead at the changeover. “It’s a unique race to England and it’s been going on for more than 100 years, so it was exciting to be a part of it,” Minors said. “I was third-fastest on my leg and 20 seconds faster than I ran two weeks before in the Midlands qualifiers. On a personal level it was good to go 20 seconds quicker but the main goal for me was to try to keep us near the front or at the front. “I started my leg in second place but I put us in the lead by about three or four seconds. When you look back on it that was the team we ended up beating on the last leg so every person was important.” The life of a middle-distance runner can be lonely as they rack up the miles every week and but Minors thrived on the team element. “Leading up to it last week, I was thinking it had been a while since I had been part of a team, probably since my university days seven or eight years ago,” Minors said. “That part is what I like but I don’t get too many opportunities to do it. I just go to a race, try to run as fast as I can and then leave. Rarely do I get an opportunity where you are relying on other people and other people are relying on you. The team and camaraderie aspect got me through the week.” The victory proved an emotional one for the Bristol team as their team manager had been in hospital for a number of weeks but was allowed out to watch the race. “It had been 45 years since Bristol had last won it and we were so glad our coach/team manager was there. “He’s 85 now and had been in the hospital for the last four weeks and they were able to get him out for the race. You could see how much the win meant to him and it meant a lot to people who had been around the club for three or four decades.” Away from the roads and tracks in England, Minors has taken on a new role as chairman of the Athletes Commission, a body that represents Bermuda’s elite athletes. Minors was a previous member of the group but will now lead the team until the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. “It’s different being a chairman and it means I’m paying attention to more things and being there for people,” Minors said. “The key thing is being the voice for the athletes in regards to the relationship with the Bermuda Olympic Association. “When they are making decisions, we want to make sure the athletes voices are being heard. But we’re not there to just argue, it’s a working relationship. When we look back on the next four years we want to know we helped current athletes, future athletes and past athletes. It’s early days with a few projects and we just hope we can continue our good reputation.”