KANANASKIS, Canada, June 26 (AFP) - Hours before a formal meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush held an impromptu "aerobic bilateral" over gym equipment.

They later traded workout gear for business suits for the official 9 am (1500 GMT) meeting, but neither could quite put their 6:30 am (1230 GMT) encounter behind them.

"I went down after a run and there was the Prime Minister working out -- an impressive regime, I might add," Bush, an avid exercise buff, said during a joint press conference.

"Thank you for your kind words. And I thought you looked in pretty good shape yourself this morning," Blair retorted.

Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer praised the 60-mile (100-kilometer) distance between leaders attending the summit and reporters covering it for encouraging that kind of casual meeting.

That "is what the G8 always was intended to be: a small, informal gathering of these leaders for an opportunity for them to just really mix it up and talk," he said.

Fleischer blamed "violent protests that turn summit cities into sieges" for the separation. - Nampa-AFP