One of Bermuda’s most talented and successful road runners, Peter Lever, died on Monday evening at his home in St George’s.

He was 68.

His elder brother, Harold, who is visiting the Island, was beside him when he collapsed. He was rushed to hospital by ambulance but pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Yesterday, tributes poured in for the athlete, who had enjoyed success overseas and on the Island, which had been his home for some 40 years. After an impressive career as an athlete, he turned his attention to administration, organising and volunteering at a number of events.

He was race director for the 10K at this January’s Bermuda Marathon Weekend, and had also been heavily involved with the Front Street Mile.

Bermuda National Athletic Association (BNAA) executive committee member Bob Oliver, who had known Mr Lever since he first arrived on the Island in the 1970s, said: “He was a talented athlete but a fun kind of guy to be around. He often reminisced about the old days and loved to tell jokes.

“I always respected him as a runner in the heyday of Bermuda road running.

“He was not an elegant athlete but one who was not afraid to hurt and he ground out 100 per cent effort every time.

“Besides being a very good runner, he did a lot for the sport. Along with Jimmy and Debbie Butterfield, he helped to found the Mid Atlantic Athletic Club and worked closely with the Bermuda Track and Field Association. But he was never afraid to make unpopular decisions. He’ll be sadly missed.”

Harold Lever, who hails from the northern England town of Bolton, where his younger brother first made his mark on the road running scene, was yesterday being comforted by many of his long-time running friends.

“My wife [Maureen] and I came over earlier this month because we’d been told by friends that Peter was looking ill and we were concerned, but he didn’t want to talk about it.

“He hadn’t been eating much.

“It’s come as a terrible shock. We’re getting so much help from his friends. We’d like to thank all of them, they’ve been so good to us.”

Mr Lever taught at Saltus Grammar School in the 1970s but later ventured into real estate. He was owner of the Wigwam real estate company.

For many years he boasted the fastest marathon time of anyone living in Bermuda — 2 hours, 21 minutes and 19 seconds, recorded in the Detroit Marathon in 1972.

He ran other sub-2.30 marathon times but was also a force over the 10K and half-marathon distances.

A perennial contender in the May 24 Derby, racing alongside former champions such as Ray Swan, Cal Bean, Jeff Payne and Gary Wilkinson, he never managed to lift road racing’s most prestigious crown, blaming the high humidity for his lack of success in that event.

But he was a champion in many other races, such as the Princess to Princess and what was then known as the Perrier 10-miler.

With a wide circle of friends in the road racing fraternity, he was responsible for bringing in many leading athletes from across the globe, among them British road running legend Ron Hill and Olympic medallist Steve Cram.

He was instrumental in the growth of the sport, and a pivotal figure in International Race Weekend which, during its height in the 1980s, saw hundreds of top runners flock to the Island, including the likes of Grete Waitz, Joan Benoit and Geoff Smith.

Former Commonwealth Games and European Championships marathon winner Mr Hill said he was saddened to hear the news.

Mr Hill and Mr Lever were team-mates when they competed for Bolton Harriers running club in Lancashire, England, during the 1960s and early 1970s.

“He was a very good friend. I stayed with him at his house in Toronto and later met him when I came to Bermuda,” said Mr Hill, 76, who won the Bermuda Marathon Weekend marathon in 1978.

“We ran for the Bolton Harriers at the same time and competed in road relays together.

“He would invite people to come and stay with him, and he was instrumental in getting me to Bermuda.”

Donna Watson, president of the Bermuda National Athletic Association, said: “We, the BNAA, were saddened and shocked to hear the news regarding Peter Lever’s passing.

“Peter was one of the members of the Bermuda Marathon Weekend Committee. He was a hard worker and we always could depend on him.

“He goes a long way back with the Bermuda Track and Field Association.

“Peter used to participate in road races but his interest was always for the betterment of the association.

“He is going to be greatly missed and we recognise he is not going to be easy to be replaced. Our hearts go out to his family and close friends.”

Jim Butterfield, one of the Island’s leading road runners and triathletes during the 1970s and 1980s, said: “He will be very much missed in the athletic community.

“He was always energetic and encouraged others in a very positive way, always thinking of how to make local events bigger and better. He put a higher profile on our local January marathon.

“He gave a great deal to all of us as an athlete, organiser and administrator. He will be missed by many and remembered for his enthusiasm for life.”

Mr Butterfield recalled that Mr Lever was one of a small group of amateur athletes who pushed the May 24 Marathon Committee to change the race from a professional race to an amateur race.

This enabled runners to participate in the May 24 race and not be disqualified from competing in the Carifta, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

“Peter was a founding member of the Mid Atlantic Athletic Club in June, 1977,” Mr Butterfield added.

“The Princess to Princess Race was one that he himself first presented to the manager of the Princess Hotels.”

Former May 24 champion Jane Christie, wife of another May 24 winner, Cal Bean, said: “I’m still in shock. I’ve known him for maybe 35 years.

“We’ve run together, partied together and travelled together, although I haven’t seen him recently. It’s very sad.”

Veteran runner Mike Whalley, known to many as “the Flying Scotsman”, recalled racing against Lever in May 24 races when both were at their peak during the 1970s and 1980s.

“He was a tough competitor,” he said. “He didn’t handle the heat as well as me but he was a faster, stronger runner and he was much more of a marathon man than a half-marathon or 10K runner.

“He was running marathons when hardly anyone else was.

“He did an awful lot for running in Bermuda and he brought a lot of people over and put the Island on the running map.

“I had the highest respect for him.”