A regular record breaker in his youth, Gregory Simons probably thought those days were behind him at the age of 44.

But yesterday the runner established another new mark when it was announced he would become the first track athlete to be inducted into the College of Southern Idaho's Hall of Fame.

Simons, from Sandys, was at the college in the late 1970s, having earlier represented Bermuda at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

Karl Kleinkopf, who coached Simons at Southern Idaho and is still a departmental head at the educational facility, put his name forward for the award but then had great difficulty in tracking the athlete down.

However, after enlisting the help of The Royal Gazette, he was finally able to extend the invitation to his former pupil.

"We do this every year and this is the first time we have chosen a track athlete - it is normally baseball or basketball or someone like that," Kleinkopf said.

"We are a community college and he held the 400 metres record for about 15 years at 45.91 seconds, a pretty decent time in those days. He also holds our school records for the 100 and 200 metres."

The event is to be held next month and Kleinkopf said the college would fly Simons out to Twin Falls, Idaho, for the celebratory dinner.

A shocked Simons said the call from his former coach came right out of the blue.

"He asked if I knew who it was and right off I knew the voice - I could never forget that voice," said the Westgate Prison Recreation Co-ordinator.

"Words can never describe how I feel. They were like a family to me out there. It was the first time I had lived away from home and Mr. Kleinkopf was a really, really good man. For him to give me a call personally and tell me this was great. It is a great honour to be the first to be picked."

Simons - who also broke indoor records in the 50 metres and 60 metres dash - said he looked back on his achievements between 1977 and 1979 with great pride.

"They were the fastest times I have ever run," he said. "I ran 10.09 for the 100 metres, 20.72 for the 200 and the 45.91 record stood for about 15 years."

Although he had natural ability, he said could not have achieved what he had without his coach.

"He had a hand in it," he said. "We did a lot of distance work and hills - a lot of running over canyons.

"I was an Olympian and had been to a lot of international games but that didn't matter to him, I was just one of the guys. He treated me like everyone else.

"We didn't have a track of our own. We competed at the high school and during the winter we trained in the rodeo stadium with horses and cows around the side."

Ironically, Simons was not even supposed to have attended school in Idaho.

"I was supposed to go to Nevada-Reno and they sent me up there to get my grades up for one year," he said. "He (Kleinkopf) put me on a full scholarship. I was only one that was and I ended up staying for two years."

Although Simons went on to represent Bermuda at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 in the 200 metres, Montreal was perhaps the highlight of his time on the track.

"I ran the 100 metres and I anchored the 4x100 metres relay," he said. "We got through to the semi-finals in the relay and were just knocked out by Canada by one hundredth of a second."

Though he may no longer be clocking the times he did, Simons still remains active.

"I run in the Masters and am still competing internationally and I have also been refereeing (soccer) for the past 15 years."