Tyler Butterfield has applauded Jake Smith for his brave effort in trying to break the high school boys record of at the Butterfield Invitational Mile on Friday.

Smith, running the race for the last time as a schoolboy before he moves over to the seniors, clocked 4:31.93 to win his age group, a little over four seconds off Butterfield’s record of 4 min 27.30sec, which has stood since 1999.

Speaking after the two athletes ran the PwC Bermuda Half-Marathon on Sunday, Butterfield had some kind words for the Warwick Academy student.

“He told me last year that he was going for my record and I told him that I had great conditions,” Butterfield told The Royal Gazette.

“I remember that whole year I had good results and I was super fit. For him to be five seconds off is impressive, he’s got a lot of talent and a bright future ahead of him.

“He should be happy with his effort because he pushed so hard to get it. Someone will get the record one of these days, that’s one thing for sure.

“I was happy that he had goals to strive for to try and improve his running. As a local, if you’re one of the best runners, you need extra motivation to keep pushing.

“Sometimes that’s what it takes – a goal from someone a couple of years before to chase and strive for. If you ask him, he’ll say he trained harder because he knew he had to chase that time.

“Michael Donawa had the record before me and I had to chase that. I had to train really hard knowing I had to get that time at the age of 16.”

Butterfield, who went on to represent Bermuda in triathlon at the 2004 and 2012 Olympics, believes Smith can enjoy the same success if he follows the correct pathway.

“It’s just a matter of him wanting it,” the 41-year-old said. “You just have to go overseas, find a good group and train with them.

“He definitely has the potential to chase. It’s all about persistence, dedication, consistency and putting yourself in good environments.

“Between 2002 and 2004, I was fortunate enough to train with the Australian triathlon Olympic selector as a coach and my room-mate was the world under-23 champion.

“But Flora Duffy also found great training environments closer to Bermuda and some colleges and universities have great training systems.

"I’m sure Jake will do very well. It’s the work ethic, drive and wanting it that gets you there and Jake has shown he has all those attributes.’’