Star athletes from past and present have paid homage to former Bermuda Track and Field Association president Clarence Smith, who passed away recently at the age of 83.

Among those to pay their respects was Bermuda’s Olympic champion Dame Flora Duffy, who recalled Smith from her days of competing as a junior on island.

“I have fond memories of Clarence, who organised the junior cross country series that I used to race every year while eligible,” said Duffy, who won Bermuda’s first gold medal in the women’s triathlon at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“He has done so much for the Bermuda running community and I can’t thank him enough for the years of hard work and dedication.”

Smith is the father of local running legend Kavin, who won the Bermuda Half-Marathon Derby a record nine times and picked up a host of medals for the island at international events. He told The Royal Gazette yesterday that he may have never achieved success but for his father’s influence.

“My dad made me go running when I was younger,” Kavin Smith said.

“I really didn’t want to run because I wanted to go down the club [Somerset Bridge Recreation Club] and kick ball instead, but he said ‘no, you’re going running up National Stadium’, and it’s the best thing he ever did.

“I was rebellious between ten and 12 to my running ability, but dad stuck to the wicket.

“At first he used to run with me a bit but then after a while he’d ride with me on a pedal bike because he said I was making him tired. It all started with my brother Elliot and sister Pam really, but they didn’t pursue it and I was the one that stuck to it.

“The advice he always gave me was to just keep pushing and he was loyal. He was always there for me the whole time.”

Kavin accompanied his father with the Bermuda Pacers to various track meets in the United States, including the East Coast Invitational in the late 1970s and early 80s, and the meeting proved a major turning point in his career.

“I travelled a lot with my dad to all the races and I think the key moment was when he used to be involved in taking the team to Pennsylvania,” he said.

“My dad was still working hard on getting me to believe in myself. It was at that event my dad looked in my eyes and said, ‘Kavin, you can beat these guys’, and it just clicked. That’s how I became the athlete I became.”

Perhaps the pinnacle of Clarence Smith’s involvement in local running was serving as president of the Bermuda Track and Field Association.

Donna Raynor, the former Bermuda National Athletics Association president, was among those who served under Smith at the time.

“I became president when Mr Smith stepped down and I also sat on the board while he was president,” she recalled.

“Him and I had a really good relationship. His focus was road running and mine was track and we were able to work on our initiatives and bring everything together.

“He was definitely invested in the sport and also passionate about he. He wanted to see the sport in general thrive and was very much into our young people; trying to provide opportunities for our young people and to see them progress in the sport.”

Smith was also passionate about the Bermuda Marathon Weekend, which he was involved with for many years after its inception.

“This was definitely something that was one of his passions,” Raynor said. “He was always involved and wanted to see the event a success.”

Smith’s contribution to running on island was observed prior to the start of the Butterfield Invitational Mile races on Front Street last Friday, with family members present for the occasion.

“Mr Smith has played a major, major role in athletics and road running in Bermuda and it was good to see him being acknowledged,” Raynor said.

Smith was also a founding member of Bermuda Pacers, who were originally known as the Bermuda Striders. Pacers head coach Cal Simons, whose mother Joan was also a founding member of the club, shared some of his memories.

“Clarence was devoted to track and field and was instrumental in getting the club organised and started in 1981,” he said. “He was definitely really into the Pacers.”

“Once the Pacers got going Clarence left and started the West End Athletic Club that used to train out of Somerset Bridge.

“We used to tell him all the time that no matter where you go you are always a Pacer because he started it.”

Anthony Raynor worked alongside Smith on the Heritage Day Junior Classic organising committee.

“Our working relationship started with the West End Athletic Club, which organises the Heritage Day Junior Classic,” Raynor said.

“Then when he was president of the Bermuda Track and Field Association he got me involved in the Race Weekend.

“What impressed me most about him was Mr Smith was always about us or we. He approached things as a group and what was best for the community he lived in, Bermuda and constituents he was serving at that time, which is my biggest memory and what really stood out to me about his life.

“I can say a lot about experiences with him but he had a communal approach of let’s all move together.

“This is a big loss for the community because Mr Smith was about we. He was always concerned about the community that he lived in and Bermuda as a whole.”