Former Bermuda Marathon Derby champion Jay Donawa has always been a person with a hurried mission, his recurring desire having been that of crossing the finish line before anyone else.

Among the top three distance runners of his era, with only three-times Derby champion Terrance Armstrong and Kavin Smith, a nine-times winner, to be included in any such conversation, Donawa stands among the pantheon of Bermuda’s greatest endurance racing athletes.

His days of top level competition now finished — a casualty of Father Time — the 50-year-old, while having lost a step or two on the track and along the roadways, continues to move more swiftly than most in his role as coach of many of the island’s leading youth middle-distance runners.

Working with a crop of new racing talent has aided Donawa’s transition from star athlete to a slightly more sedate lifestyle.

“It’s being hand in hand and, actually, it has helped a lot,” said Donawa, whose surname now appears in the media more in relation to the exploits of his son Justin, a footballer with Solihull Moors and a member of the Bermuda squad.

“I think that if I was still trying to compete and be truly competitive as I was years ago, it would be very difficult for me to do both. So now I run mornings and ride bikes on weekends, but when I come to the group’s training sessions, I can give all of my effort to the kids, because I’m not competing and can be far more dedicated.

“I enjoy it. It’s a good outlet. No matter how bad or good my day is on the job, when I come to the kids it is very therapeutic because, when I arrive, they are already warmed up and ready to rock and roll, anxious to learn and get better.

“They just ask, ‘Mr Donawa, what is on the menu tonight?’ and I give it to them. It’s a real joy to see them and be around them, and when you see the investment that the athletes put in, the commitment from the parents, in terms of supporting them, it makes everything worthwhile and rewarding.”

Having risen through the ranks of Bermuda Pacers Track Club from a precocious P5 youngster at West End Primary, to a stellar career as a student-athlete at Southeastern Conference powerhouse Auburn University, along with numerous local and international exploits as a mature athlete, the career fireman has successfully transitioned to coach, mentor, guide and inspirational influencer, with an all-star stable of adolescent runners with high-grade potential.

Included in the group are 2022 Carifta Games 4 x 400 metres relay silver medal-winner Jaeda Grant, 2023 Carifta Games qualifiers Cameron Adkins, Amaris Munya and Azari Jones.

“It’s not my stable, they are all Pacers athletes and I’ve been afforded the responsibility of instructing the distance runners between the ages of 12 and 15,” said a modest Donawa, unwilling to accept sole praise for the success achieved by those under his remit.

“The athletes that I named, it is not like this is their first year, they have been in this programme for years, even before I started coaching. It’s not me, it’s in their DNA and they just make me look good.

“There have been layers of development over time and what is being seen are the fruits of the labour that has been sown. It's a pleasure working with this group and trying to develop a large, diverse group of athletes.”

Donawa shared how many of his charges are now ageing into greater prominence as they progress beyond “kid” competitions towards those involving world-class junior athletes, such as those found at the Carifta Games, which this year will celebrate its 50th anniversary in Nassau, Bahamas, next month.

“All of those I’ve mentioned are at the Carifta age-group level and with that comes a little more recognition,” Donawa explained. “Once you qualify for Carifta and go there and do well, it elevates things and gives the athletes and people something to be compared to.”

Created in 1981 as an offshoot of Bermuda Striders, which was more geared for advanced track and field athletes and had connections to several public school physical education teachers such as Clive Long, Randy Benjamin, Cal Simons, Mike Charles and Clarence Smith, father of Kavin, the western-based athletics organisation has evolved into arguably the leading local grassroots organisation of its kind.

“The Pacers pride themselves on being a year-round programme. It starts in early September and goes all the way through the summer with basically the only break that they get being in August,” said Donawa, whose initial aspirations leaned towards football before Simons, a PE teacher at West End, funnelled him to the track.

“They have a continuous programme and with it there is a lot of development. The thing I stress the most is consistency and I try to share my experiences in order to have them understand that they are going to go through different phases in their training and in their race performance.

“Consistency is something I tried to pride myself on as an athlete because training and competing is all about consistency in order that one can systematically grow and improve.

“I also keep in mind where they are in their development, their age group with an awareness of the fact that they have a lot of educational requirements and commitments to also combine and be able to balance, so it is about them understanding that these are all parts of the programme.

“For me, it is also figuring out what events they want to focus on and then trying to get them into competitive condition for the distances.”

Donawa, like most successful athletes, long ago developed a rigorous, structured training schedule, combined with a sound nutritional diet, which is highlighted by how the 50-year-old appears nearly as spry now as when he burst forth as a child prodigy.

Such structure is even more vital for athletes of all walks today, especially with the explosion in the number of parents who, from birth, are designing their offspring to be professionals.

Not one to subscribe to such extremism, Donawa does not view himself as a harsh taskmaster, but one with an understanding that children are just that and should not have unreasonable expectations placed upon them.

“I feel that I am very flexible, so if they are going through a period where they have a lot of hard work school-wise, I can alter and change the load to what fits best for them. As an athlete myself, it helps to have an understanding of what they are going through and be able to pass things on based on experience.

“I don’t truly consider or look at myself as a coach but more as a mentor because I have no coaching badges or formal coaching training. I look at myself as mentoring them in an area that I feel comfortable based on my experience.

“You have to be dedicated as an athlete in any sport, but as a distance runner there is a lot of arduous training and you have to have that self-discipline, and most of the kids that I coach possess that, which is the key. You are going to have days that you do not want to do it. What they all possess is that self-discipline, dedication and desire to get better.”

Donawa’s goal is not exclusive to creating world-class athletes but to help manufacture noteworthy citizens who can be assets to communities, be that locally or globally.

“I would like to see them take it to where they become a student-athlete somewhere and to be able to continue with that balance of education and athletics,” he said.

“From the standpoint it may morph into something collegiate or beyond, that would be a bonus. If after college their decision is to stop and change the focus to creating and raising a family or into a specific career, that’s great, because they would have done what they had needed to do as an athlete in utilising their talent to get to a specific point that enables them to go on with life as productive assets to society.

“Athletics has given me the ability to be a better team player at my job and has helped me to develop good work habits and be a positive member, so I just want to do my part in sharing the knowledge that was passed on to me, so they also have the tool to positively progress, develop and improve in life.”