Local triathlete Smith driven by motivation of his late wife

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003 | 10:54 a.m.

For 3 1/2 years, whenever he has trained for or participated in a triathlon, Steve Smith has heard the encouraging voice of Sheila Tarr Smith, his late wife.

Smith expects that to happen again Saturday when he takes part in the 25th Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii, where he will run, swim and bike in the sport's most prestigious event for the first time.

"She was not a quitter," said Smith, 46. "She would never let me quit. She was real focused. If I ever got down, it would be, 'Hey, I won't listen to that. Let's go!' She was a driving force.

"She could focus and apply herself. She was the athlete. I just picked this thing up, and I outlast everyone."

Sheila Tarr Smith became the first NCAA champion from Nevada when she won the heptathlon for UNLV in 1984. Her mark of 5,856 points in the event stood as a school record until 1991, when Trevaia Williams recorded 5,861 points.

Tarr, who has top-five school marks in the shot put, discus, javelin and high jump, became one of the first females to join the Clark County Fire Department in 1989.

In May 1998, she was diagnosed with a form of Multiple Sclerosis. Steve Smith, who had known her for more than 10 years, soon proposed. Three months later, the chronic inflammatory demyclinating polyneuropathy claimed her life.

Steve Smith, a battalion chief for the Clark County Fire Department who is based at Station 14, at Desert Inn Road and Topaz Street, often does the running part of his regimen on Sheila Tarr Smith Field on the UNLV campus.

He endows one athletic and two scholastic scholarships, in his late wife's name and via his athletic exploits, to UNLV students.

"I could never beat her at anything," Smith said. "You could give her two days to figure something out, and she'd beat you. But she hated long-distance running. I was like, 'Oh, OK. I finally found something.'

"But I use this for other things, like keeping her memory going -- not for me, but for her family and Las Vegas. I use the triathlon for fund-raisers, for grants, educational funds, school libraries and at-risk schools."

A native of Beloit, Wis., Smith moved to Las Vegas 24 years ago, after a stint in the Marine Corps. In 2000, he got "roped in" to a triathlon by a friend.

When told it entails running, bike riding and swimming, he said he had only one problem. "I don't swim," Smith said.

"Don't worry," said the friend. "You'll have a wet suit to keep you (afloat)."

His first triathlon was a mini version in San Diego that required a swim of about a mile.

"I had never seen a mile of water in my life," Smith said. "I saw it and said, 'Dang, there's no way. No way.' My friend said, 'Don't worry about it, the wet suit will hold you up.'

"I must have used 10 different strokes, including the doggy paddle. It was survival, and I finished 60th out of 68. It was more torture, then it became a challenge. This thing won't beat me."

This year, Smith finished among the top six in his age group at the Ironman Wisconsin and Vineman Triathlon.

In the past two weeks, he has altered his weekly routine of 100 miles on the bike, 50 running and 10 or 11 in the pool or Lake Mead to 125, 20 and 6, respectively. This morning, he left for Hawaii.

About 1,500 competitors will shoot for a top-10 finish and part of $430,000 in prize money. Each competitor will have 17 hours to finish the race, and Smith said his simple goal will be to beat that time.

He was kidding. Although a few friends will travel to Hawaii to cheer him on, and they all expect to celebrate his achievement afterward in grand fashion, he knows he will quickly slip into fifth gear.

That this is the 25th anniversary of a race that was dreamed up by Navy Commander John Collins, as an ultimate survival test of the fittest, will make Smith's first run at it even sweeter.

"I guess I'm just a little competitive," he said. "I'll probably never get to do it again, so why not just bust out and see what you can do on this course? That's what's going through my mind.

"It's overwhelming, actually, to think you'll be over there with all those past champions and elite athletes. I'll keep it fun, though. The goal is to keep a smile on my face and just become a part of the whole thing."

And to listen to that voice inside his head, the one imploring him not quit or give up.