Success in sport for Lucy Smith isn't measured in tenths of seconds, but rather decades and different disciplines.

If any runner in Canada's history was built for the long haul, it's this 19-time Canadian champion.

She grew up in Halifax and her running career took off in her final two years at Dalhousie University. "That's when I started to make senior national teams," says Smith from her home in Victoria.

The next steps in her progression had to happen in Victoria.

"It was the place to be for endurance running in Canada," recalls Smith. "I came to train with people who are better than me."

That list of "who's better" got smaller, while the diversity in her training expanded. By the mid 1990s Lucy was racing internationally in running, triathlon and duathlon, making national teams for both Athletics Canada and Triathlon Canada, while pursuing her goal of making the Olympics in the 10,000 metres.

She captured a silver medal at the World Duathlon Championships in 1996. Her goal of making Canada's Olympic team in 2000 in athletics was put on hold, however, as she was pregnant with her first child.

She balanced motherhood and sport, shifting gears to the 5000 and 10,000 metre events in the hope of qualifying for the 2004 Athens Olympics. For Lucy Smith, Victoria was the world's best training ground. "I was gunning for the Olympics in the ten thousand metres. We had so much support with Pacific Sport and so much acknowledgement as high-performance athletes."

Despite being the fastest Canadian in the 10,000 metres, she didn't qualify for Athens 2004. "It was the biggest disappointment of my athletic life, but it was also my greatest accomplishment because I'd actually run and performed my best."

It's not a race or result that tops her list of accomplishments, but rather the sum of sport spanning more than 20 years.

She's the five-time Canadian 10K Road Racing champion, the five-time Canadian Cross-Country champion, two-time World Duathlon silver medalist, five-time Canadian Duathlon champion, and somewhere in the middle of the pressure and podiums, she became a mother for the second time.

Lucy Smith won her final major title, a silver medal at the World Duathlon Championships in 2006. She was 39 years old.

She lives in Victoria and continues to mentor athletes and coaches as Manager of Athlete and Coach Development for Triathlon Canada.