History of Athletics on the Burin Peninsula - 1950's - Present

02/25/2026

02/25/2026

Denise Mitchell Athletics Profile Re: History of Athletics on the Burin Peninsula

Denise Mitchell, originally from Marystown, was the first female runner from the Burin Peninsula to participate in the Tely 10. However, before we get to that piece of history as part of the “The History of Athletics on the Burin Peninsula”, let us look at Denise’s foray into running as a high school and university/college runner, and beyond Newfoundland and Labrador. During an interview with Denise for this Athletics Profile, she told me that as a kid, she loved to run just for the fun of it. It came naturally to her.

Marystown Central High School Years
Newfoundland and Labrador High School Sports Federation (NLHSAF, now School Sports NL) was founded in 1969 with the first Provincial High School Cross Country Championships being held in 1970. For over a decade, these competitions focused on high school-aged athletes before expanding to include junior categories. Junior divisions were officially added to the sport of cross-country running during the 1982–1983 school year.

In 1975, Denise entered MCHS as a 12-year old junior high student who did not realize that cross country running was an organized sport. At the time, Marystown Central High School Years (MCHS) was a Grade 7-11 school and there were only two cross-country divisions/categories – senior girls and senior boys. However, that did not deter Denise; she tried out for the senior girls cross country team. She made the team which consisted mostly of high school students. Reflecting on making the team, she said, “As a 12 year old going on thirteen, from that point on, I was pretty much hooked. I loved running, it was something that I always did, never ever knowing it was an organized sport.” She would remain a member of the team up to grade 11 when she graduated in 1979.

The school cross country coach at the time was Diane Duffett. Denise recalls her MCHS team winning a Burin Peninsula regional competition and going on to a Provincial High School Championships in Heart’s Content; however, Denise could not recall how she and her team placed and placements in other years. In her last two years running cross country Jane Scaplen was the school coach. Father William ‘Billy’ Hann who was profiled in a March 2024 post and other MCHS athletes to be profiled have noted that Scaplen was instrumental in promoting cross country running and track and field at MCHS.

Memorial University of Newfoundland Years
On entering Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) in 1979 as a freshman (first year) student, Denise became aware of the Lady Frecker 2K Road Race during her orientation to residence/dormitory life at MUN. This race is dedicated to Dr. Helena Frecker (nee McGrath), Memorial’s first graduate; it complements the Lord Taylor 5K Male Road Race. Both races have a long standing tradition as campus-based "road races" for students during orientation week, going back to the 1960’s, when cross country running was established at MUN and spread to the rest of the Province (See tribute to Neil Edwards for more information about how cross country running started at MUN).

Back in 1980, the Frecker 2K consisted of loops of MUN Campus and onto Prince Philip Drive. Representing Burke House, Denise placed a close third in that 1979 Frecker race just behind sisters Sue and Fran Hurley from Gander, both who were members of the MUN Cross Country Team. Ray Will, who was coaching cross country running at MUN, was scouting runners at these running events, suggested that Denise try out for the MUN female intercollegiate cross country team. She did tryout and made the team in her first year, as she had done as a junior high student at MCHS, and was member until 1984.

Running in the Shadow of Elite Competitive Friends
In the early 1980’s, male and female cross country and road race runners in Newfoundland and Labrador competed in the shadow of two provincial elite runners, Paul McCloy and Nichole Will, who were also of national and international caliber. I, as a competitive runner in the 1980’s, and my male competitive friends (Joe Ryan, Art Meaney, Mike Green, Jeff Collingwood, Jeff Thompson, Peter Lewis, Dave Whittle, and others) had a tremendous respect for McCloy. Based on my interview with Denise, I can say that she and her competitive friends (Suzanne Hanna, Susan King, Jenny Harris, Cathy Carroll, Annette Harte) had a tremendous respect for Nichole Will. She said, “I ran with the likes of Paul McCloy, Jeff Thompson, Bruce Aylward, and Ray Will’s daughter, Nicole Will. Some of the people on the team were very prominent runners in Newfoundland at the time.”

As a member of the MUN female cross country team, Denise recalled participating in Provincial Cross Country Age Class Championships, Atlantic University Athletic Association (AUAA) Cross Country competitions, and National Cross Country Championships.

The 1982 Newfoundland and Labrador Athletics Association Age Class Country Championships which was hosted by the Mortier Bay Track Club (later renamed Mariners Athletics Running Club) at the Winterland Farms near the Winterland airport, is a fond memory for Denise. Representing MUN, she recalls her dad coming to see her run. She placed second behind Colleen Martin a former Tely 10 Champion.

1980 Newfoundland and Labrador Summer Games in Marystown

While the Burin Peninsula has a long history of inter-town school sports days that held track and field events going back to the 1950’s and 1960’s, the first formal regional high school track and field meet on the Burin Peninsula was held on May 17, 1980.

This first formal meet would be the forerunner for future high school track and field meets on the Peninsula, but in 1980, it also served as a meet to select athletes for the Host Burin Peninsula Region Summer Games Track and Field Team. The Newfoundland and Labrador Games (NL Games) are for youth, ages 11to 18 years, thus youth who were 18-and-under but had graduated from high school were eligible to participate. The meet was held on the Centennial Soccer Field as the Summer Games Track and Fields Grounds was still under construction just across the Centennial Field ravine and running parallel to Harris Drive.

As an under-18-student attending MUN, Denise was eligible to enter that regional meet. She won the javelin throw, the 1500 meter track race, and placed in the 3000 meter track race making her eligible for the Burin Peninsula Host Team. Not only did she compete in the meet, but she also assisted me and the NLAA Technical Director, Chris Picard, with conducting the meet on the Centennial Soccer Field, and then worked with me, Kevin Stapelton and Tom Riley (both profiled on this page – January 2024 and November 2023) to select the Host Team to represent the Burin Peninsula Region in Athletics at the Provincial Summer Games.

The Games were held in August 1980 at the newly constructed Summer Games Track and Field Ground (renamed Dave Brenton Memorial Sports Complex in 2021). Denise medaled at the Summer Games, taking silver in the Javelin Throw, bronze in the 1500 Meter Track Race, and a member of the Host team bronze medal in the Sprint Medley Race. Other members of that relay team were Cindy Banfield, Debbie Banfield and Wanda Brushett, all from Jacques Fontaine (see Donna Smith Brushett Athletics Profile, January 2024)

First Female Runner from the Burin Peninsula to Participate in The Tely 10

The Tely 10 (ten mile road race) is an historical race that goes back to 1922, making it the oldest road race in Newfoundland and Labrador, and considered the third oldest road race in North America. In 1984 while still attending MUN, Denise participated in her first Tely 10 making her the first female runner from the Burin Peninsula to run in the Tely 10.
In a field of twenty-five female runners, she placed 5th in 1:12:05.

After competing in the 1984 Tely 10, Denise headed west landing in Edmonton where she worked at odd jobs while trying to decide on a career path. However, she continued running and entered road races in Edmonton but did not pay any attention to placement or to joining any running club. However, she trained seriously enough and entered road races for experience so she could be more prepared for Tely 10 races on returning home during the summer months.

In the 1985 Tely 10 Denise placed 2nd. in a field of thirty-five female runners, placing 1st in the under-20 age category. In Provincial racing circles, the goal of female competitive runners is to run sub-70 minutes (the goal of male competitive runners is to go under 60 minutes). Denise achieved the sub-70 minute goal in her second Tely 10 in a time of 1:09:44, and would do it again in 1986, placing 4th.overall in the female category and lowering her finishing time to 1:07:40 in a deeper field of forty-eight female runners. Nichol Will, an under-20 runner, won the race. As noted above, Denise has acknowledged Will as an elite female runner in the Provincial running scene.

During those early 1980’s Denise competed in other races, two of which she can remember. She placed second in a Gulf Oil Cross Country Race in Mobile and placed first in a road race in Lawn.

Attends Northern Alberta Institute of Technology – Becomes an Intercollegiate Cross Country Running Champion

In 1987 Denise decided on Respiratory Therapy as a career path and entered a progam at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). She continued to run but not competitively.

NAIT is a member of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), which is one of six conference members as part of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The NAIT Ooks cross country teams and other teams compete in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference.

In 1989 Denise tried out and made the NAIT Ooks Cross Country team. As a member of the team, she finished first in the ACAC Women’s Cross Country Championship in Calgary on October 21,1989. She led the NAIT women’s team to their first ACAC championship in 25 years. Her team went on to the Canadian Collegiate Cross Country Championships in Kamloops, British Columbia. Her team placed third and she placed first overall in the female category.

Denise was undefeated in the ACAC women’s competition in the pre-season meets and was awarded the Barbara Hason Memorial Grand Prix Scholarship Award. The award is available to full-time students who are members of varsity teams at NAIT. The scholarship is awarded by NAIT coaching staff, based on acceptance into programs and acceptance onto their NAIT intercollegiate teams. She was also named the NAIT Female Athlete.

In keeping with the History of Athletics on the Burin Peninsula, 15 years later in 2005-2006, Lisa Sheppard from Lamaline, won the ACAC championship race representing Keyano College, Fort McMurry, Alberta (see Lisa’s athletics profile February 2024).

Ten Years Competing in the Saskatchewan Timex Road Race Series

On graduating from NAIT, Denise moved to Regina, Saskatchewan for a Respiratory Therapist position at Pasqua Hospital. For ten years while living in Regina she increased the intensity of her training becoming more competitive competing in the Saskatchewan Provincial Timex Road Race Series which was a Timex sponsored Road Race Series in every province culminating with a National Timex Road Race Championship. During her early years in Saskatchewan, Denise held the provincial road race record for the 10K and 15K road races. For three years she placed in the top three in the Saskatchewan Timex Road Race Series and was selected to Saskatchewan’s female 4-member team to participate in the National Timex 10K Road Race Championships, twice in Ottawa and once in Vancouver.

While Denise does not have her name etched on the long list of female winners for the Tely 10, the oldest road race in her own province, she did it in Saskatchewan.
The Echo Valley 20K Road Race, in Fort Qu’Appelle, was established in 1925 and celebrated 100 years in 2025, is the oldest road race in Saskatchewan. Eleven years after running her first Tely 10 and being the first woman from the Burin Peninsula to participate in Tely 10, Denise won the Echo Valley 20K in1995 in a time of 1:22:47.

As a fond memory of her running years in Saskatchewan, Denise recalled training with Tewodros “Ted” Jaleta. Ted Jaleta was born in Ethiopia and by high school he had gained national prominence as Ethiopia’s national high school 10K champion. This resulted in his selection in 1973 to that country’s national junior team, but Ted was unable to reach his goal of the Olympics because of the civil war that struck his country. Ted was forced to escape from Ethiopia and the turmoil that threatened his freedom and life. This eventually led to his emigration to Canada in 1982. He was incredibly involved in the long distance running scene in Saskatchewan from 5 km to half marathons with over forty victories. He was installed in the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. While living in Regina, Denise became running friends with Ted, and they competed together in the Saskatchewan road race circuit. She says that he was her “de-facto coach” while she trained and competed in Saskatchewan.

Running in the Middle East and Elsewhere
In 2000, Denise decided that she wanted to see more of the world, so she decided to head to the Middle East. She moved to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, which is located in the Eastern Province on the Arabian Gulf. She worked at the Saudi Aramco hospital (the country's National Oil Company) as a Respiratory Therapist. During her time there she became the Supervising Therapist for Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care, providing medical care to the Saudi Aramco employees (approximately 55,000) and their families, including Saudi Nationals and Expat employees from over 50 countries globally. During her time there, she visited over 30 countries and entered international road races.

During her travels, Denise competed in South Africa, Thailand, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain. Her first ever Ironman Triathlon (8km swim, 180km cycling, and a 42km marathon) was in Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Her time was 12 hours and 44 minutes. She says she was very competitive in her age group; placed third at the 70.3K Ironman in Thailand; won her age group in Abu Dhabi and Dubai; and placed second in her age group (50-54) in Bahrain. She placed first female overall in the Bahrain Marathon (which she says, “I believe was in 2010...although I am not 100% certain of the year.”). When Denise turned 50 in June 2012, she participated in the South Africa 70.3K Ironman and six months later the Dubai Marathon in December 2012. In subsequent years, it was the Half Ironman in Phuket, Thailand in 2013, 70.3K Ironman in Abu Dhabi in 2013, and 70.3K Ironman Bahrain in 2014.

Family of Runners and Her Personal Reflections About Running

Denise is not the only member in her family that in into running. Vince Michell, Denise’s oldest brother, has run for years having participated in the CHCM/VOCM 10K, a popular running event on the Burin Peninsula going back to the 1980’s and into the 2000’s.
Art Mitchell, another older brother, has run for years having participated in the Tely 10 and the Boston Marathon. Denise’s younger brother Tom competed in the 1984 Tely 10, the year that she became the first female runner from the BP to run in the race.

When asked about her most memorable races, she said, “I would have to say that my most memorable race would be Echo Lake as it was a very tough, challenging 20K race, and my other race I am most proud of was Ironman 70.3K race in Bahrain. I placed second in my age group, in a time of 5 hours 26 minutes...I was 52 years old at that time!” She went on to say, “Having come from a large family well known in Marystown, having the opportunity to run and compete locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally has been the most incredible experience and a rather proud achievement for a local girl from Marystown, Newfoundland!”

Current Work Residence While Staying Physical Active
Denise has been a Respiratory Therapist for over 30 years, working in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Saudi Arabia. She is currently the Clinical Team Lead for Respiratory Therapy at Fort St. John Hospital in British Columbia. On reflecting about her career and running vocation she said, “My career has been incredible, and I have been able to travel extensively, and I have been able to keep up my running, and then triathlons in the 2020’s”. Currently she continues to run recreational and cycling for personal fitness.

01/30/2026

Tribute to Neil Edwards (1943-2003): A Burin Peninsula Athletics Builder and Influencer with a Brief Early History to Cross Country Running in this Province

All things in Athletics as related to the History of Athletics on the Burin Peninsula have an historical connection to Neil Walter Edwards from St. Lawrence. When elementary and high school students participate in fall cross country running it leads back to Neil Edwards; when students participate in spring sports days, which usually have an element of track and field, it leads back to Neil Edwards. When Burin Peninsula runners participate in the Annual Telegram 10 Mile Road Race (Tely 10), it leads back to the Neil Edwards.

Marian High School Days in St. Lawrence

According to Neil’s daughter Ginger, he was an avid outdoors person. She says, “He always enjoyed being outdoors whether it was berry picking, hunting, skiing, hiking, going to the cabin or gardening.” So, running, in particular cross country running, came naturally to him. An Evening Telegram article from June 1962, presents the results of the Marian High Sports Day in St. Lawrence. Neil is prominent in the results winning the Senior Victor Ludorum, placing first in the Mile Run (beating out Ron Turpin) and tying with Turpin in the 75-yard dash. This participation in hometown school sports days was likely a driving force behind Neil’s involvement in running at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN).

MUN Days – Education Studies and Running

Neil studied Education at MUN, starting in the fall of 1962 and graduating in 1966. He taught at Gonzaga High School in St. John’s before retuning to his hometown where he taught Literature and served as vice-principal at Marian High School. As a teacher in St. Lawrence in the early 1970’s, Neil had a major impact organizing and promoting cross country running and track and field on the Burin Peninsula.

At MUN, Neil was drawn more to running which led to organizing Athletics events that including running. While attending MUN in the early to mid 1960’s, Neil was one of a half-a-dozen or so students on campus to team up with two professors, John Widdowson and Keith Taylor (1938-2018), to establish a cross country running program that would eventually influence the development of cross country running across the entire province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Keith Taylor, a MUN Physical Education Professor, noted that John Widdowsom (born 1935) from Sheffield, England came to MUN in the early sixties to teach English and to complete a Ph.D. Widdowson was an avid runner in his native United Kingdom. Joe Ryan, a high school runner from Calvert and MUN cross country runner in the late 1960’s – early 1970’s, and a Tely 10 historian, vividly describes Widdowson’s form of running as having a “peculiar fondness for a rather unique sport of racing over fields and through mud, across streams and into the woods on barely discernible trails marked only by fluttering red ribbons fixed to trees and bushes.” Ryan noted that back in the early 1960’s this branch of Athletics was virtually unknown in this Province.

In 1962 in consultation with Ed Brown, the MUN Coordinator of Athletics, Widdowson posted notices inviting students interested in running, in particular cross country running, to attend a meeting at the Physical Education Building. This led to training runs and short races on campus. Taylor was instrumental in designing race courses on campus (and later in other places), defining team composition (number of members on a team), and developing a points system to determine team placement in competitions. In historical notes that Taylor shared with me, it said “Ern Condon, Earl Pike, Mundon Batstone, Neil Edwards, Harold Laite, John Hawco, [and others] are some of the names that come to mind” as having attended the meeting and having started a MUN running group that would adopt cross country running as a branch (discipline) of Athletics at MUN. Taylor’s notes go on to say, “Some of them participated in the MUN to Whitbourne and return 100 mile relays that John and I organized for May or June in the sixties as I recall”.

According to Taylor the short races on the MUN campus eventually led to the MUN Intramural Faculty Cross Country Races. Impressed with the student faculty participation, Lord Taylor, the MUN President at that time, established the Paton College Residence Cross Country Race. Back then, these races were conducted on fields and paths on a much smaller MUN campus, eventually including a loop around Burton’s Pond and then would eventually cross Prince Philip Drive for a loop around Long Pond. These races were held in the fall, usually through October into early November.
Articles from the Evening Telegram and The MUSE (a MUN student newspaper) provide details of Neil’s running pursuits at MUN while he pursued his Education studies. Neil was always in the top three against John Widdowsom and other MUN runners and runners from St. John’s such as Charlie Spurrell, an older more experienced runner, who had won the Tely 10 in 1961 and the Provincial Marathon Championship in 1962 and 1963. Some of the MUN runners in these races were Ern Condon, Harold Laite, Mundon Batstone, all who had attended the meeting with Neil that Widdowson called to form the running group at MUN.

A Telegram article from November 18, 1963, describes how John Widdowson had a three way running battle with Charlie Spurrell and Neil Edwards in a MUN open 6-mile cross country race. According to the Telegram article, “Widdowson, well conditioned after a full summer diet of training, outlegged Spurrell, one of St. John’s best distance runners, to the tape by just six seconds…and five seconds behind Spurrell was Edwards.”

As a sophomore in 1963, Edwards had tied with his coach John Widdowson in a 3-mile race. An Evening Telegram article from October 25, 1963, sub-titled Finish in dead heat, stated, “It was a coach and his pupils…experience versus determination…but in the record books of Memorial University it will just show a tie... John Widdowson, defending his title, and Neil Edwards a rookie who had been training under him all season, broke the tape of the three-mile event in a dead heat for the top racing honor of the college [University]. The two ran a neck-and-neck battle for the complete course…in a fine time of15:38:2 seconds.” A MUN MUSE article titled “Faculty – Education Share Honors” from November 2, 1963, said that the time “was 25 seconds better that Widdowson’s time last year. Both finished strong and showed that processing weeks of training had produced the well-conditioned athletes”.

A year later, Neil won the 3-mile race. An Evening Telegram article from October 30, 1964, describes Neil winning a 3-mile race at MUN, a second win for him that year. It stated, “Edwards took the lead from the start and quickly put several weeks of intense training into practice. He opened out a comfortable margin, and was more than a minute ahead of the second place finisher Mundon Batstone at the winner’s line.”

High School Cross Country Builder and Influencer on the Burin Peninsula

On graduating from Education in the mid to late 1960’s, Edwards and a number of other MUN cross country runners from the original cross country running group took this brand of running back to the schools in towns and communities around and across the Province. Taylor noted that Ern Condon established a high school cross country running program at Baltimore, Ferryland. Other MUN Education graduates including Henry MacDonald at Joseph Academy, St. Joseph’s near St. Mary’s Bay, Ben Dunne at Mobile High in Mobile, Mike Boyle at St. Paul’s in Gander, Earl Pike at Herdman Collegiate in Corner Brook, Harry Cooze, Bishop’s Falls Amalgamated in Bishop Falls established high school cross running programs at their respective schools. (Harry Cooze moved to Marystown in 1973 to take up a Physical Education-Recreation position at the Burin District Vocational School. See Harry Cooze Dedication in a Facebook post dated March 19, 2025).

When Neil moved back to St. Lawrence to teach at Marian High School, he started a high school cross country running program which would eventually lead to the establishment of other high school cross country programs and races on the Burin Peninsula. In 1970, Neil’s brother, Edgar, and Jim Rogers, who were both teaching in Lawn, were influenced by Neil to start a cross country running program at Holy Name of Mary High School (HNOM).

As these pockets of school cross running programs were being established across the Island and into Labrador, interschool regional cross country races started to develop along with other interschool sports such as soccer, basketball and ice hockey. With the growth of these high school sports, the Newfoundland and Labrador High School Sports Federation (NLHSAF) (now School Sports NL) was established in 1969. With cross country running being one of the first official NLHSAF sports, the first Provincial High School Cross Country Championships debuted in Terra Nova National Park on October 31,1970.

With Provincial High School Cross Country Championships came Regional High School Cross Country Championships. The first official Burin Peninsula Regional High School Cross Country Championships was hosted by Marian Central High School in St. Lawrence. Neil Edwards was the meet director. The race started and ended adjacent to the St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Cemetery. The course distance was 3.5K, conducted as an in and out course on the St. Cecilia gravel road.

That was 56 years ago. There appears to be no newspaper sports archival record of this cross country running event; however, there is a record featured in “It’s our scene” a HNOM student column in the Burin Peninsula Post (October 28, 1970). According to that column and my personal recollection, two boys teams competed, Marian Central High from St. Lawrence and HNOM from Lawn. I was a member of the HNOM team. Members of that HNOM team were brothers Gerald and Celestine Edwards, Robert Roul and Ed Brockerville. No runners from Marian High School are named in that column; however, I recall a Marian team member Clem ‘Junior’ Edwards who at the time had an established reputation as a top notch junior soccer player on the Burin Peninsula. The HNOM team edged out Marian High School and went on to compete in that first Provincial High Cross Country School Championships in Terra Nova National Park on October 31,1970. The HNOM team was coached by Jim Rogers, and Edgar Edwards, who as noted above, were influenced by Neil to get involved in coaching cross country running . (See endnote for more information about that inaugural race, results, and about how it relates back to Keith Taylor, one of the two professors who had influenced Neil to become a cross country running influencer himself).

Art Meaney who has written about all disciplines of running in our Province, says that “Keith Taylor and John Widdowson were the “Founding Figures” of cross country running at Memorial University” In keeping with this acknowledgment, I declare “MUN as the Birthplace of Cross Country Running in Newfoundland and Labrador”. Further to that acknowledgement, it can be said that Neil Edwards from St. Lawrence along with Jim Rogers and Edgar Edwards from Lawn were the “Founding Figures” of cross country running on the Burin Peninsula.

Following on from these acknowledgments, St. Lawrence is renowned as the “Soccer Capital of Canada” (and often referred to as the ‘Soccer Capital of Newfoundland’). This title was bestowed upon the town by Eric King, a former executive director of the Canadian Soccer Association, in 1977. In writing this tribute to Neil Edwards, as part of the History of Athletics on the Burin Peninsula, I bestow the “Birthplaces of Cross Country Running on the Burin Peninsula to St. Lawrence and the neighboring Town of Lawn”. Neil established cross country running in St. Lawrence; his brother Edgar and Jim Rogers from Lawn, adopted cross country running from St. Lawrence to create a tradition of cross country running in Lawn. Furthermore, Jim Loder, who is from St. Lawrence, and taught Physical Education in both Lawn and St. Lawrence, continued the tradition of promoting and coaching cross country running and conducting cross country races in both towns through the last two decades of the 20th. century into the 21st. century.

High School Track and Field Builder and Influencer

With respect to Track and Field as part of Burin Peninsula Athletics, there appears to be three periods founded along the lines of schools and towns. The first period was the Burin Peninsula Inter-Town School Sports Days in the mid 1940’s up to the early 1960’s. According to Allan Stoodley, (a Grand Bank reporter for several local and Provincial newspapers), the Burin Peninsula Athletic Association organized one-day events featuring various track and field events and several football games and concluded with a banquet and a dance for athletes and supporters. These Peninsula Inter-Town School Sports Days were hosted on a rotating basis by the larger towns. Teams from Burin, Fortune, Grand Bank and St. Lawrence competed regularly with individual athletes from Garnish, Marystown and Lawn participating.

The two other periods were a revitalization of the Burin Peninsula Inter-Town School Sports Days. In the early 1970’s the sports days became known as Burin Peninsula School Sports Days, which in 1980 evolved into formal Regional High School Track and Field Championship meets that qualified Peninsula high school teams to attend NLHSAF Provincial Track and Field Championships. Neil Edward’s historical connection involved the early 1970’s Burin Peninsula School Sports Days resembling Inter-Town School Sports Days but with a bigger focus on Track and Field.
From my recollection of a high school sports day held at the Centennial Soccer Field in Marystown in June 1970, and through interviews with other 1970’s high school athletes (Peggy Warren, Burin and Hannah Edwards, Lawn), and research of local and provincial newspapers a number of high school teachers, including Neil Edwards and Lloyd Rogers (Marian High School), Kevin Carrol (Marystown Central High), and Chris Griffin (John Burke High School) were instrumental in organizing, conducting and/or coaching at the early 1970’s Burin Peninsula High School Sports Days.

Neil apparently played a big role in a 1972 Sports Day, hosted by Marian High School in St. Lawrence. In an article from The Burin Peninsula Post (June 1,1972) it stated that, “The convenor for the tournament was Neil Edwards who described the day as very successful”. As for other High School Sports Days, Peggy Warren from Burin, who was profiled (See January 18, 2024, Facebook post below) remembers a sports day hosted in Grand Bank; however, there is no write-up in Burin Peninsula Post. As well, there are no records showing whether there was sports day in 1971.

Beyond MUN Cross Country Running to Road Racing in the Tely 10

The Tely 10, Newfoundland’s premier road race, is believed to be the third oldest road race in Canada and one of the oldest in North America. First run in 1922, The Telegram 10 Mile Road Race (the Tely 10) has become the province’s most popular road race, drawing close to 4200 participants in the 2018 race. This ten-mile run from the Octagon Pond in the Town of Paradise on the outskirts of St. John’s to Bannerman Park in the heart of the city is a unique challenge for runners of all abilities. For competitive racers it is the one race they all want to win, thus adding their names to the long list of former champions. For the recreational jogger or walker, completing the course is in itself a victory. (Source: Joe Ryan, The Tely 10 - A Brief History – https://www.nlaa.ca/tely10/history/)

In 1967, a year after Neil graduated from MUN but while he was still in St. John’s teaching at Gonzaga High School, he participated in the Tely 10. It was the year that Dan Coaker from St. John’s won his sixth straight Tely 10 Mile Race. Having graduated from MUN, Neil ran under the banner of the MUN Grads along with John Widderson who had been his coach and fellow competitor, and fellow organizer of the first ever MUN running group back in 1962. John Hawco of Harbor Main, also a fellow member of the first ever MUN running group participated in the 1967 Tely 10. By this time, Ben Dunne from Renews, also a MUN Grad, who had joined the MUN running group, also participated in this Tely 10.

Joe Ryan, the Tely 10 historian writes, “Joining the defending champion, Don Coaker on the starting line would be a number of cross country runners from Memorial University. Ben Dunne and Neil Edwards, together with coach John Widderson, would be challenging Coaker for the first time…Johhny Hawco, another cross-country runner from Memorial, but now running under the colors of the Harbor Main Boys Club had also submitted his entry.”

An Evening Telegram article from June 19,1967 stated that Coaker, running under the colors the CLB Old Comrades, won the race covering the distance in 58 minutes, 19.8 seconds. John Hawco placed second 60:31.6 with John Widderson placing third just seconds behind in 60:42. Neil was fourth and Ben Dunne was fifth (no times recorded). There were 10 starters which was typical in the early years of the Tely 10 going back to 1922. Ben Dunne would go on to win the Tely 10 in 1975. Seventeen years later in 1984 Neil entered the Tely 10 for a second time covering the 10 mile distance in 1:15:27. By that time the number of participants grew to 213. By 2000 when Joe Ryan published “A History of Newfoundland’s Premier Road Race 1922-2000”, participation grew close to 1000 participants. Since then, the Tely 10 has grown in popularity peaking at over 4000 in 2016. Over the past four decades, hundreds of runners from all towns and communities on the Burin Peninsula have flocked to St. John’s on Tely 10 race weekend.

As a footnote to Neil’s participation in the Tely 10, the second person from the Burin Peninsula to participate in the Tely 10 was also from St. Lawrence. Gary Handrigan placed second in 1973 in 54:37 just 36 seconds behind the first place finisher. The first female runner from the Burin Peninsula to participate in the Tely 10 was Denise Mitchell from Marystown. Denise placed second behind Diane Draper in the 1985 Female Division in a time of 1:09:44 just 51 seconds behind the first place finisher. Ten years later in 1995, Tracey Pope from Grand Bank placed first in the Female Division with a time of 1:05:56. The number of female finishers has exceeded male finishers since 2008. With the exception of first place, male runners from the Burin Peninsula have placed in all of the top ten positions in the Tely 10 over the past six decades. Who in the future will become the first male runner from the Burin Peninsula to win the Tely 10? Who will be the next female runner from the Peninsula to place first in the Tely 10?

More Than a Runner: A Family Man and Community Service Person

As noted by Neil’s daughter, Ginger, he was avid outdoors person. She said that he always enjoyed being outdoors whether it was berry picking, hunting, skiing, hiking, going to the cabin or gardening. His son, Ryan is also an avid outdoors person who is into hunting and fishing, a guide, and travels extensively for the sport. In chatting with Ryan, he said “Not a day passes that I’m not reminded of Dad in one way or another. My love for the outdoors was certainly a gift from Dad, one that I hold close to my heart. I love the outdoors more and more, with every walk on the pond, or hunting trip I take, I always thank him in my mind while being out… in the woods at my cabin off the TCH highway. Neil’s youngest son is an outdoors person who played softball in school and later got into alpine skiing. Ryan and Jordan hope to do some skiing this year.

Ginger ran cross country in school in St. Lawrence as did her older brother Jason. Reflecting on her running in school, she said, “I didn’t really do any other sports after Cross Country with dad; however, through his actions he always instilled the importance of always staying active. I always stayed active whether it was daily walks or bike rides. I’ve instilled that in my own children through the years, and they were very active in all sports (soccer, hockey, softball, ball hockey, cross country and whatever sport the school had) and I always mentioned how much dad would have loved to watch them and been their biggest fan. Also following in dad’s footsteps, I always felt the responsibility to volunteer in any way to help with the kids sports. Dad was wise beyond societies years because he always advocated that any form of activity (organized sport or any movement) was good for one’s mental health. To this day, when I’m either walking outside or on treadmill, I always think of dad and remember how much I loved to run and that was because of him”.

Neil’s eldest son Jason is also an avid outdoor person who is into photography, rock climbing and is a runner, in particular trail running, and has participated in the Cape to Cabot 20K and hopes to participate in the East Coast Trail Ultra Marathon. Jason said, “Dad started me running very early, I don't know exactly when, but it was definitely by 10. When I started high school, I ran with the cross country team as did Ginger. I was a middling CC runner, at best, Ginger was a much more talented runner.” Jason went on to say, “He passed so young (59) and I think that he would have definitely returned to running – he would have loved trail running - when dad passed, trail running and ultra running were really non-existent but I think he would have loved it…Growing up he was constantly cutting trails to use for running while cutting wood, around Black Duck off the Dump Road, and when we were in the country he would often comment about trails that would be good for running”.

According to Jason, his father coached cross country up until 1985/86 when he left to do his Masters in Guidance at University of New Brunswick. He and his wife Lynn moved their family to Marystown where he got involved in softball. He had played softball in St. Lawrence. Other than sports, Neil was active in high school drama, and he and Lynn were very involved in the Mardi Gras when they lived in St. Lawrence. He also served on the St. Lawrence Town Council.

To sum up Neil’s contribution to Athletics on the Burin Peninsula, I quote Walter Crotty, the former Executive Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador High School Federation. In a phone interview with Crotty for this dedication to Neil, he said “Sports follow people around their towns and communities; wherever they go, they influence the development of a sport”. Neil was the epitome/personification of that maxim (truism) as it relates to Athletics, in particular cross country running at MUN in the 1960’s and on the Burin Peninsula in the 1970’s.

Endnote
From an experiential/firsthand moment-in-time I remember the first NLHSAF Provincial High School Cross Country Championships in Terra Nova National Park on October 31,1970. It was Halloween! My team, HNOM Cross Country Team placed third out of 6 teams in the boys team competition; there were also six teams in the girls division. Gerald Edwards and I placed in the top three of 29 participants. I won the race by 3 seconds; Gerald was just 9 second behind in third place. Jim Rogers was our coach. Driving his own vehicle, he took us to the race leaving in the morning and returning in the late evening on Halloween Night. Information in the Evening Telegram (November 2, 1970) and in the HNOM “It’s our scene” column ( November 11, 1970) helped jog my memory.
It would be decades later that I learned the historical significance of that event. Sometime in the early 2000’s, after a road race in St. John’s, my wife Susan and I were talking with Keith Taylor about the history of running, in particular cross country, at MUN and in the Province. He was reminiscing about running in the 1960’s and 1970’s and how cross country got started at MUN and how it had become a major high school sport. Taylor remembered the Provincial High School Cross Country Championships in Terra Nova National Park as he was called on by Walter Crotty, the NLHSAF executive director, to be the meet director and conduct the first ever provincial high school cross country races. As noted above, he and John Widdowson were experienced in conducting cross country races at MUN. Taylor was inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2016 for his work with John Widdowson in founding the cross country program at MUN in 1962 and conducting races on campus throughout the 1960’s into the 1970’s, and coaching cross country running well into the late 1970’s and the 1980’s. My career path as a physical education teacher and my avocation as a promoter of Athletics on the Burin Peninsula in the 1980’s into the 2000’s can be traced back to the influence of Neil Edwards, Jim Rogers and Keith Taylor.