Tely 10 Miler set for 88th edition

The Telegram 10 Mile Road Race, so named for a longstanding sponsorship with the  St. John’s newspaper, is one of Canada’s oldest and longest running events having first taken place in 1922. It is the fourth (or fifth*) oldest running event in the country following the Around the Bay 30K, Dartmouth Natal Day 6M and the Boxing Day 10M. Not surprising, it is also the largest and most popular event in the province.

The event features a single ten mile (16.1K) race that runs along a point-to-point and net downhill course that begins near Octagon Pond in the town of Paradise, through neighbouring Mount Pearl to the finish in Bannerman Park in the heart of St. John’s.

The event now sells out regularly and saw registrations hit the limit of 4,700 this year. There were almost 3,800 finishers in 2014.

Over the years, the event has witnessed many incredible and notable performances by legends of the East Coast running scene. The course record, set by Paul McCloy in 1985, is 47:04 (4:42/mile). McCloy won the race four times in his career. The most wins have come from Pat Kelly who won the event a total of nine times. Women have participated since 1969 when a lone participant, 16-year old Jackie Kean, entered the race. It would be another decade before the number of female participants grew considerably. Nicola Will currently holds the women’s record of 55:47 (5:34/mile), set in 1986. Lisa Harvey owns the record for the most victories in the women’s race, with seven.

Last year’s race was won by Colin Fewer of Paradise in a time of 50:52. Kate Vaughan-Bazeley of Corner Brook won the women’s race in 55:57.

*The Guelph Thanksgiving Day Races have been taking place since around 1894 but a complete history and record of how many races have in fact taken place is not available or well known.