Category: Athlete

Inducted: Saturday, June 24, 2006

Charlie Spurrell loved to run and he ran with such speed and endurance that he ranks among the best track and field athletes the province has ever produced. Competing first for St. Pat’s and then for the Royal Canadian legion, he was at his best in long distance road races but more than held his own in shorter events.

St. John’s Male Athlete of the Year for 1962, he won two 26-mile marathons, with a record time of two hours, 40 minutes and 40 seconds that year. The record lasted for 20 years. He was marathon victor again in 1963.

Always a keen competitor with plenty of sportsmanship, he won the Tely Ten in 1961 and posted excellent second place finishes in 1962 and 1963. In 1960 and 1961, Charlie Spurrell won the one-mile race at the provincial track and field championships on Bell Island. He had two seconds and one third in the 880 yards races and was second in a six-mile event.

In addition, in 1965 he was a member of the St. Pat’s team that won the provincial track and field championships and ran for the Royal Canadian Legion team that won the title in 1966, ’67 and ’68.

Always in good shape, he won his age class in the 2001 Tely Ten Besides his great track and field career, Charlie Spurrell rowed in the Royal t. John’s Regatta.