THE DR. JOHN P. WILLIAMS AWARD

Presented in memory of Dr. John P. Williams to the Tely 10 participant who has inspired others through enthusiastic and spirited participation in the annual Telegram 10 Mile Road Race.

(2017) Recipient: Gordon Brockerville
Citation

The annual Dr. John Williams Award is presented annually to someone who “has inspired others through enthusiastic and spirited participation in the annual “Telegram 10 Mile Road Race”.

This year’s winner is a long time athlete, who has inspired runners and amateur athletes over his long and well recognized athletic career. He leads the Mariners Athletic Running Club and has been an organizer of the numerous races on the Burin Peninsula for years and years… This fellow is a busy man!

He is the winner of 15 major distance events (from 1979 to 1989); Winner of 10 kilometers, 10 mile, and 20 kilometer races; he was proud to be named “Marystown’s Athlete of the Decade for 1980s”; and Provincial Athletics Athlete of the year in 1980. Closer to home for this event, he was awarded a 15 year Tely 10 pin in 2010. He is a five-time winner of the NL Provincial Marathon with a record time at this race that still stands. He has been instrumental in building the running community on the Burin Peninsula. As a founding member of the Mariners Athletic Running Club (MARC), he has spent decades running and encouraging others to run.

His personal successes on the provincial running scene provides the basis of an equally impressive commitment to helping others achieve their running goals. For the last 10 years, Gord has led a Burin Peninsula running group to help recreational runners complete races like the Tely 10. He coaches – sharing technical advice, encouragement, and informative emails. He meets with the group three days a week, running, chatting, and laughing. This group trains all over the Marystown/Burin area. It’s a “running” joke that members can riddle of specific distances between arbitrary points, that they know the number of light poles on certain hills. It’s a camaraderie that Gord has created.

He is more than a coach - his persistently positive attitude makes even the hardest running days fun, because he motivates, inspires, and pushes runners of all levels. People thought that finishing the Tely 10 was an unimaginable goal. Thanks to him that unimaginable goal became achievable and the Tely 10 has become an annual event for many doubting runners.

For 10 years, the Tely 10 running group he coaches has met at a special starting “spot” and have celebrated every finish, with Gord at the center of those celebrations. He shares in the stories of the 10 mile trek, congratulates the team’s successes, and begins the conversation about “next year’s Tely”.

The Marystown-Burin area running group nominated this year’s winner - Gordon Brockerville. Gordon, please come on up to the stage to get your award.

This year’s award is presented by two of Dr. Williams’ children – Peter and Patricia Williams.

To be eligible for this award, the candidate:

• must have participated in the Tely 10 road race at least once
• must have specifically motivated others to participate in the Tely 10, either by walking or running or as a wheelchair participant
• must by participation in the Tely 10 have inspired and motivated others to become physically active

The candidate may be someone who:

• began regular exercise at an advanced age
• overcame a serious emotional or physical challenge in life
• or began exercising while recovering from a serious or life-threatening illness

Submission deadline

• Nominations must be sent to Patricia Williams by Monday, June 3, 2024.
• Please send the nomination via email in Microsoft Word format or Portable Document Format (PDF). Please ensure that the following information is submitted along with the nomination:
  1. Nominee
     • Name
     • Address
     • City/Town
     • Province & Postal Code
     • Telephone
  2. Nominator
     • Name
     • Address
     • City/Town
     • Province & Postal Code
     • Telephone
     • E-mail
  3. Reason for the nomination
  4. Date & Signature of Nominator

Nominations

• Candidates for this award may be nominated by any Tely 10 participant or a member of the Organizing Committee.
• All nominations will be carefully considered and voted on by a Selection Committee with the winner decided by majority vote.