Peter Lewis of St. John’s was outstanding in track and field, cross country and distance running. His impressive performances began in 1974 when he was a seventh grade student at St. Bonaventure’s College and won the junior Victor Ludorum in the annual sports day. He continued in the annual Christian Brothers’ track meet and did extremely well while a student at Brother Rice. His running continued at the Canadian Legion meet in 1978 and he represented the province at the 1981 Canada Summer Games in Thunder Bay, Ontario, competing in the 3000 steeplechase and the 1500 event. At Memorial University he was a member of two championship AUAA track teams and was a very impressive performer in London, England in 1986.
His cross country performances started in 1977 when he ran for Brother Rice and continued during high school. He finished consistently in the top three. With the Memorial University cross country team he was a member of two winning AUAA championship entries and was selected to the Athletic All Star Club in 1985. He competed in national cross country junior and senior at the Canadian University championships.
At the age of 15 he ran his first Tely 10 in 1977 and completed the course 17 more times. He had two victories, four second place finishes and two thirds. On 14 occasions his time was below 55 minutes and his personal best of 50 minutes 25 seconds ranks among the fastest ever recorded. From 1977 to 2000 he completed many road races ranging in distance from the mile to the marathon. Besides his two Tely 10 wins, he placed seventh (2:32) in the Swaziland National Marathon and was eighth (47:24) in the Pichous, a 15K road race in Chicoutimi, Quebec.
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