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.

2024 Winner of the Dr. John P. Williams Award – Susan Perry

This year’s winner was secretly nominated by a close friend – that’s very typical of people who win this prestigious award.

At 71, she will be running her 29th consecutive Tely 10 this year – Bravo!!

To get to this remarkable milestone, she has overcome many obstacles along the way - personal losses, car accident injuries resulting in back and knee injuries, a more recent knee injury while biking/training for the Tely this year, and most poignantly, and the loss of her beloved husband. He had run the Tely 10 with her, until his unexpected passing, from a massive heart attack back in 2005. As a result, she was suddenly a widow at the young age of 53, but her determination gave her strength and focus. She’d maintained that focus ever since and looks forward to her 30th consecutive race in 2025 when she will be 73. She continues to find inspiration in their bond. He’s with her in every race. A sentiment that many Tely participants can relate to no doubt.

She began running in her 40's to heal her body both physically and mentally. As a result, she is an inspiration to family, friends and co-runners alike whom she has inspired through the years, decades really – that’s a lot of time to inspire a lot of people! She is presently undergoing physiotherapy for her injured knee, despite which she will indeed do the race once again this year – that’s the kind of inspiration she has provided to numerous walkers and runners and fellow running group members she has inspired over the years. She’s about persevering thought all that life puts in our paths. As the winner puts it, running the Tely 10 is simply “part of her life”.

A charming element of this story is that the nominator had no idea that the winner had actually worked closely with Dr. Williams at St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital for decades in fact. As we say Newfoundland is a small world.

This year’s winner was nominated strictly on her clearly meeting the award criteria… She has dealt with personal losses and various health challenges over the years. Like many she used exercise to help her deal with those challenges… which in turn partly inspired Dr. Williams to do the same after his heart attack. Subsequently, as we know, he personally inspired countless non-athletic people to complete the Tely… and indirectly this year’s winner inspired all those folks as well. She was among the St. Clare’s colleagues - affectionately called “the Lab staff” - who inspired Dr. Williams to sign up for his first Tely 10 back in 1996.

As it turns out, she is also totally coincidentally the person who originally proposed the establishment of the Dr. Williams award to the Tely 10 Committee years ago. Years ago she served on the Tely 10 Committee for 7 years, with an active focus on developing the strong Sponsorship program which still exists to fundamentally support the Tely annually. The person who nominated her was quite surprised to learn that! She had no idea….and was delighted to learn of the long standing connection.

Life has come full circle with this award winner. In recognition of the countless walkers and runners she has inspired and mentored, we are pleased to announce that Susan Perry is the 2024 winner of the Dr. John P. Williams Award.

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 2, 2025.
• 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.