Nicola Will – Athlete

Inducted 2013

St. John’s Athlete Nicola Will has established herself as one of the best runners to ever compete in the province. She has set numerous records in both road running and track and field, and held an impressive winning streak in a wide variety of running events. Her records set in the Tely 10 have been unmatched still to this day. Nicola’s athleticism helped her race competitively not only in Canada, but also on an international level. Her first international accomplishment was in 1984 when she finished second in the Springbank International Road Race in London, Ontario. Nicola defeated two six-time All American champions in the process, over a distance of 7.5 kilometers. In 1985 she represented Canada at the Toronto international ten-kilometer race where she set a provincial best time of 33 minutes 32 seconds and finished the race in second place. In 1986 Nicola was selected to the Canadian team for the IAAF World Women’s Road Race Championships in Lisbon, Portugal and was the second Canadian finisher over 15 kilometers. Nicola left her mark through national competition as well. In 1984 she competed in the Ontario 3000 championship, in 1985 she won the Atlantic Brooks 10k road race for women in Halifax and finished second in the Brooks National 10k road race for women in Toronto.

Throughout her athletic career she set numerous course records for the Atlantic Provinces and established herself as one of the most respected runners in Canada. The first time Nicola made her presence known was in 1980 when she finished third in the Tely 10, improving her time by 18 minutes from the previous year. By 1981 she was considered the top-ranked track athlete in several events. 1982 marked her first ever Tely 10 victory On the provincial level from 1981-1987 Nicola had a streak of being unbeaten by any women in Newfoundland and Labrador at any distance on the track, road race or cross-country. This included all distances starting from the 800 meters to the half marathon. During this period she also set numerous records in road running and track. From 1981-1986 she set provincial junior and senior records at distances on the track from 800 meters to 10,000 meters. In 1984 she took more than one minute off the existing senior Tely 10 record with a time of 56:04 and was named both Newfoundland and Labrador and St. John’s Female Athlete of the Year. In 1986 she set a Tely 10 record with an amazing 55:47 win, the first female ever to record a top ten overall finish, coming in 8th place. Nicola was the only women to accomplish this up until 2007, and her record still stands over twenty years later. Throughout her Memorial University career she won three Atlantic University Athletic Association (AUAA) cross-country titles and had many wins on the indoor track at distances from 600-3000 meters. Between 1981 until her retirement in 1987 it had been said that Nicola Will rewrote the record books in track.