Tely 10 gets a song
The Tely 10 has, for 91 years, inspired runners and those aspiring to run in the province to realize their goals. Outside the realm of athletics, it has served as the subject of paintings, and now, a song.
It came to the attention of Bill Smith, a retired instructor at the College of the North Atlantic who enjoys playing his guitar and singing with some of his friends at kitchen parties, that he had never heard a song about the Tely 10, despite how long it has been a major event in St. John’s.
“I haven’t heard even the Tely 10 mentioned in a song, and next to the Regatta, I think it’s the biggest turnout of people,” says Smith, who took it upon himself to try to rectify the situation.
Smith enjoys writing songs for the birthdays and anniversaries of friends and family, and in honour of his daughter coming to run the Tely 10 with him for the first time, he decided to write a short song about the race called “Doing the Tely 10,” inspired by the melody of “Please Don’t Bury Me” by John Prine.
“I got a little bit inspired by the fact that my daughter was coming home to run, so I thought that if I had a song it might egg her on a bit or make it feel a bit more special,” says Smith.
His daughter is coming home from Toronto to run with him as a belated 70th birthday celebration. Smith recorded the song on his phone and sent it to his daughter as extra motivation for the race.
Smith was sitting down one day thinking about different parts of the race, from the training to the starting line in Paradise and crossing the finish line at Bannerman Park, and the song came together quite quickly.
“I find what I really appreciate are the number that turn out and spur you on. They cheer you on, and they don’t even know you or anything, but everyone is clapping and egging you on and it seems like it helps you pick up energy. … That’s one thing I find nice about the race,” Smith said when asked what images were front of mind for him when composing the song.
“You’re always running with someone you know, maybe someone you haven’t seen for a long time,” says Smith, who this year will run the race for the sixth or seventh time, and enjoys seeing old friends along the course.
“There are so many good songwriters around Newfoundland and I’m sure that maybe if they hear my song they’ll think, I can do better than that, so maybe there will be some songs that come out of it,” Smith says, adding that he hopes the song will inspire other musicians to write about the Tely 10.