Local Sports Reporting by

Mark Stewart

Verne Cunningham is an accomplished athlete, coach, official and builder/organizer that has shaped the Charlotte County and New Brunswick running scene for over 40 years. Quite simply, Cunningham is a legend in the regional and provincial cross country and track and field scenes. The affable Cunningham is also part philosopher, historian, woodcarver and world traveler and is a fascinating individual to chat with. He is a walking encyclopedia of nuggets of wisdom. inspirational words, sporting anecdotes and interesting life experiences.

Verne accredits running after his older brother, Gordon, who was mounted on a bike as his early introduction to the sport. One of Verne’s neighbours on Kerrs Ridge Road in Bocabec would tell the younger Cunningham to slow down before he gave himself a heart attack. Like Forrest Gump, Verne ignored the advice and kept running.

Verne attended Sir James Dunn Academy (SJDA) in the early 70s and played as many school sports as he could. He converted his love for running into a provincial high school cross country individual championship. Brian Dickson and Brock Bradford, two of his SJDA coaches at the time, were key mentors that Cunningham attributes to his early success

Cunningham then attended UNB to get his B.Ed. and joined the staff at Fundy High in the early 80s. As a young teacher, he was eager to pitch in and started coaching the boys soccer, basketball and cross country teams. Since that time, Verne has coached thousands of athletes over his 40 year coaching career in soccer, basketball, cross country and track and field.

Verne dove headlong into the world of coaching cross country and track and field and started to get his coaching certifications. He leveraged Canada’s National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) to earn coaching certifications for the National level in middle distance and jumps and holds an international level coaching certification for throws. He has coached for Team NB at the Canada Summer Games four times. One Canada Games year, Cunningham was the head coach of the Team NB athletic contingent. In addition, Cunningham coached for the Team NB athletics squad at the Legion National Track Championships seven times.

Cunningham shared his track and running knowledgebase with local high school cross country runners. In total Cunningham has coached 12 provincial championship teams. Cunningham led the Fundy Middle and High School boys program to 4 provincial championships and then recreated his success with the SJDA girls cross country team, collecting 7 banners. He also was able to win a provincial track and field championship one year at SJDA, an incredible feat for a small school. The championship banners of his local coaching legacy hang from the rafters of Fundy and SJDA gyms.

Over the years, Cunningham has helped 5 individuals athletes qualify for the Canada Summer Games, coached 10 individual athletes to the Canadian/Legion National Track Championships and coached three individuals who competed at international track meets.

For example, Verne coached fellow Bocabecers, Lydia and Nadine Frost, in both cross country and track in the 2000s when they attended SJDA. Lydia and Nadine won multiple individual medals at the provincial cross country championships in high school and went on to run for the powerful Guelph Gryphons cross country and track program at the university level. Nadine Frost won several medals at the Canadian University National Track Championships and both twins routinely logged results that placed them in the upper echelon of nationally ranked athletes for their events.

Cunningham has also dedicated his volunteer time to help organize local running events. His involvement as a coordinator and organizer for the annual St. Andrews Father’s Day 5-Mile Road Race extends back to 1978!! For years, Verne and his wife, Gail, have been there many of Father’s Day Sundays to help pull off the event. When his sons, Trevor and Todd were young and still at home, they pitched in also. If you have gone to St. Andrew’s on Canada Day, you have witnessed Verne and Gail organizing the local youth fun sprints on Water Street.

Verne was instrumental as a builder along with Hal Mersereau in getting the Fundy Middle and High School Track upgraded in the mid 1980s. Verne, in what little spare time he had when coaching, was also active as a curler in the Heather Curling Club in St. Andrews and was honoured as their volunteer of the year in the past. Verne is still an active curler at the club and has recently returned to the golf course after overcoming some recent health struggles.

In addition, Verne is an accredited track official for throws. He has officiated at the national track meet level numerous times and officiated at the international level when the World Junior Championships were held in Moncton.

Cunningham was also an international exchange teacher, going to Australia in 1989 and 1995 to teach. Australia has an incredible sport development system and Cunningham brought numerous lessons learned from the Aussies back to Canada. During his second stint in Australia, Verne decided to commit to qualifying for the Boston Marathon. He was able to meet the 3:08 Boston Marathon qualifying time and achieved every runners dream of lining up at the starting line in early April in Boston.

Verne and Gail love to travel the world. Track and field and running opened the door for many of their travel adventures but they have set out on many non-sport related travel adventures. A 2017 trip to China is one of their most recent travel escapades. Vern also fondly remember being selected to be a Canadian representative for the Pilgrimage of Remembrance to Europe. He returned from that trip and gave several presentations throughout the local area to help educate Canadians about our WWI and WWII sacrifices.

If you are a runner in Charlotte County, you know and love Verne. He has given an immeasurable amounts of his personal time to develop local athletes, coordinate running events and help build and develop the athletics scene in our region. Thank you Coach Cunningham for your amazing commitment to our local sporting scene.


For the Record

• Accomplishments
  • Provincial Cross Country Champion – Athlete
  • Boston Marathon Qualifier – Athlete
  • 11 Provincial Cross Country Championships – Coach
    • Fundy Middle and High School Boys – 4 times
    • SJDA Girls – 7 times
  • 1 Provincial Track and Field Championship – Coach
  • 4 Time Canada Summer Games – Coach
  • 7 Appearances for Team NB at Legion National Track Championships – Coach
  • Appearances at Provincial, National and International meets as Throw Judge- Official
  • Fundy Middle and High School Track Upgrade – Builder
  • Trained 100s of Coaches as a certified instructor for Coaching Canada – Builder
  • National Standing Committee for Track and Field – Builder
  • St. Andrews Father’s Day Road Race Leadership Team since 1978. – Organizer
    
• Honours
  • Coach of the Year – New Brunswick
  • Official of the Year – New Brunswick
  • Teacher of the Year
  • St. Andrews Volunteer Award for Road Race Organization
  • Heather Curling Club Volunteer of the Year
  • Canada Representative for Pilgrimage of Remembrance to Europe

To see more of our local running coverage, check out our article about the 2025 St. Andrews Father’s Day Road Race. Local Runners Swarm the St. Andrews Father’s Day Race Finish Line – Southwest NB Sports

Reporters Note: I was lucky enough to have Verne as a high school soccer coach in 1982 and 1983 at Fundy High. We did not win a lot of soccer games in those years, but we could run!! I also took my very first coaches certification course from Verne around 2010. I am one of the hundreds and hundreds of athletes who claim Verne as an influential coach and mentor in their life.