Willie Jukes Race 2023
The annual Harriers pilgrimage to Dunoon for the Willie Jukes memorial 5 mile race took place in early May. Always a great race, and a better day out for Harriers and their family, hosted by the always welcoming Jukes family. This year was no different with 50 seniors and 15 juniors competing in the races.
The juniors compete over the fun distance of 200m and the not so fun distance of 1 mile along the prom. The 200m was split into three heats, with Harry Mooney, Orla Trainer and Scarlett Farrell picking up the wins, with Scarlett Farrell’s 27 seconds taking the fastest time on the day! The one mile race was won by Summer Taggart in 6.39, with Scarlett only 4 seconds back and Aimee McEleny a further second back in what was a very tight and fast race! It was good to see some of the younger members tackle the full five mile race too. Evie Harrison, Abbigael Crawford and Ruby McGill all raced well.
The five mile races is an out and back from the promenade to Inellan and back, with the wind this year (and most years in fairness) hitting the runners hard in the face from the turn back to the start. This is a handicap race, and once again the winning formula from the handicap committee served up a tight race for the winner! Once the maths had been done in the pub after, there was only one minute between the top ten runners! Local knowledge was not quite enough for Scot Hill in joint second alongside David Roberts, both were just pipped by one of our Ultra queens in Lorna Mitchell. With a great run of just over 35 minutes it was a well-deserved first club victory for Lorna who has been performing so well recently.
The ladies race also saw a new winner with Liz Gemmell just holding off Lorna to the overall victory, finishing only 18 seconds ahead. Liz travels up from Merseyside to run our races, and that’s the sort of commitment that deserves the plaudits! Ruby McGill was third back for the ladies in a great time of 36.27, and putting her fellow GGH podcast star Rich Jow in her pocket at the same time. Elsewhere in the ladies race, Helen Crawford and Marianne McKay ran well and got themselves into the top ten of the handicap race. Can Helen make a late surge in the handicap standing to topple husband Stewart after his win at the Docherty Cup?
Speaking of the podcast, main host Chris Mooney describes this as his favourite club race. It is always one that brings out the fastest guys in the club to have a real battle over the 5 miles. The frantic start can often end up in a war of attrition as to who can last the pace all the way back to the finish. This year, Stuart Greenway held off Shaun Lyon and Neil Lafferty for the victory in a brilliant time of 27.14. Dylan Crawford wasn’t far back of the top 3, meaning the overall championship will remain close with just 4 races to go. Wes Pattison and Oliver Reilly ran well having still got the marathons in their legs, and Oliver along with Paul Monaghan had been racing in the national 5k in Edinburgh the night before.
Elsewhere in the mens race, Stephen Harrison nipped ahead of Colin McKnight in their personal battle. Kyle Johnstone and Lewis McCrae ran well, with both lowering the average age of the field somewhat. As did Harry McGill, returning to a Glenpark race having absolutely smashed the National 5k in Edinburgh on the Friday night.
As always for this race, a big thanks goes to the Jukes family and Sinbads for the post race hospitality. This is such a highlight each year for the club. A big thanks to all of the volunteers, who are pivotal to these events taking place, and to the race sponsors Travis Perkins where member James Campbell continues to show brilliant support for the club.
Results: Stuart Greenway 27:14, Shaun Lyon 27:23, Neil Lafferty 27:25, Dylan Crawford 27:49, Wesley Pattison 27:56, Paul Monaghan 27:58, Oliver Reilly 29:06 Steven Campbell 29:26, Chris Mooney 29:30 Kyle Johnstone 29:31, Kev Craig 29:58 Lewis McCrae 30:48, Kevin O’Donoghue 30:54 Michael McLoone 31:10, Stephen Harrison 32:16 Colin McKnight 32:27, Robert Dolan 32:40 David Roberts 33:19, Andrew Osborne 33:22, Daniel McLaughlin 33:30, Greig Turner 33:47, Sam Mcvicar 33:49, Liz Gemmell 34:48, Eric Lindsay 34:55, Lorna Mitchell 35:06, Micky Dunn 35:30, Alan O’Rourke 35:54, Ruby McGill 36:27, Richard Jow 36:34, Harry McGill 36:40, Graham McGrattan 36:41, Scot Hill 36:49, Robin Mcauslan 37:34, Jim Holmes 38:07, Marianne McKay 38:09, Lynne Harrison 38:19, Ian McKee 38:54, Stuart D Crawford 39:09, Stephen Reid 39:29, Debbie Mckenzie 39:37, Craig Melrose 40:10, Evie Harrison 40:54, Abbigael Crawford 41:09, Frank Mcmahon 43:03, Lynsey Mooney 44:05, Heather Lafferty 44:33, Helen Crawford 45:31, Kenneth Scott 45:54, Charlotte McKay 50:32, Mary Robinson 52:19