The club is delighted to announce Jamie Burns is the winner of the 2023 Jack Kean Bursary .After careful consideration the selection committee were unanimous in nominating Jamie .Club President Elaine Mackay presented Jamie with his award during the week at Crownpoint where Jamie caught up with a number of the Young athletes.
Jamie has been with the club since 2011 when he joined as a U/11 athlete. We are delighted he has made the progress all the way through the age groups. Looking back on his first year at the club he finished 34th in West District Cross Country Championships at Inverclyde. His track times of 3mins for 800m and 5.52 for 1500m never ranked him anywhere in Scotland but he has shown what hard work can do .He is now a U/20 Scottish track internationalists over 1500m (PB now 3.52.1 -a 2 min improvement!)and has run for Scotland at U/23 level over Cross Country. This is important to show all young athletes running is like a good wine, it takes time to mature. Jamie did go to have success at young athlete level winning National medals at School level and Club level. He had the honour of winning a Scottish Schools title at Hampden Park during the Commonwealth Games year in Glasgow 2014 -we are sure he will never forget this .He Is current Scottish Senior 10000m Champion ,winning on his home track at Crownpoint and has had various success on the road and country the last few years.
Jamie also gives up his time to support the club visiting schools -Weynay Gheberilassie and Jamie delighted a local school with a question and answer session last year and as a result we recruited new members. Jamie is a role model to the young athletes and gives them support as often as he can. He is currently at North Dakota University studying for a Masters degree after finishing his Honours degree at Glasgow University. During his time at University in Glasgow he helped his University win a number of titles and he currently competes for his University in the USA.
He is due to finish in the summer and the club looks forward to his return -he has been missed this winter .The bursary will help him to compete at events throughout the UK -he has no sponsor or subsidised track card to train.
Jamie was delighted to receive the special award and he would like to express his thanks to Ann Kean -Jacks Wife for donating this fund to the club.
Jack was involved in the club as a young boy and went to have success at various age groups .He was club President and was involved in various projects during his time with the club. On moving to London for a very successful working life he never forgot his time at the club. We know he would be delighted to see Jamie being awarded the bursary this year.
We wish Jamie all the success in his last few months in the USA .He is due to return to the very cold North Dakota in early January