The club is delighted to announce the winner of the Jack Kean Bursary this year is Gkontouin (Godwin) Imante and the winner of the Jack Kean Memorial Trophy is Gary Woods
The bursary and trophy is only available by the generous legacy Jack’s wife Ann has set up.
Please see details below
Jack Kean 1933- 2020
The name Jack Kean will not be too familiar to current members of Shettleston Harriers but like many former members the club has had an influence on his life. In recent years many former members families contact the club looking for information and telling us how their loved ones were grateful to the values the club gave them. If you look at Jack’s distinguished working career you can see he certainly used them.
Who was Jack Kean? Jack was born in 1933 in Springboig and joined Shettleston Harriers around 1944/45 as a 12-year-old boy. He quickly made his mark winning team medals at Youth level at the National Cross- Country Championships in 1949 and Junior level in 1954. He was not one of the stars of the day but someone the club could depend on to do his best and always be there. After contracting jaundice, he returned to take up field events and competed regularly at Shot and Javelin events with success during the 50’s. When Shettleston Harriers organised one of the first open Marathon races in Britain in 1961 Jack was one of the driving forces behind it. Long term member, the late Jim Harkins remembers Jack pounding round the old track at Barrachnie in preparation for the marathon. Jack never manged to finish the Shettleston Marathon, hitting the wall around 20miles.During this time he also competed in many of the longer races including the Helensburgh to Clydebank 18mile race. As 49 years old he competed in the 2nd London Marathon 1982 running a time of 3hours 29minutes. A fine achievement for a man close to 50 years old.
Like all good club men his skill was not just in competing but in the administration of the club -In 1963 he took over as secretary to the club and then in its 60th Jubilee Year he was Club President. Jack was rightly proud of this and organised many activities and developments during this year. Around this time his work took him to London and he settled with his wife Ann, also from Glasgow, in Orpington for the next 50 years. Jack never forgot his time at the club, meeting up with Alex Naylor when visiting Glasgow.
Like many people COVID took its toil on Jack and he passed away in March 2020 age 87 years . His wife Ann contacted the club and club secretary, John Mackay, visited her during a visit to London. Jack was determined to help the club and donated a sum of £10,000 to the club. After discussion with Ann, it was decided it will be used in two ways- A Jack Kean Bursary will be awarded to a different athlete each year to help with training and a Jack Kean Memorial trophy will be awarded to an individual This trophy will be awarded at the AGM to an individual who always gives their best but not always a winner. Achievement is not always winning.
Ann was determined to visit Glasgow to present the cheque to club president Elaine Mackay. It was an emotional trip for Ann as she toured the East End visiting the old club house in Gartocher Road, telling Elaine she used to wait for Jack outside, and then visiting our new base at Crownpoint.
The club would like to thank Ann and we know the bursary and trophy will be a fitting tribute to Jack
Gkontouin has been a member of Shettleston Harriers for around three-and-a-half years and during this time he has won various medals including:
2022 Scottish indoor U17 4x200m Gold
2022 Scottish U17 4x100m Gold
2023 Scottish U20 60m Gold
2024 Scottish U20 60m Gold
2024 Scottish Schools 100m Gold
2024 Scottish Schools 200m Gold
2024 Scottish U20 200m Gold
He has represented Scotland on various occasions including, in 2024, the Mannheim Junior Gala in Germany, Loughborough International and Manchester International.
A financial award will help Gkontouin with expenses when competing further afield. Among competitions under consideration for 2025 are the English U20 Championships and the Greece U20 Championships. Indeed, his first planned competition next year is in Aberdeen.
Plus the cost of physiotherapy, etc, all mounts up, making it an expensive endeavour to compete at the level he is at – and aiming to go further.
Gary Woods is a fitting winner of the Jack Kean Trophy. Gary joined the club as a Dad and like many has become a key member. He was no mean athlete in his younger days competing for Cambuslang Harriers winning medals at National level and representing Scotland. As his children grew up he brought David and then Katie to Shettleston. Seeing the need for coaches he become involved in the U/11 group and has progressed to the endurance group helping to prepare and coach many of the athletes. He is also a qualified official and has recently refereed at National Championships. Gary is also member of the club board and is involved in helping organise key events for the club including the Allan Scally Memorial Relay and the Babcock Shettleston 10km .Congratulations to Gary on winning this prestigious award.