Carnegie Harriers put on 19th Graham Clark Memorial Race

It's held in honour of the former club president and coach who tragically died in 2003 after taking part in a 5k race in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh.

The race - the brainchild of Iain Taylor who was club secretary at the time - is traditionally on the first or second Tuesday of August and the Harriers are grateful to Stuart Gray at Knockhill for his continued support over the years.

Held annually since 2004 (Covid years 2020 and 2021 excepted), the event is a great favourite with local clubs, many of whom regularly feature it in their club championships.

Course record holder Cameron Milne, of Central Athletic, won the race for the second year in a row. (Image: Carnegie Harriers)

This year was no exception with entries for the race on August 13 selling out in under two hours.

The race comprises three laps of the Knockhill circuit, approximately 3.9 miles, which the runners say is a lot hillier than it appears on TV!

Heavy rain showers earlier in the day may have kept a few runners away but thankfully conditions were pretty good for running, with the wind behind the runners as they headed up the hill towards the finish line.

Straight from the off, last year’s winner and course record holder Cameron Milne, of Central Athletic, took the lead and built on it throughout to finish in a time of 19:08. 

Pitreavie athlete Rebecca Burns was the first woman across the finishing line at Knockhill. (Image: Carnegie Harriers)

That was almost two minutes ahead of Livingston & District’s Kaydan Day (20:55) and local runner Aaron Bennet of PH Racing Club (21:06).

In the women’s race, Rebecca Burns (Pitreavie) finished strongly in 17th place overall in a time of 23:04. Next home was the host club’s Nicole Jackson (23:36) closely followed by Mairi Littleson of Dundee Road Runners (23:38).

The runners were awarded for their efforts with the traditional post-race buffet which, for many, is the key attraction of the event.

Nicole Jackson was the first Harrier to finish the women's race, coming in second place. (Image: Carnegie Harriers)

The principle aim of the race is to raise funds for charity – there are no winners’ trophies, other than the Graham Clark Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the overall race winner, finishers medals, tee shirts or other goodies to ensure costs are kept to a minimum.

This year’s event raised over £1,200 to be shared between the club’s chosen charities, Dunfermline Foodbank and Rosyth Eats.

Born in March 1956, Graham Clark was a talented middle-distance runner who represented Scotland in the World Cross Country Championships in Paris in 1980 and Rome in 1982.

He moved to Dunfermline to work at FMC and joined Carnegie Harriers in 1996, where he gradually took on the role of club coach and transforming the way the club trained.

He originally concentrated on coaching the faster members of the club for the cross-country season, but over time and in response to demand from other members, he extended the sessions to accommodate all abilities. 

A great coach and motivator, providing expert advice, guidance and friendship to all members, his introduction of a more formalised approach to training proved very popular.

It’s testament to the foundations that Graham laid that some of his training sessions are still in use today.