Woodruff 5K Run-Walk notebook
All in the family: Bruce Kukan keeps trend going CONNELLSVILLE – Apparently, walking competitively runs in the Kukan family.
Bruce Kukan won his first Woodruff 5K Walk on Wednesday.
Kukan, a 1987 Laurel Highlands graduate, is the older brother of 29-year-old Bobbi Jo (Kukan) Chapman, also a Laurel Highlands graduate who currently lives in Charleston, W.Va. and is still one of the nation’s top walkers.
“She just competed out in the state of California a few weeks ago,” Kukan said of his sister. “She’ll be competing in this area on July 20 in a race in California, Pa.”
Chapman has tried out for the Olympics in the past and still harbors that dream, according to her brother.
“She’s going to the Olympic Trials again in San Francisco,” Kukan said.
Kukan was in the toughest of the four races, beating out Thomas Starkey by just 2.27 seconds in the men’s walk.
“I used to do this a lot when I was younger,” Kukan said. “I got away from it for awhile, but then I started back up again.”
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Race director Kristin Porter was happy with the event, which had 332 runners and 147 walkers for a total of 479 competitors.
“It went fabulous,” Porter said. “I prayed all day it wouldn’t rain, and it held off. We got over $3,000 in donations, and that tells you a lot about John (Woodruff) right there.”
Porter also was thrilled to see the Connellsville football team, all sporting their Falcon uniforms, participating in the race. The players stayed together for the most part.
“I was very pleased that the football team ran,” Porter said. “It’s nice to see the community getting involved like that.”
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Not everyone who takes part in the Woodruff Race is out to win.
Take Carl Metz and his 11-year-old daughter Carrie, an Albert Gallatin South student, for example. The father-daughter combo participated in the walk and stuck together the entire race.
Officially, Carrie finished in 44:26.68, just in front of her father’s time of 44:27.95.
“I’m a runner really, but I wanted to do this with my daughter,” said a smiling Metz, a 1976 Albert Gallatin graduate who was also accompanied by his wife, Sherry, and his older daughter, 15-year-old Lauren, who attends Albert Gallatin Senior High School.
“This is the first time I’ve been in this. It’s a very well run, organized race. It’s a very challenging course because of the hills.”
Metz was impressed at the way the community cheers on the competitors.
“There’s a lot of fan support here,” Metz said. “It just made for an overall good time. It was a nice family experience.”
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Although the sun was behind the clouds, the humidity took its toll on the field.
“It was really humid and muggy,” said Jennifer Locke, who finished third in the women’s run.
Former Laurel Highlands star basketball players Wendy Craft, who was seventh, agreed.
“I was disappointed,” said Craft, an IUP graduate who ran track and cross country in college. “I think I ran better last year. But it was very humid and that made it kind of tough today.”
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Winners of the $1,000 Woodruff scholarships, awarded each year to a Connellsville Area High School senior boy and girl, went to Patrick Mullaney and Jennifer Rowan.
Mullaney will attend Clemson University in the fall, while Rowan is headed for the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
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NOTES: Winners of the Kids Fun Run were Andrew Cramer of Indian Head and Ashley Fratto of Melcroft, both 11. … The race was once again run under SERJ Timing. … Kevin Harrison served as the Master of Ceremony.