Remembering Joe McGuire at the 2022 race bearing his name

Runners, family, and organizers pay tribute to the late long-distance running legend at the annual race

The 2022 Joe McGuire Road Race went down successfully on Saturday, July 30, with 124 racers. The big difference was that Joe himself wasn’t there.

McGuire, a Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame inductee as a long-distance runner, died in April at 78. Since the race adopted his name in 1985, McGuire missed only one hometown race as he recovered in the hospital from a stroke.
Joe’s son Trevor took his late father’s place at the one-mile marker to share the times and words of encouragement. Following the race, on behalf of the family, Trevor spoke to the crowd at the race’s finishing line in Grafton before race officials handed out the prizes.

“It’s a pretty hard day without my Dad,” said Trevor, who had run many races with his father. “He would have loved to be here right now. This race meant the world to him.”
The Joe McGuire race is part of Run NB’s Super Series, a points-based system on a provincial circuit. It is described as a runner’s race where the initial leg of the race is downhill while on the Grafton Bridge. The rest is relatively flat, except for a couple of rolling hills on the 10k leg of the race.

Woodstock Recreation Coordinator Jill Dunnett said racers from all over New Brunswick and some from Nova Scotia and Maine took part in Saturday’s run. She was pleased with the number of local participants who took place on either the 5k walk, the 5k run or the 10k run.

“It was a beautiful morning for the race,” said Dunnett. “We had lots of support and local sponsorship. There were a lot of people working together to make this happen, including the police, maintenance staff and the summer students.”
Dunnett said plans are underway to make it a Certified Race by Run NB.

“We are always looking for ways to attract new participants,” said Dunnett. “This is part of Joe McGuire’s legacy, and we want to make it the best possible race.”

In his running career, Joe McGuire, inducted into the Run NB Hall of Fame, competed in more than 200 road races and was inducted in the Run NB Hall of Fame in 2009. After he placed first in the Master’s division at the Boston Marathon out of 2000 runners in 1985, the Woodstock race adopted his name.

Officials noted Joe’s running legacy during the opening remarks. His wife Emily was there to present the start time. Each runner got a bookmark designed in his loving memory, with the race log and a picture of Joe taken during his running days.

Top Ten in 5k Walk  – Jennifer Jackson – Woodstock Marie Jollimore – Woodstock Catherine Kuwertz – Woodstock Gloria Yachyshen – Woodstock Stuart Kinney – Woodstock Alivia Graham – Hartford Debbie Graham – Southampton Gerry Ruff – Beechwood Charlene Ganter – Upper Kent Heather Doucette – WoodstockTop 3 in 5k Run Male Ian Young – Fredericton Adrien Bouhtiauy – Edmunston James Whitman – Maugerville
Top 3 5k Run Female Eve Kodak – Hanwell Clareta Livingstone – Woodstock Brittany Fecteau – Woodstock
Top 3 10k Male Greg Sawyer – Saint-Jacques Paul Nozicka – Woodstock Sylvain Arseneau – Petit-Rocher
Top 3 10k Female Suzanne Myers – Moncton Nathalie Bolivian – Bathurst Kim Perry – Rothesay