2025 Hall of Fame Inductee – Kevin Grant

As a child Kevin loved the Highland Games parade, especially the pipe bands, as they marched down Main St. just yards from his homes on Court St. and, later, St. Mary St. His mother took him to Columbus Field to see the Concert Under the Stars and he was hooked into a lifetime of involvement – first as a Games spectator, then as a tenor drummer in the Antigonish Legion Pipe Band from 1971 to 1976, then stepping up to manage the Scotia Highland dance troupe and becoming chief organizer of the Highland Games Tattoo. Soon his involvement would take a different turn, however, one that would make him the rarest of all our Hall of Fame inductees – a two-discipline Hall of Famer: first as a member of a championship pipe band and this year as an athletic builder.

From the first Antigonish Highland Games in 1863, track and field held a vaunted place in our annals. In its heyday in the 1960’s to the 1980’s, the Antigonish Highland Society team would compete against teams from all over the Atlantic Provinces and occasionally from Quebec and Ontario, throwing hammers, discs, stones and javelins, pole vaulting, high-jumping, running distance and sprints and vying for individual honours and team championships. In 1987 alone 650 athletes competed at our Highland Games.

Sadly, amateur track and field faded from the Games program, and by the mid-90’s only one track event was being held – the 10,000 meters, a race which involved over 20 laps of the ¼ mile track. The race drew fewer than 10 entrants in 1997 and with so much lapping of runners, it was difficult for organizers and spectators to follow.

The idea for a new race was hatched at a 1998 meeting between Kevin and then Highland Society president Gerry Gillis and his wife Beth. The three agreed that a more participative event was needed and the Landing Road was key to its success. The Landing was very popular with walkers and joggers. Kevin had run it many times. A few years earlier he had taken up distance running and joined the Antigonish Road Runners club that included marathon and cross-country runners like Joanne Doiron, Dennis Draper and Bub Aker. Based on his experience, Kevin suggested that the ideal distance for a new event would be five miles. This was about two kilometers less than the existing race. This distance would require entrants to train for the race but would not be too daunting to dissuade participants who wanted to put in the training effort.

The first Highland Games 5-Mile Road Race, held in 1998, attracted 84 entrants, a huge success for a first-time event. Within a few years the 5-Miler was attracting hundreds of runners and had become the most participative competitive event of our Highland Games.

Numbers peaked at about 400 one year and are now at a more manageable 250 participants participating in at least 10 age categories for both male and female runners. There is even a category for runners brave enough to do the course while wearing a kilt.

As race director, Kevin, pioneered corporate sponsorship when it was unknown to the Highland Society. Local businesses paid to put ads on the back of the runners’ t-shirts helping to pay the entire costs of the event of for cash prizes given out to top finishers.

Over the years Kevin and his team have perfected the course design. To have the race come to exactly 5 miles, runners do one lap around the Columbus Field track, exit out the back gate, run the ‘Greenwold Loop’, head back into town, continue to the end of the Landing Road then return to Columbus Field and the finish line. A game-changer was the introduction of chip timing, which replaced the imperfect ‘stop-watch and popsicle technology’. Electronic chips are now embedded in the runners’ bibs and their times accurately recorded by a professional team as they seek to establish personal bests and maybe even win a category.

The 5-miler is an event that requires many volunteers. Nearly 40 spotters are recruited to staff the racecourse. Volunteers are also needed for registration, water stations and the all-important role of lead biker who ensures the lanes are clear for the oncoming runners. Kevin managed these details with key assistants like Joanne Doiron and Nick Oxner until just two years ago when he turned the role of race director over to James Jessome.

Kevin’s passion for running and for teaching also led him into a career in cross-country coaching, mentoring runners at the local middle school, many of whom developed into fine varsity runners, and serving as assistant coach to St. F.X.’s Bernie Chisholm (another 2025 Hall of Famer) for eight years. A friendly presence at the varsity team practice, Kevin always had a word of advice or a listening ear to offer team members and cheered them along as they won Atlantic University championships.

Kevin remains very involved with the Games, serving as a key volunteer in the Piping and Drumming competitions and continuing to assist with the 5-Miler which he launched way back in 1998. For his many roles in our Games and the Highland Society, Kevin was made an Honorary Member of the Society at a recent St. Andrew’s Night Banquet. Now as a two-time Hall of Fame inductee, he joins a very select company of Highland Games heroes.