Author: The Author

Dave with his son, Alan at the Pier to Pier Race in South Shields in 2022.   The race came after a series of health scares but he finished fifth MV70  in the 7 miles race in a time of 64:19.   Read the full story below.

Dave helped in writing a profile of club mate Mike Johnston and we took the opportunity , since we had done his own profile in 2020, of asking him to update his athletics career so far for us.   It is quite a story in its own right, not simply an add-on to his profile.  A series of injuries and illnesses seriously tested his dedication to the sport and there have been many ups and downs.   He still loves the sport and its people and his dedication has been honoured by the King in January 2023.   

David says.

My 5K Scottish M70 effort in  May 2019 resulted in having to take an enforced 8 weeks break from running due to having aggravated my ankle problem. I did eventually get back to some light running which was interrupted by having fractured my ribs in a heavy fall and then developing ongoing lower back issues.  Unfortunately I fractured some ribs again in February 2020 when slipping on ice.  Another setback arose in April when I had a mini stroke/TIA supposedly caused by catching Covid but fortunately there were no lasting effects and I eventually managed later in the year to resume and sustain some easy running up to August 2022.  I even managed 2 races in May of that year.  In spite of my longest single training run being only 3 miles I tackled the 7 Miles Pier to Pier Race from South Tyneside to Roker Pier while visiting my eldest son and family who live in Sunderland.  My son Alan was competing for the organising club Sunderland Strollers.  Not surprisingly I began to tire just after half way but did finish 5th M70.  11 days later I clocked 14.41 for the 3K on the Green for an improved performance albeit over a shorter distance.  Any thought of fitting in a few more races sadly evaporated when I tripped over a tree route to avoid a lunging Alsatian dog.  Needless to say I damaged my ribs again and shortly afterwards Covid reared it’s ugly head once more thus leading to another 4 months of rest.  Training was resumed in December and then history repeated itself.  A heavy fall on ice caused a problem behind my right knee which did not clear until March 2023. 

In the interim period I was very surprised to find out that I was to be awarded a BEM in the King’s First Honours Award in January 2023 for services to Cambuslang Harriers and to Scottish Athletics.  I accepted the honour which I regarded as not solely being for me but was also for the many other dedicated members of Cambuslang who had helped to transform the erstwhile parochial club into one of Scotland’s leading distance clubs over the last 50 years.

On the running front the familiar pattern of blocks of training being punctuated by recurring back and posterior knee problems and then a new ailment surfaced – first degree burns to my upper feet.  This was caused by exposing my feet for only a short time after bathing in the Dead Sea on the last day of a holiday to Jordan, the highlight of which was visiting the ancient city of Petra.  The burnt feet issue sustained at 430 metres below sea level was literally the lowest point of the holiday.  A recovery period of 5 weeks followed but the re-emerging back and knee issues limited training. 

Moving into 2024 my problems eased a bit which allowed me to put in 46 weeks of continuous running.  During that time I averaged 20 miles per week with my longest run being 5 miles.  Having turned 75 in April I had privately set myself the target of competing in the 5000M at the Scottish Track Championships in mid July.  Although a trapped nerve down my left left leg was beginning to cause me some discomfort I tackled the hilly Sunderland 5K Parkrun and managed 28.53 for first M75.  My left leg had held up.  6 days later I did the 3K on the Green in a time of 15.32.  This was meant to be my final workout before the track 5000M but unfortunately I aggravated my trapped nerve.  In spite of 10 days of rest and easy running with some physio thrown in my injury had become too painful and I reluctantly had to give up the idea of competing.  I felt gutted that I was unable to try for a M75 Scottish medal to add to my masters age group awards.

Dave with 2025 M75 1500M Outdoors Track Gold.   See below.

I spent the rest of 2024 mainly walking with an average of 5 miles a week jogging while my back issue was investigated.  The verdict given on Xmas eve was that I had osteoporosis and 3 compressed fractures on my spine.  One of my first questions to my GP was could I continue with my running.  The answer was a definite no.  After 55 years of running this news was a body blow.  However, I followed the advice for 8 months.  Nevertheless, I continued walking an average of 20 miles per week which was permitted.

I still felt I had unfinished business with running.  With warmer weather arriving in April, 2025, and with my back easing a little I tentatively started to build in some short jogging efforts into my walks.  It was like learning to run again.  It took 6 weeks before I actually ran a mile without stopping.  My ambition became to enter the Scottish Masters 1500M in July.  A 5K was totally out of the question.  It was going to be a delicate balance of doing a minimum of training without breaking down again or worsening my osteoporosis.  I plugged away for a further 6 weeks of slow running with my longest continuous run only being up to 1.2 miles and my average weekly miles being six.  My pace at around 11 minutes per mile was very pedestrian.  With 2 weeks to go to the race I renewed my Scottish Athletics membership which I had not done since my enforced retiral  from the sport.  My entry was duly put in. When I saw the entry list a few days before the event I noticed that I was the only M75 entrant and therefore had only myself to beat.  At best I was hoping to break 10 minutes but on the day I surprisingly managed to record 8.54.80.   Although I was a distant last I had achieved my own private goal of achieving a Scottish Medal in the M75 category.   I had come out of retirement to achieve this goal and now felt  content to retire on my own terms.  

.Cambuslang Harriers with the AT Mays Trophy in 2019.   

Presented by Leslie Leslie Roy with team manager Dave Cooney.   

The photograph above is notable, not just for Cambuslang but because Mike is second from the left in the second row from the front as a club man despite the fact that he had already done so much for Scotland, for instance working at endurance coach at four Commonwealth Games, at two fell and ultra championships and twice for GB teams.   And he’s standing there as one proud club member among many.   The following summary and tribute is by Dave Cooney, a man who himself has done a power of work for the club as runner, administrator, official and team manager.   Dave has also taken the step of asking some of Mike’s young club athletes to add their own comments.

Mike Johnston joined Cambuslang Harriers in 1983.  His main interest at that time was squash and he hoped that some endurance running would benefit his squash performance.  However, he quickly caught the running bug and his loss to the sport of squash became both Cambuslang Harriers’ and Scottish Athletics’ gain.  Fast forward 43 years on and he is still very much a highly respected and prominent figure within Cambuslang Harriers and Scottish and UK Athletics.

Mike focused on his own running for the first 4 years of his time as a Cambuslang Harriers before developing an interest in the coaching of younger athletes.  He gained his assistant coach badge in 1985 and from 1988 on he embarked on his senior coaching courses until he achieved UK Endurance Level 4.  While still continuing to run himself coaching had become his real passion and he and the club were to reap the rewards in the decades ahead on an individual and team basis. 

Mike’s contribution as a coach to Cambuslang athletes for over almost 40 years has been immeasurable.  His stable of former young athletes and current athletes is impressive.  Names which come to mind in the former category are Scottish XC medallists such as Mark McBeth, Eddie McCafferty, David MacPherson, Craig Cleland, Alan Reynolds, Iain Reid, Iain Munro, the Kealey brothers Joe and Kevin, Jasmair Pal, Iain MacCorquodale, Chris McLew, Katie Bristow, Alex Lamond and Eve MacKinnon.   Both Graham Ferguson and Iain Reid also lifted UK track medals as U20 athletes.  Mike along with fellow coaches Owen Reid and Robert Anderson played an important role in amassing multiple Scottish XC team medals over the age groups and in regularly winning the AT Mays Trophy awarded to the most successful male club in the Scottish XC Championships.

His current training group of Cambuslang athletes includes Katie Clubb, formerly Bristow, Eve Mackinnon, Chris McLew and Gavin Smith who have been coached by him from early in their running careers.  Craig Jardine and Jamie MacKinnon have also been under Mike’s wings for a number of years while more recent members include Stefanie Tucker, Zoe Pflug, Andrew McGill, Callum Tharme and Rory Muir.  All mentioned have progressed well under Mike’s watchful eye.  In the last year Andrew broke the 4 minutes barrier for the mile and now has a sub 8 minutes 3000M and a sub 14 minutes 5000m to his credit.  Jamie too has also broken 14 minutes for the longer distance.  Stefanie has just broken the club’s female record for 3000M road when clocking 9.19 for 6^th place at the Armagh International Road Race and then a few days later achieved 5^th place with a time of 9.13 at the UK 3000M Indoor Championships.

If he was to be pushed his 3 most satisfying club achievements would be attracting and developing women athletics at Cambuslang, winning and twice breaking the senior men 3 x 800M title/record and the lengthy coaching association with Katie Bristow, now Clubb, since 2010.

Mike himself has aptly summed up his philosophy as a coach which still holds true today.

“I just enjoy coaching.  I like to see people improve.  It doesn’t have to be winning medals.  I like to see people get the most out of athletics and just enjoy the sport.  That is the key thing.”

Mike spoke to me several years ago of a young male athlete who made an inauspicious start to athletics.  He was however keen and persistent and gradually began to improve.  Mike predicted he would be “a slow burner” and was proved correct.  This athlete now has pb times of 8.52, 14.49, 30.58, 70.52 and 2.24.21 for 3000M, 5K, 10,000M, half marathon and marathon.  Well done to Mike and Andrew Carey.

Mike’s training group is not just confined to Cambuslang athletes.  His thinking is that others are welcome as they can contribute to the quality of sessions thus benefitting club and non club members alike.

Although Mike religiously attended all the club AGMs from 1984 onwards he did not join the committee until 1992 and then stayed in post as an ordinary member until 2008.  His balanced and measured opinions and responses were always highly valued by the committee.  Even after leaving the committee to focus on his wider demanding job as Scottish National Endurance Coach, a position he held from 2004 until 2014, he still worked closely with the Cambuslang committee and coaches. For example, he set up and chaired a coaches’ forum within the club and worked with Owen Reid and Iain MacCorquodale in drawing up both summer and winter club training sessions.  He has also mentored new aspiring coaches such as former athletes Jim Orr and Carol Anne Thomson, former protegees Iain MacCorquodale and Iain Reid and parents of Cambuslang young athletes Colin Stephen and Iain Crawford.  The latter two have now obtained their UK Level 3 Endurance Coaching Award.  He has organized and chaired too several club question and answer sessions with invited guests such as the late Ron Hill, Bobby Quinn and Clare Gibson and during covid he delivered a club coaches forum via zoom so that they did not feel isolated.  When it comes to selecting Cambuslang teams for senior men and women district and national relay road and cross country teams he is central to any discussion given that the majority of possible contenders are coached by him and therefore he is very much aware of their current fitness.  Therefore, he is still a very influential member within Cambuslang Harriers.

His contribution to Scottish Athletics is also considerable.  For example, as the National Scottish Endurance Coach he delivered numerous training sessions and seminars throughout Scotland.  Further he has been involved with the Scottish team at 4 Commonwealth Games.  Currently he is the current Scottish Road and Cross Country Convenor.  His services to Scottish Athletics was popularly acknowledged in 2017 when he was presented with the Tom Stillie Award and UK recognition came his way in 2023 with a British Writers Association Award.

It is fitting that the final words on Mike should come from some of his current athletes.

What his athletes say about Mike

Katie Club formerly Bristow

“Mike came into my life at a transitional point, leaving Shetland at 17, moving to the mainland of Scotland, starting university and navigating the change from junior athletics into my senior running career.  His brilliance is evident when you take a second to think through his athletics coaching achievements – old and new – the Scotland/GB vests , the times, records, team performances etc.  But what we get to experience is so much more.  His kindness, unwavering support and genuine regard for our health and well being as people is what propels Mike from a great coach to an exceptional person.

For the last 15 years I have thanked my lucky stars that I have the privilege of being coached by Mike and also having him as a guiding light in my life.”

Eve MacKinnon

“I feel incredibly lucky to have Mike as my coach and I have no doubts that the other athletes Mike coaches feel the same way.  He has been and continues to be a constant and extremely significant figure in my life and has helped me to develop not only as a runner but as a person.  Mike is generous with his time and knowledge and the impact that he has on athletics in Scotland extends far beyond the Glasgow Green on a Tuesday night.  I look forward to going to training every week and the training environment we have as a group is testament to Mike’s character.  He cares deeply about his athletes and is committed to supporting each and everyone of us to reach our goals.  Most importantly Mike ensures that we enjoy it, both training and racing, and I can’t thank him enough for his support over the years.  It is a privilege to be coached by him.”

Stefanie Tucker

“I have been working with Mike for the past 3 years since moving to Glasgow.  Having him as a coach is an absolute joy.  Mike has an abundance of knowledge, patience and experience and it is a real pleasure to benefit from all 3.  I feel incredibly fortunate to work with a coach who takes pleasure in learning from his athletes, continually adapting sessions and plans so that each person can fulfil his/her potential.  His own interest, enjoyment and passion for the sport is abundantly clear in every way.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be the beneficiary of his decades and wealth of experience in the athletics’ world and hope to continue benefiting for years to come.”

Gavin Smith

“For the past 10 years Mike has been my coach.  In that time he has been an extremely important figure in my life on and off the track.  He has guided me to heights in running I thought were unattainable and given me confidence that I have brought into other areas in life.  I’m sure there are many other athletes who would attest to this in their own experience.

Mike is caring to all his athletes, no matter their ability or where they are in their running journey.  There is a feeling that he genuinely loves the challenge of seeing his athletes achieve their goals regardless of that level.  Above all of this, he asks nothing in return.

He has been a massively positive influence on so many young people’s lives and been one of the top coaches in Scotland.”

Jamie Mackinnon

“From my time in running Mike has been the best coaching influence I’ve worked with.  On the technical aspects of running he is incredibly  knowledgeable, but what sets him apart from anyone else I ‘ve worked with is how he cares for his athletes as people. Mike coaches 30 plus athletes and has a genuine interest in in everyone’s racing and work/life schedules.  He is equally capable of coaching elite athletes competing at the highest level in the UK as he is of athletes competing at club level in Scotland while working stressful jobs.”

Andrew McGill

“When I say that Mike is a very special coach, I know I’m not just being swayed by my personal regard for him as an individual – I am speaking the objective truth about his coaching ability.

I’ve been working with Mike now for 4 years and in that time, despite his decades of experience in the sport, he has never stopped trying to learn more about me as an athlete.  Rain or shine you can count on him being there on a Tuesday evening or a Saturday morning observing us all closely and then afterwards pouring over the heart rate data, splits and comments we’ve left on our uploaded runs. 

What is particularly special about him is that he wants to take the athlete along on the journey with him too.  His influence has definitely rubbed off on me and working together these past few years we have been able to learn a significant amount about what training works for me.

Mike once said to me that he believes a good coach can make a 10% difference to an athlete.  I believe I’m getting every one of those per cents with him in my corner”.

Dave Cooney adds:    ” Andrew McGill, who features in your piece on Mike and who comments on him, set an indoor 1500M pb and indoor Scottish native record of 3 37.69 breaking the old one by 3 seconds in the Emirates Arena on 2nd March, 2026..   A further testimony to Mike’s coaching ability.”

Dave himself finishes with:

In conclusion, having known Mike since 1983 he has dedicated himself to his athletes, Cambuslang Harriers and Scottish Athletics.  The awards he has won as a coach and the glowing comments from his athletes are richly deserved.  He is not only a coach to his athletes but is also a fatherly figure whose only desired reward is to see them become the best that they can be.”

Mike Johnston          Mike Johnston: What His Friends Say . . . 

Hugh Murray with Mike

Some of Mike’s friends have been asked to talk of their relationship (coach, administrator, athlete) to Mike and on this page we have comments from fellow coaches who have worked with him in various venues and events around the world as well as  here in Scotland.   We hear from Hugh Murray and Leslie Roy.   On the next page we hear about Mike as a club member with Cambuslang Harriers from Dave Cooney and from several of his athletes.

Hugh Murray says: 

The first time I remember meeting Mike Johnston was at a Scottish Athletics Awards Ceremony in 2000.

He was nominated for a Coaching Award and I was presenting one and we were sat at the same table.

Little did I know at that time we would become colleagues and very good friends which we still are.

He was coaching at that time with Cambuslang Harriers although he was helping other athletes and coaches from other clubs.

At about that time Scottish Athletics had just received funding to appoint full time paid coaches/Performance Managers to work with and assist our lottery funded athletes and coaches.

Mike, Eamon Fitzgerald and myself were employed to cover Endurance, Jumps and Throws.

This led to many happy and fruitful years of not only supporting our best but developing our events and future stars.

Mike was a natural for this and fought tooth and nail to get his developing coaches the appropriate development opportunities and the developing athletes the appropriate competitions.

No easy task.

He was and still is a great team coach having already team coached at four Commonwealth Games and many other International events.

There is no doubt in my mind that the current strength and success at international and World Class level of Scottish Endurance athletes is in some part due to the hard work and support given to that event by Mike Johnston.

A modest man Mike continues to coach with and support athletes at club level.

Commonwealth Games Team Staff with Mike third from left and Leslie in the middle.

Leslie Roy has known and worked with Mike for several years now and, like Hugh, has a high opinion of him, the result of co-operation in a variety of roles.   She says:

Mike Johnston          Mike Johnston: Cambuslang Harrier

There are many athletics coaches, officials and administrators who make it their business to be easily recognised by all at sports meetings, conferences and meetings of any sort. Some do it by having a particularly loud voice and hailing all that they meet, others by the clothing that they favour or even by the jokes that they tell.   None of these apply to Mike Johnston.   Probably the quietest coach in my time to hold a national post of any consequence he speaks quietly, dresses appropriately for the occasion and goes about his business efficiently and skilfully.    These last two adjectives – skill and efficiency – have led to a remarkable career in the sport.    But to begin at the beginning, Mike answered the questionnaire for us.   He has filled so many roles that we broke it into sections.

Name: Mike Johnston

Date of Birth: 23/05/1948

Occupation: Retired

Club: Cambuslang Harriers

As a runner: 

I was always aware of the sport as my father and uncle were founder members of Victoria Park and as a youngster remember being taken to Scotstoun Show Ground to watch the athletes train when we visited Glasgow.

The school I attended dabbled in the summer term in athletics but their main sport was football. There was however an annual cross-country race which I competed in each year I was eligible. I ran a little bit through college in Aberdeen but really regarded running as keeping fit for football, badminton and squash.   I played a lot of squash into my 30s and then switched the emphasis of my training to running as travelling with work made regular squash difficult. Sucked into the 80’s marathon boom, I ran the 1982 Glasgow Marathon. A few weeks later I ran the Lanarkshire 10-mile championship, and the following week joined Cambuslang Harriers.

Joining the club opened up many opportunities to race. Training for running in a group was new to me and I thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie of racing and training with the club. With so many good athletes at the club there was always great advice for this inexperienced runner.  Favourite club sessions were the Tuesday Hampden runs and the long Sunday runs organised by Robert Anderson over the local countryside through the winter.

Enjoying the longer road races, I tackled another 4 marathons running 2.52 for my last one in Glasgow in 1984.

Mike Johnston in 2023 when the Cambuslang Harriers trio of Gavin Smith, Jamie MacKinnon and Chris McLew broke the Scottish 3x800m Record 

As a Coach

In the winter of 84, knee and Achilles issues restricted my training and I volunteered to help Jim Scarborough who was coaching the club’s youngest athletes. I started my official coaching pathway in 1985. Others who attended that first course included Lachie Stewart and Janice Hendrie. The group of athletes I first worked with at Cambuslang had interests across the spectrum and began winning medals in jumps, throws; sprints and endurance. There was year on year success that fooled me into thinking that coaching was easy. I was having some influence but most of the success came from natural talent and them getting bigger, stronger and quicker each year as they matured. As the group developed coaching skills had to change as they reached maturity.

I was fortunate to work with some good endurance athletes in those early days such as Eddie McCafferty and Mark McBeth who won a number of age group titles and went to the US on scholarships. However, that same group had very successful jumpers such as Gary Woods and Colin Bell.

Although I continued to train and race for the next few years the emphasis had definitely changed to coaching. My last National Cross Country was in 1991 in Dundee when I was a DNF not through injury but so that I could watch athletes finish the race.

The coach education process contributed greatly to my athletics knowledge but also confirmed my interest in all aspects of endurance running. Around this time, I was also introduced to the workings of the British Milers Club which influenced my early coaching. However perhaps the greatest influence during this process was the long weekend of the Senior Coach Endurance Coaching Theory lead by Harry Wilson.

When I completed my Senior Coach award I was invited to travel with Scottish age-group teams to various competitions across Britain. Then from 1994 to 2000 I undertook various voluntary coaching positions in middle distance and cross country, working with Alex Naylor and Brian McAusland who became my mentors and willing respondents to my many questions.

In 2000 UK Athletics were rolling out new coach education courses and I was approached to get involved. I delivered courses throughout the UK as part of a new group of tutors and from 2001 to 2003 I was involved in Tutor Training as well delivering the new courses up to Level 4 Performance.

As an administrator

In 2004 I was recruited into a position of event development and athlete program management with Scottish Athletics and remained in that employment until 2014. The role had an ever-changing remit but was mainly described as National Endurance Manager. Initially based in Tayside and Fife Institute of Sport and then at Grangemouth; Scotstoun and eventually Emirates Arena. The remit was huge and rapidly became 24/7. I’m grateful to Vikki Strange at Tayside Institute of Sport for advising how best to prioritise the many strands of the program and my colleagues Hugh Murray and Eamon Fitzgerald for their advice through my first couple of years in post. During my 10 years of employment, I reported to 7 different Scottish Athletics Head Coaches and 4 different CEOs, however the key element was always the development of the athletes and the events and that was best served by forming relationships with the many knowledgeable endurance coaches in the UK. These were best formed with those coaches in their own environment.

I was fortunate to go to four Commonwealth Games (the last after I retired) as Team Scotland athletics endurance coach as well as 2 Mountain and Ultra Commonwealth Championships, as endurance coach with UK Athletics at the U20 European Championships in Serbia and UK Team Leader at the Chiba International Ekiden. The title coach at these competitions is slightly misleading for although you need good coaching knowledge the rolls are much more administration and organisation. They did however create great learning experience for me from the coaches and athletes that you meet in those environments.

Back to Coaching

Those years with Scottish Athletics were good for my coaching knowledge but not quite so good for my own personal coaching, as the policy on myself and colleagues actively coaching, varied from the extremes of being encouraged or discouraged as management changed. Since retiral my coaching group has gradually grown and it gives me great pleasure to see athletes improve. It’s nice when athletes in the group get Scottish and UK medals or representative vests but I enjoy it just as much when someone hits their own personal annual target. I also get a kick out of watching a road or cross-country race and see the number of M40s and 50s still competing that were part of my early coaching groups.

Through the years I’ve been privileged to work with many talented, hard-working athletes. It’s also true to say that one of the greatest sources of knowledge as a coach comes from athletes’ feedback and I’ve been fortunate to work with some individuals whose input has helped and continues to help their development.

I don’t intend to list them as I value them all and would hate to miss one name.

In 2017 at the Scottish Athletics Awards dinner, I was Awarded the Tom Stillie award for services to the sport in Scotland. I was surprised and delighted but my shock was even greater in 2023 when I received the Ron Pickering British Athletics Writers Award for services to Athletics.

Mike with Leslie Roy and the Tom Stillie Sword

The Future

During 2021 I was approached to take up a volunteer position with Scottish Athletics Road Running and Cross-Country Commission and accepted the opportunity to become the Convenor. During my employment with Scottish Athletics, I had served on the group as a management representative so was familiar with the workings. I intend to continue in this position for the next couple of years.

Coaching athletics continues to give me great satisfaction and I hope to be active as long as I can contribute to the development of enthusiastic athletes.

The future

Hopefully I have many more years in the sport as a volunteer coach.   

Mike with fellow coach Eamonn Fitzgerald

You will have noted from the above that Mike is not at all work shy.    I worked with him for several years in a coaching capacity in the late 80’s and early 90’s and he was always well prepared, having done his homework before the task allocated.  He was also quite quick to spot something during a race, often quite early on. Two  examples:

a) I was standing with him watching the Heats of the Scottish Under 20 Track Championships when he commented on the Irish runner on the starting line who had done a very good time earlier that week in Ireland.   Mike remarked that the runner did not have a kick but preferred to wind the race up from 500 metres to go.   I didn’t know where he had found that out, but having known him for a wee while, I talked to my runner about it when we met before the final, tweaked the race plan and that helped my runner win.   

b) On another occasion watching the Scottish Championships at Crown Point in Glasgow, I had a runner hoping for a medal but the well known Englishman led off and after a single lap, Mike commented that the runner couldn’t water jump.   The appropriate advice was bellowed out to my man who finished second.

Note too that the information was practical and not theoretical or removed from the competitive arena.   

If you add to that work ethic the desire to improve his own skills, then Mike lives up to the motto:  “The athlete should never suffer for the coach’s limitations.”    It is important to realise that even early in his coaching career he travelled to venues all over Scotland and to British Milers Club weekend AGM’s and also to the British Endurance Group weekends run by Norman Poole, asking questions, talking to other coaches from all over the British isles.   

Mike didn’t mention his role as a member and supporter of the club he had joined in the 1980’s.   He was not however one for following races like the Edinburgh to Glasgow in a car or in the official transportation  –  he was an active supporter.   Where possible he was out on the road at the Edinburgh to Glasgow for instance,  jogging along waiting for them to appear, see if they were holding their position or catching the opposition.   We see from the photograph of the seventh stage of the relay in 1995 that he has had a long day supporting the red and white vests – at this point they were running second, two minutes up on Ewan Calvert of Clydesdale Harriers.   Following the team on foot as much as was possible, kept him in touch the whole sport on the ground, talking to athletes and officials from other clubs and getting to know them, being seen to be part of the sport and not remote from the realities of it. 

The question arises: How did a good clubman progress to the position that he holds today?   He says, and it is manifestly true, that he loves coaching and working with athletes.    When asked about his career as a coach and then in administration he recorded the progression as follows.

Started Coaching Pathway in 1985

Volunteer Coach with Cambuslang Harriers from winter 1984

Voluntary Position Summary – Scottish Athletics Federation-

1994-5 National Event coach for 800m/1500m

1995-7 Chief Coach for Cross Country and Road Running

1996 – 2000 Coach with Scottish Teams at track and field and road and cross events

UK Athletics

2000 – 2003 Coach Education Tutor

(2001 – 2003 Tutor Trainer)

Joined Scottish Athletics as a full-time employee in 2004.

Between 2004 and 2014 the job had various titles but mainly National Endurance Manager

Commonwealth Games Scotland –

Endurance Athletics Coach at 4 Commonwealth Games –

2006 – Melbourne

2010 – Delhi

2014 – Glasgow

2018 – Gold Coast

Head Coach for Scotland at Commonwealth Games Fell and Ultra Championships –

Keswick 2009

Llandudno 2011

UK Athletics Team Positions –

Team Leader at Chiba Ekiden in Japan 2010

Endurance Coach at European U20 Championships in Serbia 2009

Having done so much in the sport at club, national and UK level is quite extra ordinary, and of the tributes paid to him, none is more revealing of the athletes perception of his work than extract which is taken from this article on the Scottish Athletics website

‘The pathway in Scotland deserves a lot of credit’ – World Champion Jake – Scottish Athletics

Geoff (Wightman) also spoke to Stuart Weir on our behalf and he was also keen to mention the system in Scotland.   In fact, Geoff name-checked Mark Pollard, our Head of Performance, for supporting Jake recently and the role played by Mike Johnston, formerly Head of Endurance, in Jake’s early years.   It’s just as well he did, because the chances of Mark or Mike talking about it publicly are slim to zero . . .

‘Mark Pollard has been great supporting Jake and I want to highlight the work Mike Johnston did a number of years ago,’ said Geoff.   ‘He gave Jake his first Scotland vests a number of years ago and that was key to his development.’   Jake told BBC Scotland: ‘I wasn’t amazing when I was 13, 14, 15 and I would probably have got swallowed up if I was in England, whereas coming from Scotland I was able to have enough success to keep me hungry.’

Mike’s contribution to coaching and to the sport more generally has been recognised at Scottish and British levels.    Principal Awards are undoubtedly the Tom Stillie Award  and the The British Athletics Writers Merit Award.

The former is awarded annually by Scottish athletics to the person who has contributed the most to Scottish Athletics within the preceding year.   Previous winners include Allan Wells (1986), Cameron Sharp (1982), George Duncan (1999), Alan Bertram (1992) and others in various categories – coach, athlete, official, administrator.   It is a standout award because the criteria for nomination are high and also because it comes in the form of a huge sword which is impressive in its own right but also distinct from the more normal cups, shields and other annual presentations.

The British Athletics Writers Merit Award, also known as the Ron Pickering Memorial Award for Services to Athletics, was awarded to Mile in 2023.   The citation says as follows: 

The Ron Pickering Memorial Award for Services to Athletics, gifted by the BAWA Committee, was given to distance coach Mike Johnston, regarded as the godfather of the crop of Scottish middle-distance athletes that have taken major medals over the past decade. He joined Cambuslang Harriers 40 years ago and his skills in nurturing talent were deployed by Scottish Athletics as head of endurance until his formal retirement. He remains an active coach and mentor to a new generation.

“I just enjoy coaching,” he said. “I like to see people improve. It doesn’t have to be winning medals or making teams but I like to see people get the most out of athletics and just enjoy the sport. That’s the key thing. But we did have a good phase where things went well on the endurance side in Scotland. The big thing was identifying and supporting the right people, especially the coaches, in setting up a good framework. And Mark Pollard has done a great job taking it on and expanding on it since I retired.”

A few of the other awards on the same night went to Josh Kerr who won the John Rodda Award for Male Athlete of the Year, Katarina Johnston-Thomson for the Cliff Temple Female Athlete of the Year, and Hannah Cockcroft as Female Para Athlete of the Year.     Not bad company.

 Mike, Eamonn Fitzgerald, Darcy Cummings and Hugh Murray.

The above concentrates on Mike’s activities as a coach partly because he regards himself as principally one of the coaching fraternity, and partly because his career has been mainly centred on that aspect of athletics.   There is more about his activities as an administrator of the next page in which some of his friends have their say at these links;

Mike Johnston: What his Friends Say . . .                              Mike Johnston: Cambuslang Harrier

Photograph from The Rangers Story Facebook Group

When I started running in the 1950’s there were three major athletics meetings held before big crowds in Scotland.   There was the Edinburgh Highland Games which was held at Murrayfield on a short grass track.   The crowds were big, there were many top ranked athletes taking part but it was on grass which could be slippery when wet.   The short track made it difficult for distance runners to judge pace really accurately.   Then there were two which were held on standard sized cinder tracks – Cowal Highland Games and the Rangers Sports.   Cowal had the attraction of the trip doon the watter and the pipers practising on the boat on the way down and the really dramatic finish with the march of 1000 pipers coming over the hill from the houses above the start of the back straight.   The really big one however was the Rangers Sports.   It had everything – a super track well marked and a well laid out infield for the field events, the very highest class of athlete that you could wish to see – Olympians, World Record Holders – competing against each other and against the top Scots of the day, and there were many open events for locals to run in.   Occasionally one of the international athletes would have a run out in an open race.   For club runners and officials to compete on the same track and to brush against the shoulders of the mighty on the way on to or from the track was inspirational in a way that no other event on the calendar could manage.    The picture above show just how big the crowd could be as well as the range of ages striving to get the best view possible of the race on the track.    This meeting is the one held in 1955 before a crowd of 50,000.    

Photograph from The Rangers Story Facebook Group

The race that grabbed all the headlines with the three main contenders in the finishing straight battling it out was the men’s half mile.    The field included Tom Courtney of the USA, Brian Hewson of the AAA’s, Derek Johnston also of the AAA’s and Audun Boysen of Norway.   All superb runners and record holders.   Johnston had won the British Empire Games 800m in Vancouver in 1954, Courtney had won the NCAA 880 yards title in 1955 and would go on to win the Olympic 800m in 1956, Brian Hewson had won the AAA’s 880 in 1953 and 1954 and took silver at the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver and Audun Boysen had set three Norwegian records over 1000m the last one being in 1955 when he ran 2:19.   All champions and all went head to head – not as part of a three ring circus grand prix either.   said the ‘Glasgow Herald’, and with some justice.   The report on the race said –

“ Never has so brilliant a half mile been held in Scotland – eight yards covering the first four, three of whom returned times within the previous all-comers record of 1 min 50 sec.   T Courtney (US), BS Hewson and DJN Johnston (AAA’s) and A Boysen (Norway) have all been in record breaking form in recent days so when the first lap, with S Oseid (Norway) in the lead ended in 52.8 sec, and Boysen, holder of the record, went to the front, a stirring finish was inevitable.   Up the finishing straight it was still anybody’s race.   Only over the last 30 yards did Courtney gain the front, and despite determined efforts by Hewson and Johnston the American held on and won by half a yard in the marvellous time of 1 Min 42.9 sec.   His performance was rated even better than the time indicates for a troublesome wind faced the runners in the finishing straight and the track was very loose – factors that may well have added two seconds to the time and deprived Cortney of a world record.”

The “Scotsman” went one better the the “Herald” when they described the race as follows:   “The 40,000 spectators saw what must surely have been the best and most thrilling half-mile race ever run in Britain, one that from the start was tense.   Pacemaker was a Norwegian runner, Sven Olseid, closely followed by a compatriot, A Boysen the record holder.   Over the last 200 yards there was a great struggle between T Courtney, USA, and the AAA’s runners B Hewson and DJN Johnston,   In a race that was the very essence of athletics, the American won by half a yard, but the first three runners all beat the Scottish all-comers record.    Courtney’s time of 1 min 49.2 sec was only 6-10ths of a second outside the world record.”

So many superlatives, and even if we take the “Scotsman’s” estimate of the attendance, tens of thousands of Glaswegians got to see these world stars in action, and many Scottish club athletes got to see them up close and walk beside them on the track or the infield.   How much motivation was there for the young lads in that picture at the top of the page?   Very top end of Primary School, first or second year secondary seeing a race like that and feeling the emotions of the crowd.   As for the runners – from Victoria Park, from Monkland Harriers, from Clydesdale or Shettleston or Maryhill – they could tell all their stories to friends and club mates for weeks afterwards.   The athletics events went from the sprints to an invitation One Hour Race which was won by George King of Greenock Wellpark Harriers from Hugo Fox of Shettleston Harriers with Dave Clelland of Falkirk Victoria Harriers with a distance of 10 miles 1625 yards.   The race had been set up to help Ian Binnie of Victoria Park better  the Scottish records for the hour run but he was forced to retire after eight miles.   The Scotsman says: 

Photograph from The Rangers Story Facebook Group

Although the half mile was the headline story in reports of the meeting, Rangers Sports were never about one top class event to bring in the crowds.  The main point of this page – the whole meeting is covered elsewhere – is to illustrate the quality of the meeting. If we look at the results of the invitation events in 1955, we see this:

Now we should look at some of the athletes competing in the various events.

120 yards:   1st D Blair USA: Ran 11.4 in the Heat and then again in the Final.   Would have been all-comers record but for following wind; 2nd Brian Shenton GB: won gold in 1950 European championship 200m, silver in Vancouver 1954 Empire Games; 3rd E Sandstrom GB:  won the AAA’s 100 yards in 1955, two gold medals as part of a  4 x 110 relay team in the European championships in 1958, and in the Empire Games in Cardiff the same year.

220 yards: Two races  including the best Scots sprinters against the international athletes –

First Race 1st D Blair USA;   2nd ER Sandstrom GB; 3rd W Henderson Watsonians  21.8 seconds; 

Second Race:  1st MJ Ruddy AAA; 2nd B Shenton AAA’s; 3rd AS Dunbar Victoria Park 22 seconds

440 yards:   1st MG Wheeler AAA’s Member of the GB Olympics team in 1956 and won bronze  as member of the 4 x 400 team; set many records over the distance including at schools level as well as being joint English record holder in 1955; 2nd A Christiansen Denmark; 3rd FP Higgins AAA: An English sprinter mainly at 440 yards, who was part of the bronze medal winning 4 x 400m team at the 1956 Olympics with Michael Wheeler, John Salisbury and Derek Johnston.   .

880 yards:    See above,

One Mile:  1st G Nielsen Denmark:  Competed in two Olympics and one European Championships:  in 1954 he was fourth in the 800m in exactly the same time as the third placed runner; in the Europeans that year he was second behind Roger Bannister and set a new Danish record, and in the 1956 Games in Melbourne he won his heat of the 800m, did not run in the semi final but chose to run the 1500 where he finished tenth; 2nd K Wood AAA:  Wood won the Emsley Carr Mile four times, won the AAA’s Mile in 1956 and 1959, in 1956 he was second behind Sandor Iharos, Hungary, with both runners breaking the world record for the distance.   He ran in the 1956 Olympic Games at 1500 finishing ninth in the final.  3rd B Seaman USA: In 1956 he set a UCLA record by running the Mile in 4:01.6 – the second fastest ever by an American.   In 1962 in a star studded field in London he was fourth in 3:58.07 which made him the fourth American to break 4 minutes for the Mile.   

Two Miles:    1st Derek Ibbotson AAA:  What to say about Derek Ibbotson?   He set a World Record for the Mile in 1956, won bronze in the Melbourne Olympics over 5000m; won the AAA’s one mile and three miles titles; ran several very fast times over the Mile and Three Miles in Scotland where he was a great favourite – too much for here but just check him out online.   2nd BT Barrett AAA:  No information;  3rd  K Norris AAA:  British 6 Miles champion in 1955 and 1966; Olympic 10000m runner in 1956.    

220 yards hurdles: 1st Peter Hildreth  Won the AAA 120 yards hurdles in 1950 and one month later won bronze in the European championships.   In June 1952 he was the first ever AAA champion at 220 yards hurdles, at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics he reached the semi final of the 110 m hurdles, he won three more AAA titles over the hurdles before heading for the Melbourne Olympics and also ran at the Rome OLympics,   He broke the British record for the 110 hurdles five times.     2nd RD Shaw AAA  Second in the AAA hurdles in 1954, he won in 1955.   Running for Wales he was third in the hurdles in Vancouver Empire Games in 1954; he ran in the 400m hurdles at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.   3rd  PAL Vine AAA No information

Pole Vault: 1st I Ward AAA: British Pole Vault champion in 1956 and 1957; competed in the Empire Games in Cardiff in 1958;   2nd G Schmidt AAA:   3rd A Broad AAA       No information on 2 or 3.

 That is only at one of the Rangers Sports Meetings.   11 Olympians, numerous European and Empire competitors and national champions, plus national and world record breakers.   And they were all there in Glasgow on the same day.   Most meetings are lucky if there is one Olympian or world record breaker present and competing.   This was exceptional and there are no such meetings on the calendar today.   Times have changed, professional athletes – and that’s a change in itself – have managers and coaches telling them where and when to race.   The question is – where do the wee boys like those seen in the photograph at the top of the page get that kind of inspiration?   Truth is probably nowhere with the 2026 Commonwealth Games having only ten sports on display.

There was also the not inconsiderable effect on the runners, jumpers and throwers of seeing and rubbing shoulders with the ‘Greats’, and even in some cases competing in the same races (note the two races in the 220 yards for examples) and even jogging with some of them.   I spoke to one who did a warm up jog with Arthur Wint, the superb West Indian some thirty years after it happened and he still remembered it very clearly.    Among the club athletes were the winners of the open events.   These were as follows:

These were not the very best that Scotland had to offer although they were all good athletes, they were good club men who made the best of their handicaps and who had in most cases naviugated their way through at least two round, in the case of the sprints it was probably through rounds.   For the Mile and Steeplechase there was only the one race with handicaps up to 165 yards.    For these athletes, going to their club on the following Tuesday, it was something to be talked about for many Tuesdays to come – what they ran, how they finished, what if anything they won – and what they often kept to themselves was what they saw of the top talent – what they wore (vests, T shirt, track suit or sweater and flannels, what kind of shoes they wore) what drills they did as part of the warm up, what their routine was before the race and how long they took to do it, and so on.

The Rangers Sports, and the Murrayfield HG too, were one of the best things to happen to athletics in the country and it is a tragedy that no one has found a way to replicate it\ 

Immediately after the start, 2023: Ewan Cameron leading the field on Portobello Prom

Many  Scottish road race classics have been dropped from the calendar.   There are many reasons for the demise of such races as the Strathallan 20 miles, the Bute 18, the Clydebank to Helensburgh 16 and the races at Shotts and Dunblane.   There have also, alas, been races dropped from the calendar simply because of a lack of will to keep them going.   The Edinburgh to North Berwick was a real classic having been run by many of the very best distance runners in the country, used by dozens of club runners as a stepping stone to the full marathon distance and it was also one of the Scottish Marathon Club sponsored races.   It dropped from the calendar in 2017 but was revived and revitalised by Alan and Alistair Lawson and their team in 2022.     It went well that year and has gone from strength to strength since with a team race being incorporated in 2015.   There are also videos of the event by Jim Sheach and his wife Kate Crichton – the 2025 one is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0BZxWv3lhc .     

It has its own website which you can see at https://www.e2nb.org.uk   from which the photographs here have been taken and which have all details of the races have been obtained.   Before going straight into the results, it might be salutary and have lessons for other now defunct races, were we to look at how the resurrection came about.  

When asked about what motivated him, Alan replied: “I had run in the E2NB in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and thought it was a fine race. From 2009 to 2017 it was heavily supported by East Lothian Council, who provided staff to do much of the admin and organisation (and also for the North Berwick Law race and a couple of road races at Haddington). The E2NB also had a committee with reps from 7 clubs — Dunbar, Haddington ELP, Musselburgh, Portobello, Edinburgh AC, Hunters Bog Trotters and Ferranti, but after 2017 the Council withdrew their support, and the leading lights of the 7 clubs decided that the event could not be kept going. The race didn’t happen at all in 2018, ’19, ’20 or ’21;  the race had been killed off.  I though this was a disaster, given the event’s long history and its roll-call of famous winners. It was also the only 20-mile race left in Scotland, and was relatively unusual in being a point-to-point… always a more attractive proposition than circular courses or out-and-backs. It is also, I suspect, the only hard-surface, point-to-point 20-mile race anywhere in Britain.

I decided to resurrect the event.   I had co-founded the Seven Hills of Edinburgh in 1980 and organised it ever since.  I also operated a half-marathon at the Barry Buddon military training area near Carnoustie in 2014/15/16, although dreadful obstructionism by Landmarc (the MoD’s agents) then killed it off.”

We see from the above the motivation that drove the restart of the race, and some of Alan’s own athletics organisational experience but there were other aspects of the event that needed some attention.    Alan continues. 

There were a lot of aspects of the E2NB’s operation which were not good (including its finances), so I changed almost everything apart from the 20-mile course!  I had good cooperation from Brian Howie — a long-time E2NB enthusiast — who provided some documents from the past.  I also created a dedicated website for the event — something which it had never previously had.  And I found the venerable trophy — which had been lost for 10 years!   There have been other new trophies obtained for women and for veterans. The resurrected event has now been run 4 times with last year seeing a record historical field, 227 finishers. And the post-match catering is excellent and much appreciated by the runners!”

As with other race organisers he has had difficulties with unco-operative elected officials.   Many race committees say pretty well the same things.   Relations between the  Council   and the race have effectively collapsed.    Informative and educational and a lesson for others who would follow in his footsteps.

Ewan Cameron after his epic third victory in 2025

The first race back was an undoubted success with more than 170 finishers from over 20 clubs which ranged geographically from Fulham Running Club to Metro Aberdeen.    The first five finishers in 2022 were as in the table below.

There were over 40 women taking part in the race with Victoria Campbell being first woman to finish (she was 48th) in 2:30:04, followed by Amanda Ferguson  (FV 45) in 56th in 2:32:40, and Heather Darling in 57th in 2:33:33.    There were male veterans in almost all categories with the first three being Stuart Campbell in fifth, Duncan Ryan (Perth Road Runners) sixteenth in 2:09:30 and John J Duffy (Shettleston) twentieth in 2:25:55.   Seventy runners of the 150 finishers were veterans.   There was also a team competition included in the race and it was won by Edinburgh AC’s team of Ewan Cameron 1st, Callum Reid 2nd and John Morris 7th.   Second and third were Hunters Bog Trotters OFY and EAC BB Team.   It should be noted that the team was open to groups of individuals who had just grouped themselves into groups of three as well as existing club team members and there were teams such as Party@Porty, Tyne Bridge and Runners are Smilers.   

2023

Jennifer Wetton, Central AC, Women’s winner in 2023 in 2:10:35

In 2023 the field of runners was slightly bigger with 175 finishers of whom 45 were women and there were 72 vets (including women).   The first five are in the table below.   Ewan Cameron won the race as in 2022 and Stuart Campbell also occupied the same places as the year before – fourth overall and first vet.   Ewan can be seen in the photograph leading the field after the start, a position he held safely to the finish.

There was also a team race and in the tradition of the first race, not all teams were club teams.   It was won by EdinburghAC with a team of Ewan Cameron (1st), Stuart Johnston (4th) and John Hancock 16th.   The remaining teams in order were Ultra Attacking AC, Portobello Boys, We Should Be On A Team, Carse AC, Lauderdale Limpers, NB Too Slow, Lothian Running Club, Penicuik Harriers, Haddington Running Club and Edinburgh Running Club.   The teams could be runners from the same or different club, unattached runners or teams of combined genders.   It is a growing practice in many ultra and hill races and has the virtue of giving people in weaker clubs or who are not in any club the opportunity to gain a prize, adds an element of fun to the procedings and probably increases the number of entries,  

2024

Tom Martyn, winner in 2024 with Trophy

Tom’s time in 2024 was record for the 20 mile distance – more than two minutes clear of the second runner but a huge difference from the previous years’ times reported above.   He also led the winning team home, as indeed did Ewan in the first two events.

In 2024 there were many more runners – in fact the event attracted 196 athletes and it would surely only be a matter of time before the 200 barrier was broken.   The times were also good with the first two runners being quicker than in either of the first two races of the new series. both set by Ewan Cameron who was second this time round beating his own time of 2022.   Stuart Campbell, fourth in each of the first two races, ran again and finished 13th to retain the title of first veteran (he was a V50) which he now had three times in a row.   Jennifer Wetton was again first woman to finish, this time in 2:12:04.

In the team race, the winning outift was Hunters Bog Trotters led home by Tom Martyn and had a low total of 12 points with the other team members being Charles Houton (3rd) and Charles Williamson (8th).   Second and third were Thursday Crew with 125 points and A Porty Scran, also with 125 points.   There were also two all-ladies teams – Portobello Running Club Ladies (4th) and Musselburgh and District Female (5th with 320 points) who were ahead of Musselburgh and District Men (6th with 360).

2025

With numbers increasing year on year, how did 2025 compare?   It was a bumper year with 227 finishers 31 more than the previous year.  More than 80 vets were in the race – another increase – and 46 women took part. First vet was Rob Souter from Musselburgh in 2:13:01 and first woman Esther Everitt in 2:14:54.  The race grew in another respect too when the organisers added a team prize to the already impressive awards on offer.   

The first and maybe most obvious feature of the ’25 race was the winning individual being Ewan Cameron making it three wins in four races – and he was second in the fourth.   This victory was special because it was his third in the race with only one man having done so in any incarnation of the race – Colin Hutt of Bo’ness Road Runners was the man and he won it in 1997 (2:08:07), 1998 (2:06:19) and 1999 (2:06:57).   His feat had not been equalled in 28 years before Ewan did so.    In the team race the first three teams were NB Runners Fast Boys with 21 points,  Interval with 48 points and Maryhill Harriers with 164 points.    

There are several links with previous races but single most passionate man about the race is without doubt Brian Howie who won the M70 prize in 2022, ’23 and ’25.   Brian has a website of his own about the race that goes a long way back with all the results contained therein and available to the public.   It can be found at  Brians’s home pages    He has run in the race over various courses and distances for many years and his website is well worth a visit.    The race organisers have done a superb job in getting this wonderful event restored to the calendar – especially when so many others are falling by the wayside with little if any co-operation from local politicians and police forces.    Alan and brother Alistair  are determined to keep it going, whatever it takes.   

The race for 2026 will be on 2nd May – note it in your Diary.   It is well organised, there is a fairly extensive prize list with spot prizes in addition to individual and team award..   ie Trophies for Male and female winners, as well as for M40 and F45 veterans, prizes for first 4 men and women.  Age group prizes are also in place.      All finishers get a memento in the form of a specially designed coaster.   2nd May, 2026 is the date.

Lining up at the start of the SWCCU Champs, 23rd February, 1985, at the Fleet Grounds, Rosyth 

Alastair Shaw’s photographs already on the site have deservedly elicited many complimentary remarks.   He has covered track and field championships. Commonwealth Games and a whole set of very good pictures of officials – the unsung heroes and heroines of the sport (don’t confuse them with the administrators) – and the Glasgow Marathon.   The photos here are of the Scottish Women’s Championships held at Rosyth on 23rd February 1985.

Rosyth and Pitreavie always had a special place in SWAAA/SWCCU athletics.   When I started in athletics at the end of the 1950’s, the SWAAA Championships were always held at Pitreavie, and when my daughter took up running, she ran in the Cross-Country Championships at Rosyth.  They were not always held there but the men never ran their championships over that course.   The course itself was a tough, testing course.   Just look at the faces and body language of the women as they come up to the crest of the hill and you can see the effort required.

This was a tough race between two of Scotland’s best ever cross-country exponents.    They had many a hard battle over the years on track and country.   Both Olympians, Lynne won this time.   A short report on the race is attached at the end.  Thanks Alastair for a great set of pictures telling the story of the race.

The start

Early on, Yvonne and Lynne are clearly seen with Jean Lorden (31) and Violet Blair (132), both Edinburgh, and Chris Haskett’s Dundee vest can be seen between Yvonne and Lynne

Pitreavie girls were on their home course: This is Liz McArthur who finished 11th

Lynne and Yvonne crest the hill: the effort shows on  their faces but their running action gives nothing away – look at the height of their feet above the ground 

Janet Higgins working hard at the top

A great picture showing how steep the hill is: see how high Lynne has climbed up in such a short distance

Look at the determination on the face of the winner who is now in the clear 

Yvonne, in second place and still almost sprinting.

Morag Taggart – Pitreavie AAC

Before we go on to the memorabilia, I will draw your attention to an article from Racing Past which deals with miling and in particular the career of John Joe Barry who ran in Scotland as a member of the St Machan’s club in Lennoxtown for several years.   The article, a very good read, is at  https://www.racingpast.ca/bob-phillips.php?id=34       Picture below is of John Joe leading in the AAA’s championships of 1949.   He set a world record for the one and a half miles which was not recognised as such because the distance was not recognised by the IAAF for world record purposes.   Read it but first have a look at this collection of memorabilia.

Hugh really does have some really good stuff in his collection and also has an eye for the outstanding items on Facebook and internet pages.   The first one here is a real gem – I’ve never seen anything like it.   Sent by Ian Binnie’s daughter Shelley Pedersen it is a badge from the Empire Games in Vancouver in 1954.   Ian’s profile is on the website at  this link.  

Of course Hugh’s interest in the history of the sport is well known and among the items on this page we have this letter inviting a club to take part in the Five-a-side tournament at the Rangers Sports in 1954.   

There is I think almost universal regret that the short relays in October have pretty well all gone – there was the McAndrew Relay at Scotstoun on the first Saturday of the month, followed by the County Relays, followed by the District Relays and then the National relays.   Before the National relays there was the Dundee Kingsway Relay – like all the rest it was a 4 man, just short of 3 miles, relay and like the McAndrew it was on the roads.   Hugh of course was in a winning team and shows us his plaque.   

There are not many with his knowledge of the early days of the sport and the overlap between football and athletics and here we have an article from the Scottish Athletics Journal.   You will note that Tom Vallance was a top class all round sportsman and the first man ever to hold the national record for the long jump.

Many of us remember the statue on the canopy outside Bishopbriggs Leisure Centre.   It was one of three casts of a statue made by John  Longden and was simply called the Runner.    It was removed after the Centre was refurbished and ended up for a short while inside in Hugh’s office.   both runners are pictured with the metal one wearing what looks like a rugby or football top.

More to come!

Aileen running in the Perth Ultra Fest, 2010

Aileen Scott has a first class athletics career with top class runs over most distances and in classic ultra distance events such as the Highland Fling (Milngavie to Tyndrum), Devil of the Highlands (Tyndrum to Fort William), the West Highland Way, and  the Edinburgh to Glasgow road race.    She has also covered other open events (Brampton to Carlisle half marathon),  as well as competing in cross-country events at club, county, district and national level.   

Aileen also served on the club committee for several years.   She was also the first woman president of the club in its its 120 years history, serving in that post in 2006/7 and 2007/8.    As such it was no token appointment with Aileen efficiently conduction committee meetings, initiating other one-off events and doing her best to advance the club both competitively and socially.   

We should however begin with her early days in the sport.

One of the first questions that any runner is asked is how they started in the sport and we turn to an article in the Daily Record in 2010 which was written after a wonderful run in London which had helped her selection for a 24 hour race representing Scotland in Perth.   It starts as follows.

 Aileen’s career began in 1998 when she was persuaded to enter a ladies 10k race at short notice.   She says:  “My first foray into running was the women’s 10k in Glasgow. A friend was running it and she asked if I wanted to run it with her. So I entered – very dubious that I could even run 6 miles – but it was a great event with a great atmosphere and I was hooked .”    Having been ‘hooked’ Aileen kept running for several years as an unattached runner; training,  racing and learning about running as part of her lifestyle.   She went on to say in the interview that “I was never much of a runner before then, but I joined the Harriers in about 2002 and a few years later did my first West Highland Way race which is over 95 miles from Milngavie to Fort William.”

There were two races in particular in 2004 where she ran well enough to be noticed and included in the Athletics Weekly results.   The first of these was the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon where, as a Clydesdale Harrier she was placed 16th in 91 minutes 31 seconds and the second was the Dunky Wright 5K held in Clydebank one week later where she fifth in 21:22.   These were both run on relatively flat courses.   

One of the races that the club supported regularly and in which Aileen played a part was the Brampton to Carlisle Half Marathon.  Between 2001 and 2009, Clydesdale Harriers supported the race and the women won several individual and team awards with the veteran women taking first place in no fewer than five consecutive years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).  They won both the Lady Vets and Ladies races in 2006.   Aileen  joined the club in 2002 – but only three years later she was there on the starting line in 2005 and by the end of the 13 miles plus she was 16th and third club woman finisher – Ann Murray was eighth and Pamela McCrossan tenth – and that group of three was second in the Ladies race 11 points behind local club Morpeth Harriers.   More than that, the same three runners won the Veteran Ladies team race with their positions in the veteran category being 3rd, 5th and 8th and the Morpeth Ladies team was second 31 points behind them.   

2006 was also a good year for Aileen, maybe even better.    She ran the Monklands half marathon which was anything but flat and finished second in 95:44.   Forget the time – this was a good run on a difficult trail which had several very long hills to negotiate and, more, she was running it exactly one week after the London Marathon.  Run on 23rd April in 3:26:55, she was 463rd of the thousands taking part.   Less than a week before that – April 26th – she had run in the short steep hill race of the Whangie Whizz at Blanefield finishing 96th.   Came November and she was back in Brampton and the Ladies team of Melanie Douglas (5th), Pamela McCrossan (13th) and Aileen (21st) won the race from Bellahouston Harriers by 22 points, and the veterans team – over 35 – of Pamela (5th), Aileen (11th) and Marina McCallum (19th) won by no fewer than 58 points from Tynedale Harriers.      

It was at this point, about 2007, that Aileen found that she had a talent for running big distances and that she also enjoyed doing them.   How did it come about?   Aileen again: “I joined the Harriers in 2002 and a few years later did my first West Highland Way which is over 95 miles from Milngavie to Fort William.   A South African friend, David Foord, convinced me to run the WHW as I had supported him in races like it a couple of times in the past.   I actually enjoyed that race more than I thought.   David had said that I was built for that kind of race as opposed to half marathons or 10K’s. ”  

The HOKA Highland Fling race covers slightly more than half of the West Highland Way, goes from Milngavie to Tyndrum and has a total distance of 53 miles.   Times can vary tremendously from year to year simply because of the weather conditions and the effect they have on the underfoot conditions.   It’s run early in the year – April – and Aileen first ran in it in 2007.   Her time of 11 hours 16 minutes and 20 seconds saw her finish 25th which was in the first half of the field and placed seventh of the twelve women taking part.   The progression from running part of the West Highland Way is to run the whole way and Aileen did just that in the race held on 23rd June.   Her time of 24 hours 19 minutes 16 seconds was good enough to see her in the first half of the runners who completed the event – 35th out of 76 – and fifth woman of 11 who also made it to Fort William.  

Aileen finishing the Highland Fling in 2008

(the Fling is a 53 mile race from Milngavie to Tyndrum along the West Highland Way route)

Not content with having run in the Highland Fling once, Aileen was there on 26th April in  2008  in a bigger field of runners and this year finished in 11 hours 24 minutes and 20 seconds which was a bit slower than the previous year but the measure of her progress is in the placing – this time she was 44th out of 104 and in the women’s race, fourth out of 15.

Later in the year, on 21st June 2008, she was out there taking part in the West Highland Way  which she completed in 23 hours  28 minutes 48 seconds to be   48th of the 97 finishers and tenth woman of 16.

  Aileen’s best years were probably 2009 and 2010.    In April she was again in action in the Highland Fling, this time running 10 hours 45 minutes 25 seconds which was her best time by far for the 53 miles and it showed in her placing of 93rd out of 242 and 9th woman to finish of the 37 who entered.   This could maybe be seen as preparation for the West Highland Way race which was held on 20th June.    Run over the full 95 miles distance from Milngavie to its finish in Fort William, Aileen tackled it well finishing 29th of the 122 men and women who started and was fourth woman to finish of 122 runners.   It seemed as though the further she ran, the better she ran.   

The biggest event of her career up to that point, possibly ever, was saved until 17th October when she ran in a 24 hour race at Tooting Bec in London.   She ran a superb distance of 117 miles 610.6 yards in the time and was not only tenth of 32 but the first female runner.   How did she get into such a race?   She herself says “I entered Tooting Bec because someone mentioned to me that the woman’s commonwealth qualifying standard for a 24hr race was 115 miles. I thought that sounded do’able based on my WHW experience and so entered to see if I could run the commonwealth qualifying distance.”  The standard for  Commonwealth Games selection was to run 185km/115 miles.   The Games in 2010 were to be held in Delhi in India and it was not clear whether there would actually be a 24 hour race held there but, if there weren’t, she was hoping for a place in the 2014 Games to be held in Glasgow.   It was quite a race – run on a 400 metre track, the athletes had to run round and round for the full 24 hours!

It certainly was “do’able”!    The organiser’s, Sri Chinmoy,  report read:   “In the Ladies race, Jane Riley took an early lead but was soon overtaken by Aileen Scott before six hours and was chased by Elisabeth Karlsson who stayed close to the end.”   Short and to the point – Aileen took the lead before six hours (ie before even a quarter of the race) and was not caught finally winning by more than five miles! 

The full result after the race was as follows.

If we look at the race in more detail we see that he splits, according to the sri chin moi races website were as follows:   

The full marathon distance was covered in 4 hours;   

50 miles in  8 hours 14 minutes ;

70 miles in 12 hours; 93.95 miles 18 hours;  

113 miles in 23 hours ;

117 miles  610 yards in 24 hours.

It was a quite remarkable feat and it is doubtful if any club member, male or female, has covered such a distance in the time since it was established in 1885, and it earned her a Scottish selection just a year later.

In 2010 her first ultra was on 14th March when she took part in the Edinburgh to Glasgow 50 miles road race.   Fellow Harrier Peter Halpin was also running and they ran the second half of the race together crossing the line in 9 hours 48 minutes 43 seconds.   Just over a month later, on 24th April, she was out running again in the Highland Fling and again she ran faster than in previous years – 10 hours 13 minutes and 27 seconds which placed her comfortably in the first quarter of the field overall and seventh woman of the 59 who took part.   There is also a race over the second half of the West Highland Way known as the Devil of the Highlands which at 42 miles is a bit shorter but more than makes up for that with the much hillier terrain over which it is held.    It is held at the start of July and on the seventh of the month Aileen covered the distance in 8 hours 01 minutes and 21 seconds to be 34th of the 94 participants and eighth woman of 31 who finished the course.   

The 24 hours race run in London in October 2009 led to Aileen being selected to run for Scotland in the international 24 hour race being held in Perth in September 2010.    It is worth remembering that already in the 2010 lead in to the Perth race she had already run the Edinburgh to Glasgow, the Highland Fling and the Devil of the Highlands on a variety of surfaces.   Before the race, Aileen was interviewed by the Perthshire Advertiser from which the following extracts come.   She said  “Aileen Scott, a partner with accountancy firm Campbell Dallas, has been chosen to represent Scotland Ladies after being placed first at Tooting Bec last October in her 24 hour racing debut.   Aileen told PA Sport  “I was delighted to earn a place in the team alongside the Scottish record holder Pauline Walker and her twin sister Fiona Rennie.   It’s great to be running at Perth and I hope that my colleagues from the local office are able to come down and support me at some point in the day or night.”   Campbell Dallas has a branch in Perth – one of 50 branches they had at the time.   Quoted in the Daily Record, she said that she had got into the race off the back of the London race, after which she got an email to say she was being considered for selection and to advise them of what races she would be running so that she could be assessed on them.   She put the West Highland Way race forward and that and her time was good enough for selection.  There were also articles in the local papers in Helensburgh and district.      

Aileen and Fiona Rennie with two of the Scottish men before the Perth Race.

The race started at 10:00 am on Saturday, 4th September on a flat 1.5 mile loop round the North Inch in Perth.   The runners were from Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, Italy and France.   

Aileen was third in the race – first Scot and only beaten by two English runners.  It was also belatedly designated as the Scottish 24 Hour Championships so she was also Scottish Women’s Champion.  Afterwards spoke to the Daily Record about it.   “The race went well and I’m delighted with coming third in my first time representing Scotland.   I didn’t run as far as I have done running 24 hour races in the past, but quite a lot of people’s mileage was down because of the heat.   It was a really warm day on a running loop which was quite exposed to the weather.   The most difficult part was around 3 a.m, to 4 a,m which is always the case when I run 24 hour races.    I was desperate for sleep at that point, and I was also vomiting which was the case for quite a few of the runners,   I don’t know when I’ll do a race like that again.”   

Result for the race is as follows.

The Power of 10 website lists only 9 events from Aileen’s running career, and lists her personal bests at standard distances, as well as 24 hours as follows.

That was to be her last Scottish international appearance and her last Scottish championship.   Aileen’s business demands became much more intense and she simply had to turn her attentions in that direction.   It was not only a loss to Clydesdale Harriers of her enthusiasm, imagination and work rate but Scottish athletics also lost a talent that could have done much for the sport in the country as a whole.

Running in the Six Stage Relays in 2011

Iain Robertson has been a member of Clydesdale Harriers since the end of the 1980’s and been the kind of member that all clubs need – a regular attender on training nights, a runner who is dependable and gives his best every time out; if he is prepared to be elected to the committee then that’s a bonus. Iain ticked all the boxes.  We all knew that Iain was a good runner but no one  expected the degree of excellence in track running that he displayed when he became a 35 year old competitor in Masters events.    We will come to that later but we should start with his own view of his career and his attitude to the sport as explained in his replies to the questionnaire.  

Name:   Iain Robertson

DoB :  18/01/1978

Club/s: Clydesdale Harriers

Occupation: Chartered Surveyor

Events: 800m to Half Marathon

Personal bests?

400m: 55.17    Kilmarnock, 2016

800m: 2.01.20     Gothenburg, Sweden 2012

1500m: 4.12.61  Gothenburg, Sweden 2012

3000m: 9.55.24 Grangemouth 2010

5k:  17.39 Dunky Wright Road Race 2009

10K: 37.30 Glasgow 2008

Half Marathon: 1.23.43 Balloch to Clydebank 2010

Can you give some details of sporting activity development:

How did you get into the sport initially?

In first year at Braidfield High School, I volunteered to take part in a schools cross country race at Braidfield Farm. After the race, my P.E. teacher, Mr Chudleigh, asked me if I’d enjoyed it. I said I had and he then pointed me in the direction of Derek McGinley who was there watching the races. I spoke to Derek and he invited me and a couple of my friends to come down to Whitecrook the following Tuesday. I went down to the club on the Tuesday and met the other boys Derek was coaching, they were a good group. Derek told me a bit more about the training and competitions I could get involved in. I decided that I wanted to be a part of it, so I became a Clydesdale Harrier.

Has any individual or group of individuals had a marked influence on your attitude or performances?

Derek McGinley – Derek was the first big influence in my early years getting to know the sport. He was generous with his time and you felt like he genuinely cared about athletics and the athletes he was coaching. He was always there with a bit of advice or encouragement and he taught you about discipline and etiquette as well as how to train. I remember being surprised one morning when I was running a 1500m race at Braidfield High in the school sports. Shortly before the race started, Derek appeared at the side of the track to watch. He didn’t have to do that, but I really appreciated it.

I had drifted away from the sport after I left school and went to University. After I graduated, I started doing a bit of running again to improve my fitness. A short while later I met Derek by chance in Clydebank. He was pleased when I told him I’d been running again. He told me about a training group who went to Clydebank Business Park on a Tuesday and said I’d be welcome to come along. I didn’t realise quite how high the standard of training was until I went along. Allan Adams, Charlie Thomson and James Austin were all regulars. I was out of my depth but the guys made me feel welcome. I joined in and certainly got fitter!

Derek played a big part in my return to Clydesdale after a few years out. He later said to me that one of his aims was to see the boys he’d coached go on to run as seniors. I was pleased that Derek saw me run as a senior and I will always appreciate what he did for me.

Phil Dolan – I think I was about 28 years old when Phil asked if I’d like to train with his group on Tuesday nights. I went along and it soon became Tuesdays and Thursdays. Phil’s training methods were more focused and structured than what I’d been doing before and it really opened my eyes. His initial assessment of me was that I should be running faster and if I followed his advice, I would. There were a few talented young athletes in the group at the time including Peter Bowman and Ryan Savage. I enjoyed the training and I was able to see improved results pretty quickly. Phil’s advice and influence changed my perceptions of what I was capable of and over the next few years, I would say that my running improved significantly.

Phil has been the biggest influence on me in my athletics career. He taught me a lot about preparing for races, adapting the training to suit different circumstances. He’s provided me with endless support, guidance and encouragement. I’ve learned a lot from hearing about his experience in the sport. I knew I would never get to the level that Phil achieved, but he made me believe I could be better and to work hard to achieve my own personal goals. His training is always fun and he’s never short of a tale to tell, he makes it enjoyable. All of my PBs have been achieved under Phil’s guidance but perhaps even more importantly, Phil’s judgement in the build up to key races is excellent. He has helped me to reach my season’s best performance at just the right time on many occasions. He has clearly helped me to be a better runner and get a lot more out of the sport.

Something about attitude:

What exactly did you get out of the sport?

I’ve really enjoyed being part of the sport. I was never the fastest but I felt it was something I could do reasonably well. I’ve tried lots of different sports and activities but athletics is the only sport I’ve really taken seriously in a competitive sense. I liked the challenge and the satisfaction of feeling that I’d achieved something. Over the years, it’s helped my physical health and my mental wellbeing. I’ve met some great people and travelled to lots of different places so it’s given me a lot of experiences that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Can you describe your general attitude to the sport?

I think my general attitude is to have a healthy lifestyle and to participate to the best of my ability. I place more importance on being involved in the sport rather than being the best, but I like to think I always try my best.  I particularly enjoy the team events like relays and league competitions, where my own performance is also contributing towards the team as well. It’s a different feeling from running purely for yourself. Running has also been an outlet for me to relax and de-stress outside of work. 

What do you think was your best event?

I would say that the 800m has been my best event over the years. I think my times and performances would say that I’ve been more competitive in the 800m that any other event. I really enjoyed the event as a schoolboy. As a senior, I didn’t really think I’d do much track running. But when I got a couple of chances to run in the Men’s League I got a taste for it again. When I started training with Phil, the 800m and 1500m became more of a focus and my times were getting quicker. I’ve taken this into the masters events and I generally have more success in the 800m than anything else.

What do you consider your best ever performances?

I think my 800m and 1500m pbs over two days in Gothenburg 2012 were my best performances. Winning the 2014 British Masters 800m in Birmingham with a time of 2.02.31 was definitely a highlight for me. Winning a number of Scottish Masters medals over 800m and 1500m was very pleasing as well. 

What has running brought you that you would not have wanted to miss?

There are lots of races I remember being involved in which have given me a great sense of satisfaction. Running personal bests or achieving a particular goal is always a rewarding feeling.

I really value the experience and feeling of just running whether I’m on my own or in a group. I always feel better after a run.

One of the main experiences that stands out are the two trips to Gothenburg. Phil took a group out there in 2009 but unfortunately I couldn’t go. Johnathan Farrell and Peter Bowman were keen to go back over, so I went with them in 2011 and 2012 and I really enjoyed both trips. Running two pbs in my favourite events at the time in 2012 was particularly memorable.

The camaraderie of the training groups I’ve been part of has been very rewarding. You feel a common purpose. Everyone is helping and encouraging each other to improve and you celebrate each other’s achievements. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the different people I’ve met and friendships I’ve made.  

In truth, I really wouldn’t have wanted to miss any of it!

Can you give any details of your training?  (now or in the past)

I’ve never been someone who runs high weekly mileage. I found that I would often pick up injuries if I did too much. Phil helped me a bit by guiding me as to how to increase my training and avoid getting injuries and I definitely trained harder and with more purpose under his guidance. Throughout the period I have been coached by Phil, I would say my running has been pretty consistent. A large part of that would be down to training consistently. I would run six days a week most weeks. A typical week would be two or three interval sessions with some easier runs in between. At the weekend I would do a longer run of around 90 minutes. The interval training would vary depending on the time of year and what races were coming up. Winter being more grass based intervals over longer distances and summer would more track based with shorter, faster repetitions.      

Now, as I’m getting closer to 50, I find it helps to have some extra rest days to help with recovery. I also try to cross train a bit by cycling or going to the gym. At the moment, my aim is to keep going for as long as I can and try to be as fit as I can.

–

The responses above are thoughtful, informative and revealing of his attitude to the sport.   He refers to Derek McGinley who was a much under rated coach.   Derek coached only boys at first and then followed the athletes as they grew older.   Although he seemed to prefer the endurance events, he worked to give the athletes under his guidance a taste for all events because they had different talents and he produced good athletes in the sprints, in endurance events, in the javelin and in the long jump.   Obviously some moved to other club coaches for specialist guidance, often at Derek’s prompting, but all gained from his input.   Phil, of course was a top class endurance athlete in his own right having won international honours on the track and over the country.      

Scottish Masters Outdoor Championships

British Masters Athletic Federation

Iain in 2025 Scottish Masters outdoor championships

Iain’s performances on the track as a Masters athlete, right from the beginning as an M35 to date have been excellent and they show no signs of letting up.   This year, 2025 as a MV45, he has raced in the Scottish Masters Outdoor Championship where he was second in the 800m in 2:12.90 and fourth in the 1500m in 4:46.48.    Later in the year, 27th July,  he had a double first – 800m in 2:11.01 and 1500m in 4:38.80.   See the picture below.

Where does he go from here?   When asked about his future in the sport Iain was clear that he wanted to carry on running but maybe not the intense competition of Track League matches.   In all probability he tells us he will run in park runs, over the country and on the roads – the question is whether he will compete in veterans races.    

The above plans may have to be revised in light of his most recent exploits.  Iain was busy on 8th February 2026 at the Masters Indoors at the Emirates – he won bronze in the M45 800m in a time of 2.11.54.  He ran out of steam in the 1500 and struggled round to finish seventh in a time of 4.52.64.   As he says himself, it has given him hope for the summer season and there may be some years left in him yet!!