GRAEME BARTLETT: HILLRUNNER

Graeme Bartlett (Forres Harriers)
Graeme won the Ben Nevis Race in 1993. He ran for Scotland in the World Mountain Running Trophy (in Edinburgh 1995), finishing 4th counter when his team won superb silver medals. He won many Scottish hill races and set records. Graeme contributed to many team victories for Forres Harriers, including the North District championships and the cross-country relay. In 2003, Graeme Bartlett became the Scottish Hill Running Champion.

This excellent interview, with the highlight a detailed description of Graeme’s dramatic 1993 victory in the Ben Nevis Race, featured in the very first Cosmic Bogtrotters ‘Cosmic Comic’ (Volume 1:1). 

 

 

 

 

 

St Peters AC

 
JJ McFadden winning the 220 at Morton Sports in June 1915
The St Peters AC was a good club, maybe better in track and field athletics than cross-country, and were well known for their big inter-club meetings held at Celtic Park at the start of June in the 1920’s and early 30’s.   They were regarded, and at times spoken of, as the club championships of Scotland.   There were relays at every distance from 4 x 110 yards through  4 x 220, 4 x 440, 4 x 880 and 4 x 1 mile as well as having a two mile team race. Clubs had to have real strength in depth to do well at these meetings and all the very best men at the time turned out.  This article is mainly about the meetings which took place in the late 20’s and early/mid 30’s. Before we look at them, though, it should be noted that little is known of the club itself now, and despite asking usually reliable authorities and consulting reference books, it was impossible to find the club colours, let alone dates for its institution and demise.    That lack of knowledge should not obscure what the club did for the sport during its short  (c1911 – c1939) existence.   A brief profile of St Peter’s AC should be undertaken.   The club was based in the West End of Glasgow but we don’t know just where their headquarters were.   In the Charity Sports in August 1911 they were described in the tug o’war heats as ‘St Peter’s AC, Partick’.   We know that there is a St Peter’s RC Church in the West End of Glasgow very close to Partick and we also know that they ran their cross-country in the countryside around Drumchapel and Bearsden.   Closer than that we cannot get at present.
 
There is no indication among meeting results of St Peters AC in 1910 and at least one of their members was already competing in the sport.   JA Coyle, a good club standard sprinter turned out for several clubs.  In 1911 they started to turn out at most meetings in reasonable numbers.   For instance on 8th July at a sports meeting, promoted by Celtic FC with funds going to the St Vincent de Paul Charity, the prize winners list included from St Peters AC – 
*in the 100 yards open, H McLaughlin won the seventh heat,
* in the 220 yards Parish Championship,  M Kavanagh was 2nd, G Forrester was 3rd[
*in the Parish 880 yards race Alexander Oliver was 2nd
*in the open putting the 16lb ball D Bowie was 1st and J Forrester was 2nd, 
*in the broad jump M Kavanagh was 1st,  and
*in the high jump, M Kavanaghwas second,
*in the overall  Parish Championship, St Peter’s AC won.   This was the  first annual meeting of the kind but it is clear that St Peter’s AC had a fair number of good athletes over a range of events.   
 
Then in August of that year, at the Celtic FC Sports, Kavanagh won the first heat of 17 but did not progress beyond the semi final.     At the sports held in aid of the St Vincent de Paul Society – also at Celtic Park -, they had a G Forrester of both Auchmountain Harriers and St Peters AC competing in the 100yds handicap off 8yds and in the 220yds off 22yds.  Also mentioned in the Press preview was M Kavanagh off 8.5 yds in the 100, and 19 in the 220 yards.   On the actual day, Kavanagh won the  100 yards (novice) in 10 2-5th seconds.   There was some success, then, at both individual and team level in its first  year of existence.
 
Many of the same competitors no doubt turned out for the club in 1912, but the club’s biggest showing was at the second Celtic sponsored Catholic Charity Sports on 5th June 1912. M Kavanagh (3rd) and H McLaughlin competed in the 100yds open, C Forrester (1st) and A McLaughlin 2nd; Kavanagh 2nd High Jump; J McAllister won the Parish 220 yards; 880y parish championship A Oliver 2nd, One Mile parish champs A Oliver 2nd; Broad Jump parish champs Kavanagh 1st, Jas Peterson 2nd, Putting the 16lbs ball G Forrester 1st and A McIntosh 2nd and  St Peter’s football team won the the 5 a side tournament.   In 1913 AJ Oliver competed in the Celtic Sports on the second Saturday in August in the 880yds off a handicap of 50yds and a week later he turned out in the Clydesdale Harriers Sports, this time over Three Miles.   Names like Kavanagh, Oliver and Forrester were becoming quite well known. 
 
1914 was the fateful year when the country went to war but before the hostilities started the summer season was almost a complete one for most athletes.   Note the following appearances by members of the St Peters club. 
*29th May, 1914: Clydesdale Harriers Meeting: 100y  JA Farrell,  220 J Kennedy, half-mile  J Kennedy, J Oliver, High Jump  J Oliver.
* 10 June 1914, East Kilbride Sports: 220: JA Coyle (MH & St Peters), J Forrester, shot putt 6th, hammer 7, Long Jump;    Mile J McIntyre, AJ Oliver,  440 AJ Oliver. 
19th June, 1914: Clydesdale Harriers Sports: 100y  JA Farrell, J Foley, JA Coyle (Maryhill & St Peters) , 220y  J Foley, J Coyle, JA Farrell, half-mile  AJ Oliver, 
26 June, 1914: Babock & Wilcox Sports: John Kerry and JC Weir were back markers in the field of  51 runners,   JA Coyle also ran in the 100 yards, , 220y  J Kerry and JC Weir again back markers,  A McDonald (Maryhill H & StPeters) , 880 yards  AJ Oliver, One Mile AJ Oliver, 
20 July, 1914: Abercorn Sports: 220 JA Farrell 2nd. 
*31st July, 1914 Rangers FC Preview: 100y Open, C Patrick,  220 Open, J Farrell, D Patrick,  
* 7 August, 1914: Preview, Celtic Sports: Mile, J Barker, AJ Oliver, High Jump AJ Oliver, 100y Open, JA Farrell,  220 Open  C Patrick (Hamilton & St P), JA Farrell,  Half-Mile J Morrison, Obstacle Race  JA Farrell, 
More than a dozen athletes appearing regularly enough to be mentioned in the Press.   There are also names appearing of a high standard that do not appear in either 1911 nor 1912 with Kerry and Weir being the notable examples.   We also know that JA Coyle had been racing for over a year and for a variety of clubs.   St Peters must have been an attractive option for athletes.      
 
During the war, there  was a continuation of athletics meetings, albeit fewer and with altered programmes.   The Relief Sports held at Celtic Park on 26th June, 1915, featured a ‘Khaki Marathon’ in which 4th Scottish Rifles Number 3 Company won from the regiment’s Number Two company by three minutes.   This was typical of the events which were featured during the war with many events confined to the military and there were novelty races such as the stretcher race held at meetings across the country.   Among the St Peters members taking part J McFadden was 3rd in the 220 yards and AJ Oliver won the Mile.   Many of the athletes had enlisted and were abroad, others were running under the name of their regiment and almost all were training only irregularly if at all.   The St Peters football team has been mentioned already but it was not noted that the team was named St Peters AC rather than St Peters FC which is a fairly definite indication of the connection.   They are noted as querying the neutrality of a referee in the Scottish Junior Football  City & District League.   It continued playing during the war.     The Relief Fund meeting at Parkhead was held on a very wet and miserable afternoon when many thought that it should be postponed.   It went ahead however and £115 was raised.   Among the St Peters athletes that afternoon J McFadden was 3rd in the 100 yards.   On 30th June 1917, the club was responsible for the sports at Celtic Park in aid of the St Vincent Home and Workshops for the Blind and the Deaf and Dumb Institution at Tollcross in Glasgow.  There were only four events with the bulk of the afternoon taken up with a five-a-side football match.   It is intriguing that the 200 yards had a popular winner – J McFadden of Shettleston Harriers.   Could this be the same J McFadden who had been running so well in 1914, 1915 and 1916 for St Peters?   Whether it was or wasn’t, he won his heat and the final of the 100 yards in the Rangers Sports at the start of August,   There was actually a connection with Shettleston Harriers in that several St Peters men had been members of the club – John Mackay tells us that – AJ Oliver and P.Murty were members I believe, James Oliver was novice champion of the club 1905-06 and P.Murty was in the novice team which finished 2nd in 1924-25.  
Although 1918 saw the end of the war, many soldiers of all nations were still being killed on the continent – eg Ralph Erskine of Clydesdale Harriers, an SAAA 880 silver medallist before the war, was killed in January 1918, men were still being sent abroad to fight and it was noted that the secretary of Maryhill Harriers, Mr E Watt, was currently somewhere in France, another sportsman, footballer Willie Cringan, was about to be posted abroad, and Bert Murray who had played for Aberdeen, Clyde and St Johnstone, was awarded the MC.   The war was very much still with the country at large. 
 The annual charity meeting was held at Celtic Park on 30th June and J McDonald was again 3rd in the 100 yards, but unlike the early days of the meeting there were no St Peters athletes on the short prize lists.   The fact that it had been organised by Celtic FC, with Willie Maley involved at the start, but that it was now organised by St Peters, maybe had something to do with it.   As for the rest of the season, there were many small meetings, often with the purpose of raising funds for the war effort, and even the big meetings of the year such as the Rangers Sports had a much smaller budget, there were fewer athletes to go round and the meetings were poorly reported in papers that had shrunk to half their size.      The war ended and athletics started up again.
 
Although they were mainly a track and field club, as an all round athletic club, they competed in cross-country as well.   They turned out in the national championships  but not to the same standard as on the track.   eg  they were 17th in 1928 (Connor (34), Gaffney (86), Smith (88), (Walsh (124) and McDonald 125), and they were 19th in 1929 (Murty 35th, Gaffney (100), Smith (116), Brady (140), McCrory (156) and Sheerin (162).     The best cross-country runner, and track athlete, that they produced seems to have been JJ McDonald.   He had been 9th in the West District cross-country championship in 1931/32 leading the team into 11th place with the others being Keenan 16th, Murty 78th, McGuinness 93rd, Walker 94th and McCarthy 125th.   That was a very good performance for the club but his own best year was 1932/33.   That year he was 3rd in the District Championship and followed home by  Cosgrove 73rd, Walker 131st and the other runners were 150, 174 and 177.   The team was away down in 19th.   The team may have been going backward but McDonald was continuing to improve.    At the National that year he won the Youths race but again the Youths team was strung out behind him – H Strange was 55th, J Barry 77th and J Diamond 87th.   In 1934/35 there were two Youths from St Peters in the National – J Gibbons was 6th and J Bradley was 9th in a big field of runners but there was no team to support them.
The club had a full team out in the West End Cross-Country Championship at New Year, 1934, – the numbers taking part were big with Garscube, for instance, having nine runners in the race although only five were counters.   John Kelly was second, 24 seconds behind the winner, Jack Gifford of Victoria Park.   The first real race of thee year was on 6th January when St Peters had a team out in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay where they finished 14th of the 15 teams in the race.  On 24th January there were runners from St Peters in the Renfrewshire cross-country championships – John Kelly was third, with three men from Kirkintilloch running for St Peters: Kelly, T Cosgrove and T Breslin.   The team was also third that afternoon over the seven miles trail from Thornliebank.   In March that year, there was a preview of the National with the chances of some club runners mentioned in the clipping below.   
 
Note the absence of any mention of JJ McDonald in any age group at all.  There is no indication of a club team or indeed any individual runners in the National or the District Championships from 1934 to the start of the war.   A JJ McDonald turned out for Shettleston Harriers two years later but that was the only time he was heard of thereafter.   The West End of Glasgow Inter Club Contest took place at Westerton involving Garscube Harriers (who won), Victoria Park (2nd team, Clydesdale Harriers (3rd), Glasgow YMCA and St Peters The race went out via Drumchapel and returned via Temple and each club had at least 5 runners forward.   It was the third contest in the series.  But if the cross-country team was not doing quite so well, the track and field scene was very different.   
 
 They faced the difficulties all cross-country clubs faced – the following extract from the Clydesdale Harriers Minute Book for 19311 tells us a cross-country story:
 
“In 1931 the club was warned off running over some of the country at Peel Glen (Drumchapel).    “Warning Off Ground at the Peel Glen: Mr McQuattie related how two members had been warned off fields at Peel Glen.   A letter was received from Garscube that they had had the same experience as also had St Peter’s AAC and suggested that a meeting be convened of St Peter’s, Garscube and Clydesdale.   It was agreed that we should attend such a meeting and be represented by Messrs Kirkland and Thursby.”   Charlie Middler was roped in as well and the meeting was duly held and he was a member of subsequent meetings with the farmers.   The last word at the time was on 5th October 1931: “Deputation to Farmers:   C Middler gave a report of the interviews the members of the Deputation had had with the local farmers regarding the crossing of fields.”   And that was it.  It must have been an amicable solution because the cross country season passed with no further mention of it.    This must have been in his mind when at the October 1932 meeting ‘Mr C Middler referred to the fact that some members were crossing the fields during training runs and suggested that they be advised not to do so until the season formally opened in October.”     
 
On the track they continued to thrive as a club and in the 1920’s the club made steady progress.   On 12th June 1927, Shettleston Harriers and West of Scotland held a joint meeting at Celtic Park and there were several St Peters men competing.   In the high jump, L Higney was third, FH Mooney was 3rd in the 100 yards and P Connor was 3rd in the half mile.   
In the Queen’s Park Sports in June 1928, John Whitters was third in the open mile.   On 8th August 1925: Celtic Sports  High Jump was won by  1st  L Higney.   .    
11th June,1928 – Ernie Harper wins Drymen to Firhill race in near-record time. The annual sports meeting of the Maryhill Harriers was held at Firhill Park in dull weather before 12,000 spectators. The principal event was the 15 mile marathon race, which attracted 29 entries. Ernie Harper, Cpl. Sam Ferris and Dunky Wright ran together until halfway, when Harper drew ahead and at Bearsden he was leading Ferris by 400 yards, with Wright lying about 150 yards behind. Although Wright managed to pass Ferris, he could make little on Harper, who, entering the ground first, broke the tape 400 yards ahead in a time just outside Wright’s course record. Alex Adams, Maryhill, and F. Macdonald, St. Peter’s AAC, shared first prize in the handicap ahead of Donald McNab Robertson, Maryhill.
 
During the 30’s they were well represented in all the summer meetings with athletes competing well in sports and championships the length and breadth of the country and even winning medals in the SAAA Championships.    The most successful athlete with Scottish winner’s medals in the 1930’s was JJ McDonald – we have already seen his cross-country feats but he was equally successful on the track with gold and silver at the SAAA Championships over the half-mile distance.  In 1932 he was second in the Youths 880 yards  and in 1933 he won the event.   He was successful at several of the other sports meetings each summer – eg in 1933 he was third in the Open Youths 880 yards at the club’s big meeting on 5th June, was second in the mile at Saltcoats and second in the half-mile at the St Vincent de Paul Sports.   It was not a one-man club however with prizes being won by sprinters JJ Reilly, T McKenna and R McLeod, by quarter-miler J Glancy and other half milers MV Lyons, and novices M Walsh and F Murty; in the year before FJ Gaffney and McDonald were winning prizes at 880 yards (McDonald won the Renfrewshire championship event), P Murty in the Mile and for the women T Kelly was second in the 100 yards in the Renfrewshire championships.   
 
Silver medal presented to the second placed GUAC team in the 2 miles relay in 1929.   This one was presented to EM Young of the GUAC 4 x 880 yards team
 
But if the club is remembered for one big thing, it is the St Peter’s Relay and Team competition of the late 20’s and early 30’s.     Held on the first or second Saturday of June (2nd June, 1928; 8th June, 1929; 14 June 1930; 15 June 1931; 6 June 1932; 3 June 1933; 16 June 1934;7th June 1935) they had a double attraction for most athletes
(1) It was a club competition when the whole club could take part – note the format and events below – and there were even some open events for those not making a team but who could be called upon to fill in for any late call offs.   
(2) It was two or maybe three weeks before the national championships.   A chance for athletes to get some good competition against good opposition as a check on their fitness.   And given that it was a relay format, nothing too much could be gleaned from it by the opposition for athletes on any but the first leg of a relay.
 
The format in the competition for the team trophy was to have every event a team event: 
 
*440 yards relay; 880y relay: One Mile Relay, Two miles relay; Four Miles Relay, 480 yards hurdles relay,  one mile team race, 3 miles team race.  4 per team.   Not being hurdlers we queried the hurdles relay and why it was 480 yards.  Colin Young tells us that it was probably a shuttle relay, there and back using two lanes, rather than a round the track relay!
*Shot Putt, Discus, Hammer, Javelin: 2 throwers distances totalled
*High Jump, Long Jump: two athletes performances totalled
There were minor changes from year to year but that was the general format.   The first meeting was in 1928 and the report is shown below in its entirety.
 
The report on the first of the series held on 2nd June 1928
The reference to Donald Maclean running in both mile and three miles events is interesting as it demonstrates the club team spirit that was in evidence all the way through the programme but there were many who did more than that.   Look at the results below. 
 
1928 Results:
 
440 yards relay:  1.   West of Scotland (FW Brown, JG Scott, S Bernstein, FW Clark); 2.   Maryhill H (W Anderson, JG Gibson, T McLean, M Kennedy.
880 yards relay:  1.  Maryhill H (F Andreoli, DS Duncan, T McLean, R Kennedy);  2. WSH (FW Brown, JG Scott, GA Don, GJ McLennan)
Mile Relay:  1.  WSH (AF Clark, FW Brown, DHE Elliott, JD Hope);  2.  Maryhill (A Moir, A Edmiston, DS Duncan, W McDonald)
Two Miles Relay: 1.  Maryhill (WHM Roberts, WH Calderwood, DS Sharp, DS Maclean);  2.  WSH (DE Elliott, EH McIntyre, WN Neilson, JD Hope.
Four Miles Relay:  1. Maryhill (GP Inglis, TW Cowan, WH Calderwood, D McLean); Garscube H (No team available)
Three Miles Team Race: 1.   Maryhill (D Maclean 1st, D McL Wright 4th, WH Calderwood 5th);  2.  Plebeian H (SH Combe 2nd, WJ Gunn 3rd, FJ Connolly 6th)
High Jump: 1.  Maryhill Harriers (KM Smith and D Houston  11′ 3″);  2.  Field Events Club (10′ 8″)
Long Jump:  1. 2nd Camerons ((Tait and Rounson  40′ 11″);  2nd Field Events Club  (37′ 8 1/2″)
Putting the Weight:  1.  Glasgow Police (AC Nicolson and G Mitchell  83′ 10 1/2″);  2. Field Events Club (78′ 3″)
Throwing the Hammer:  1,  Field Events Club (J Jackson, W McKenzie  No distance given);  2. Glasgow Police.
480 yards hurdle relay:  1. WSH (JW Porteous, AF Clark, T Clark, C Clark);  2. Camerons
News of the World Challenge Trophy:  1.  Maryhill Harriers 20 points; 2. West of Scotland 13 points;  3.  2nd Battalion Queens Own Cameron Highlanders.   
It is interesting to note that the winners trophy was a ‘News of the World Trophy’ and that the medals as shown by the one below were sterling silver and sponsored by the same newspaper.
The reverse of the medal which, unusually, is maybe more interesting than the front!   
First, note the hallmark at the bottom of the medal – very high quality for a medal in such a meeting.   There were 12 medals for each race, 7 races in all = 84 medals.   If 1st place medals were gold, then that was 28 gold medals  +  28 silver medals + 28 bronze medals.   Then there were the field events.   It was not a cheap wee meeting.   
Second, note the News of the World name on the medal.   The Sunday newspaper was a great supporter of the sport in those days – we all know about the Inter-City Relays in all parts of the Kingdom with its lavish sponsorship.   eg the Edinburgh to Glasgow (known colloquially as the News of the World, had 9 buses running in support, there were several limousines for the officials, results were produced en route and distributed, there were the shiny programmes with a dozen high quality photographs distributed free of cost, the post race dinner in the Ca’doro restaurant and the trophy plus eight medals for each of the three teams plus a set for the most meritorious performance by an unplaced team.   They did this for four regional relays and for the champion of champions relay between London and Brighton.   That’s one race and there was sponsorship in summer for selected track meetings.  No one has ever replaced that kind of sponsorship.
—————————————————————————————————————————————-
 
This team spirit and preparedness to do more than maybe was good for them as individuals was commented on right at the beginning of the report on the 1929 race.   The appearance of University athletes in 1929 was significant since the university athletics scene was very healthy at this point with many of the very best of Scottish athletic talent available to them.   They had not competed the year before since the date clashed with the Scottish universities championships.   
 
 
The start of the report in June 1929
15 clubs took part in 1929 which tells us a lot about the popularity and significance of the meeting.   Shettleston Harriers, Plebeian Harriers, Garscube, Bellahouston and West of Scotland were all there.   Springburn Harriers, Glasgow University AC, Glasgow YMCA, 2nd Camerons AC, Glasgow Police AC and the Field Events Club were also represented.   It was a magnificent turn out and the presence of 500 athletes did not prevent any doubling up by athletes.  Look at the results and remember that these do not include all the clubs taking part who were placed third or below in the event.   
1929 Results:
440 yards relay:  1.. Glasgow University (W Wright, GJ Smith, I Borland, RA Robb); 2. Shettleston H (W Irvine, J McFadden, A McMillan, J Crawford)
880 yards relay:   1. Glasgow University (W Wright, GJ Smith, I Borland, RA Robb);  2.  WSH (PW Duncan. GJ Smith, JC Scott , AF Clark)
One Mile Relay:  1.  Maryhill (K Duncan, AD Turner, J Allison, HH Devlin);  2. Bellahouston (WG Lawn, WS Lawn, G Keith, H Doig).
Two Miles Relay:  1.  Maryhill (W Herbert, W McRoberts, AH Blair, WH Calderwood);  2.  Glasgow University (RW Barlow, EM Young, A McPherson, JA Steven).
Four Miles Relay: 1. Maryhill Harriers (D Maclean, A Kellas, AH Blair, WH Calderwood);  2.  Glasgow U (JR Barr, J MacKenzie, WH Dunlop, N Morrison) 
Three Miles Team Race:  1.  Plebeian H (W Gunn 1, M Rayne 3, J Lamont 10); 2.  Springburn H: (J Stevenson 4, R Allison 6, A Stevenson 7)
480 yards hurdles:   1.  2nd Camerons (Tait, Scott, Rowan, Taylor);  2. WSH (AF Clark, JW Porteous, T Clark, C Clark)
High jump:  1. Maryhill (KM Smith + NF Bulloch 11′);  2. Field Events Club (W Malaja + C Rainford 10′ 8″)
Broad Jump:  1. Glasgow U (CM Douglas + AN Lapsley  36′ 6″);  2. Glasgow YMCA (W Sinclair + W Osborne  35′ 5″
Putting the weight:  1.  Glasgow Police (A Smith + J Clark  72′ 11″); 2. Field Events Club (AM Murray + G Laidlaw  69′ 6″)
Throwing the Hammer:  1. Field Events Club (W MacKenzie + AM Murray  264′ 6 “); 2. Glasgow Police (A Smith + J Clark  235′  11 1/4”
Throwing the javelin: 1. Glasgow U (AN Lapolly + C de Vesser  120′ 7″);  2. 2nd Camerons (Ruthven + Robinson  228′ 11″
Aggregate Trophy:  1. Glasgow University 16 pts;  2. Maryhill Harriers 14;  3. 2nd Cameron 9 pts.
Note that there is an extra event involved in this meeting – the javelin had not been included before now.
 
 
 
The meeting of  1930 was different again in that as well as a Three Miles team race, there was a One Mile Team race which took the place of the Four Miles Relay.   There were also more clubs picking up prizes and – more to the point – points.   Heriot’s AC was one, Dumbarton AAC was another but in particular there was a very good team from Edinburgh University.   Both Universities did well and particularly in the field events – GUAC was in the first three in the 440, 880, mile relays,  in the one mile team race, in the high jump, broad jump and throwing the javelin  (They were also 2nd in hurdles relay but were disqualified)  while  Edinburgh was in the first three in the 440 yards, mile and two miles and 480 hurdles relays, broad jump, putting the weight, and throwing the javelin.   The reporter on the day remarked that Maryhill did not even collect one point in the field events and commented further that the superior facilities enjoyed by the Universities told against them.   Maingay, Calderwood, Wright, Wood, Murdoch, Borland and Donald Maclean were all international runners of high pedigree and to have them on the posters and in the Press preview would entice any Scottish athletic aficionado along to Celtic Park.   
Borland was SAAA 440 champion in 1929 and 1930, Maingay won the 880 in 1928, ’29 and ’30. Calderwood won the 880 in 1932, the Mile in 1929 and Murodch the 100 in 1934, the 220 in 1931, ’33, ’34 and ’38, Walter Gunn would win the first ever steeplechaae championship in 1934.    Among the field event competitors, Nicolcon won the SAAA Shot championship 10 times, Unger won the national Javelin event in 1929, Lapsley the high jump in 1932 – and there are others who were or became champions, but these will serve to indicate the sheer quality of the athletes competing.     
And note too that high jumper L Higney of GUAC who cleared 5’8″ on this day, was a product of St Peter’s AC.   
 
1930 Results
449 yards relay:  1. Maryhill H (JC Anderson, D McBride, T McLean, AD Turner); 2. Shettleston H (L Swan, D McKinnon, W Irvine, J Crawford).
880 yards relay: 1. Glasgow University (R Murdoch, JC Britton, W Wright, I Borland); 2. Maryhill H (JC Anderson, D McBride, T McLean, AD Turner).
Mile relay:  1. Springburn Harriers (W McLaughlin, J Scott, J Mackill, R Davies); 2. Glasgow U (RJ Barlow,  AD McCarmen (?),JN Miller, I Borland)
Two Miles relay: 1. Maryhill (DT Muir, AH Blair, WH Calderwood, D Maclean); 2. Edinburgh U (AD Lees, MJ Finkelstein, CM Wells, RC Maingay)
480 yards hurdles relay:  1. Edinburgh U (G Decker, CD Campbell, PC Barkin, DH Holmes); 2. Field Events Club (J Jackson, F Rankine, W Dow, C Rainford)
One Mile Team Race:  1. Maryhill (D Maclean, 1st, DT Muir 3rd, AH Blair 4th); 2. Glasgow U (N Morison 2nd, WM Dunlop 11th, D Brander 13th.   
Three Miles Team Race: 1. Maryhill (D McL Wright 1st, DT Muir 3rd, D Robertson 4th); 2. Bellahouston H (R Thompson 2nd , R Campbell 6th, D  Blackwood 11th)    The individual winner was Scottish international runner JF Wood of Heriot’s AC in 14:56.6)
High jump: 1. Glasgow U (LC Higney + GF Richardson 11′; 2 and 3 =.   Shettleston (DS McDonald + RS Walker  10′ 8″) and Heriot’s AC (T Robson and G King  10′ 8″)
Broad jump: 1. Edinburgh U (P Barkis + MG Neverweather (??)  40′ 6″); 2. Glasgow U (CN Douglas  +  AN Lapsley  36 6″)
Putting the weight: 1. Field Events Club (AM Murray + AH Ewan (79′ 71/2″);  2. Glasgow Police (A Nicolson + A Smith  77′ 7 1/2″)
Throwing the Hammer: 1. Glasgow Police (A Smith + A Nicolson  274′);  2. Field Events Club (W McKenzie + AM Murray  270′ 4″
Throwing the Javelin:  1. Edinburgh U (JP Unger + AM Gressa  278′ 11″);  2. Glasgow U (AN Lapsley + I MacPhail  263′ 1″)
1. Glasgow University AC  16 pts; 2.  Maryhill Harriers  14 pts;  3. Edinburgh University AC 12 pts. 
 
1931
The 1931 meeting was held on 13th June which was unfortunate – unfortunate because it clashed with the Scottish Universities Championships  and so robbed them of the Glasgow and Edinburgh teams that he performed so well in the past few years.   However there was an international dimension to the event when the Dublin Metropolitan Garda took part and actually finished second to Maryhill Harriers.   The programme was tweaked again and now included a Two Miles Junior Relay (won by Plebeian Harriers) and retained the One Mile team race.   
1931 Results
440 yards relay:  1. Maryhill H (AD Turner, JF Stewart, D McBride, R Hamilton); 2. Dublin Metropolitan Garda (M Gregan, A Nolan, E Murphy, M McAlinden). 
880 yards relay:  1. Maryhill (AD Turner, R Brown, D McBride, R Hamilton); 2. Shettleston Harriers (J McRoberts, S McKinnon, AT Todd, DN McGinlay)
Mile relay:  1. Maryhill (A Edmiston, Lt. CA Harvey, P Dolan, R  Hamilton); 2. Springburn Harriers (J McKell, J Scott, F McNie, R Davis).
Two Mile Relay: 1. Maryhill (A McNiven, JR Wilson, WH Calderwood,  D Maclean);  2. Springburn (J Scott, J McKell, F McNie, R Davis).
Mile Team Race: 1. Maryhill (D Maclean 2nd, WH Calderwood 4th, T Blakely 6th); 2. Plebeian Harriers (WJ Gunn 1st, R Clark 3rd, SK Tombe 9th)
Three Miles Team Race: 1. Maryhill Harriers (DL Muir 4th, T Blakely 5th, AH Blair 9th); 2. Heriot’s FP (JF Wood 1st,  DR McKenzie 3rd, G Peters 16th)
Two Miles Junior Relay: 1. Plebeian (J Blackwood, T Armstrong, J Black, G Illingworth); 2. Garscube Harriers *A Cruickshanks, J Bennett, T Stevenson, R McKiel.
480 yards Hurdles relay:  1. Dublin Metropolitan Garda (W Shanahan, A Finn, A Nolan, M O’Dwyer);  2. Field Events Club (W Dow, A Rankine, J Jackson, C Rainbird)
High jump: One and two equal.  Dublin M G (W Shanahan + C O’Connor 10’11”)  and Glasgow U( L Higney + T Foster  5′ 11″)
Broad jump: 1. Dublin MG (J Murphy + W Shanaham  41′ 2 1/2″);  2. Maryhill (Sgt E Carey + J Robertson  39′ 3 1/2″)
Putting the weight: 1. Dublin MG (G Walsh + T Healy  78′ 8″); 2. Field Events Club (AM Murray + F Rankin  75′ 4″)
Throwing the Hammer:  1. Dublin MG (J McSweeney + W Gore  284′  11 1/4″;  2. Maryhill (A Smith and J Campbell  261′ 5″)
Throwing the Javelin:  1. Shettleston (ER Walker + J McFarlane  266′ 10″;  2. Dublin MG (W Shanahan + J Power  262′ 3″)
The final points totals were 1.   Maryhill Harriers 24 points;  2.  Dublin Metropolitan Garda  19 1/2 points;   3.  Shettleston 9 points.   
The strengths of the first two clubs are so obviously different – Maryhill won 6 out of 8 track events, the Dublin team won 5 out of 6 field events (if you include the hurdles relay) and was second in the other.   It will also be noted that after the defat the previous year, Maryhill had sharpened up their field events act with points won in two of them.   
The meeting on 4th June 1932 had the universities back in the competition – indeed Glasgow University AC was the winning team – but the high spot was the creation of a new Scottish record in the Three Miles team race by Tom Blakely of Maryhill Harriers.   His club’s down fall in the overall competition was down to their old failing of not competing as well in the field events as their competitors – Glasgow University on this occasion taking 17 of the 18 available.   
1932 Results 
440 yards relay:  1.  Glasgow University (D Stead, J Clark, AS Kitchen, I Borland) ; 2. Edinburgh University (EL Mark, EA Morison, IG Gaffney, HW Seymour)
880 yards relay 1. Maryhill (PW Byrne, D McBride, JA Bell, P Dolan); 2. Glasgow U (D Stead, J Clark, AS Kitchen, ?)
Mile relay: 1.. Glasgow U (ACC Glen, LB Young, EJ Barlow, IH Borland);  2. Springburn H (F McNie, J McKell, J Scott, LT Montgomerie)
Two Miles relay: 1.  Glasgow U (NM Glen, JB Barr, CE Wynne Roberts, N Morison); 2. Maryhill (R Wilson, D Sharp, D Maclean, WH Calderwood)
One Mile Team Race:  1.  Maryhill (WH Calderwood 1st, D Maclean 4th, DT Muir 5th); 2. Glasgow U (DM Brander 6th, GM Esslemont 7th, WE Dunlop 10th)
Three Miles Team Race:  1. Maryhill (T Blakely 1st, DN Robertson 3rd, W Nelson 4th);  2. Plebeiean Harriers (SK Tombe 2nd, A Inngram 6th, PJ Connolly 7th)    Second individual was JF Wood (Heriot’s FP.
480 yards hurdles relay: 1. Glasgow University (NA Selkirk, JC Taylor, TH Souter, AS Kichin)   Walked over.
High jump: Glasgow U (M Craig + GP Richardson 10′ 8″); 2. Springburn (LT Montgomerie + M McWhinnie  10′ 4″
Broad Jump: 1. Maryhill (E Carey + J McCalmont  41′ 5 1/2″; 2. Glasgow U (PRR Ogilvie + AN Lapsley  41′ 4″)
Putting the weight:  1.1.  Glasgow U (RG Ratcliffe + JR McGibbon  76′ 7 1/2″; 2. Maryhill (NA Campbell + D Houston  67′ 9″ 
Throwing the Hammer: 1. Glasgow U (AN Lapsley + JR McGibbon  196′ 5 1/2″); 2. Maryhill (NA Campbell + D Houston  150′ 3 1/2″
Throwing the javelin: 1.  Glasgow U (AN Lapsley + NA Selkirk  288′ 9″; 2. West of Scotland (C Clark + A Clark  127′ 3″)
 
Final Points Total:   1.   Glasgow University  30 points;   2. Maryhill Harriers 19;   3.  EUAC and Springburn Harriers tied for third on 5 points.    As the ‘Herald’ extract says, in only one of the ten events did Glasgow University fail to score – the three miles team race – and they did not ever fall behind second place.   Maryhill had greatly improved their field events performances but their track supremacy had diminished, or rather the others had started to catch up and in some cases pass them.   The running of I Borland was exceptional and the following extract from the report is relevant here.
“In the two miles the University quartette – NM Glen, JB Barr, C Wynne Roberts and N Morison – ran individually and collectively to their best standard, and possibly a bit more.   Donald Maclean made nothing on Roberts in the third section, and WH Calderwood was left with too much to do against Morison on the final leg to give him any prospect of success.   Morison took so much out of himself in this race that he was never seen in the mile team race and was not in the lot that counted for second place.   
Excellent as these victories were, they were not so glorious as that achieved in the mile relay.   That they won here at all was de to the magnificent running of Ian Borland in the last sector.   Pitted against LT Montgomerie and called upon to concede the Springburn man 20 yards at the change over, Borland’s task seemed an impossible one .   Coming down the back straight, Montgomerie went all out, and Borland was unable to get within striking distance.   A wonderful burst of speed over the last furlong enabled him to catch his man in the straight and win.   
It was the best race of Borland’s career and confirmed the impression gathered at the University meetings that he was much stronger and faster than last season.   He was unofficially timed at 49.6 from take-over to tape which is excellent running indeed, even allowing for the flying start.”
 
Tom Blakely, Maryhill Harriers
 
1933 was another very good year for Glasgow University and Edinburgh Universities – Glasgow won the trophy and Edinburgh was again third equal, this time with Maryhill instead of Springburn Harriers.   Note the summary below from the ‘Glasgow Herald’  

Many of the well-known names from past meetings such as WH Calderwood, D Maclean, I Borland, JF Wood, W Gunn, SK Tombe, AN Lapsley, A Nicolson and so on were again doing battle for their clubs.  The number of clubs appearing on the lists of the first two or three had grown hugely since the first meeting.   Clubs from east and west of Scotland had taken part, an Irish team had been competitors, there  Glasgow Police, team and military outfits (plural) over the years,  School FP’s(Heriot’s FP) and the specialist Field Events club.   Club athletes had rubbed shoulders with University athletes and it had seen many Scottish champions, record holders and internationalists lining up in the various events.   It was and continued to be a very successful venture for what was a relatively small club.
1933 results
 
440 yards relay: 1.  Maryhill Harriers (AD Turner, D McBride, JG Ball. PW Brown); 2. Edinburgh University (LG Gaffney, AC Black, RG Wylde, RA Morrison).
880 yards relay: 1. Maryhill H (FW Brown, JG Ball, D McBride, AD Turner);  2. Glasgow University (RN Robertson, AW McCosh, A McVicar, J Clark)
Mile relay: 1. Glasgow University (HM Murray, LB Young, W Wright, NM Glas(?)); 2. Glasgow Police (J Scott, J Shaw, JR Wilson, R Davis)
Two miles relay:  1. Glasgow Police (JR Wilson, J Lyons, R Davis, J Scott);  2. Glasgow University (CR Wynne Roberts, LR Young, G Whitelaw, N Morison.
480 yards hurdles relay: 1. Edinburgh U (RR Wylde, G Peat, CD Campbell, PE Martin)  2. West of Scotland (A Clark, GW Porteous, C Clark, FW Clark)
One Mile Team Race:  1. Shettleston Harriers (W Sutherland 2nd, M McCubbin 3rd, RG Young 12th);  2. Garscube Harriers  (L Lindsay 5th, AD McDonald 7th, GJ Girvin 8th).     1st individual:  D Maclean Maryhill.
Three Miles Team Race:  1. Plebeian Harriers (SK Tombe 1st, WJ Gunn 2nd,  AT Armstrong 5th); 2.  Maryhill (W Nelson 3rd, D Robertson 4th, DT Muir 9th)
High jump:  1. Glasgow U (AN Lapsley + RJ Gourlay  10′ 10 1/2″;  2. Edinburgh U (JD Watt + RE Martin 10′ 9″) 
Broad Jump  1. Glasgow University (RN Robertson + PRR Ogilvie  43′ 5 1/2″); 2. Edinburgh U (RE Martin + J Munro  42′ 7 1/4″)
Putting the weight:  1. Glasgow Police (AC Nicolson +  A Smith  78′ 2″); 2. Glasgow University (RC Ratcliffe + JRM Gibson  42′ 7 1/4″)
Throwing the hammer:  1. Glasgow Police (A Smith + A Nicolson  292′ 5 1/2″); 2. Field Events Club (W McKenzie + J Jackson  242′ 5″)
Throwing the javelin: 1.  Glasgow University (AN Lapsley + D Morrison  303′ 9 1/2″); 2. Shettleston Harriers (ER Walker + J McFarlane  267′ 11″)
 
There were also several open events at these meetings – the number of team competitions, the effort required in any one of them and the number of athletes doing two, three and sometimes four events meant that there would inevitably be some injuries, some strains and sprains and so reserves were also an essential prerequisite of any club team.   So there were several open events to keep these athletes warmed up and add to the recovery time between relays and team events generally.   In 1933 there were four open events and three races for women.   In the men’s events, JJ Reilly of St Peter’s was second in the 100 yards and in the 220 yards while  JJ McDonald was third in the Youths 880 yards.   There were also runners from Motherwell YMCA and Monkland Harriers in these events and one of the Motherwell men was destined to become as very well known figure on the athletics scene as a runner and then as an official of note –  RR Craigen, better known as Bobby. 
 
Sam Tombe, Plebeian Harriers
 
That’s a story right there.   There is nothing as exciting in track and field  as a close run relay.   The above headline came from a report on a meeting held annually for clubs in the West End of Glasgow – Victoria Park, Clydesdale, Garscube, Glasgow YMCA and St Peter’s all took part in the spectacle which took place at Scotstoun Showgrounds just a matter of weeks before the big club championship meeting.  The event had been taking place since 1931 with Garscube being top dogs for every meeting although the new Victoria Park AAC (founded 1930) was looking like a serious challenger.   The programme was entirely made up of and completely composed of relay and team races.   The report in the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald of  St Peters meeting on 1st June, 1934, read as follows:
 
“The final track event, the medley race, finished up amidst a state of intense excitement, during which many of the spectators invaded the track, yelling themselves hoarse as the two runners, out in front of the other competitors, rocked and swayed down the home straight to the tape.   The excitement began when JJ McDonald, St Peter’s, handed over a yard or two ahead of T Armstrong, Garscube.   In the first stretch over the furlong, Garscube gained supremacy, which they held over the next leg.   Thus, W Brackenridge set off 5 yards ahead of J McKenna, St Peters, over the last quarter.   Slowly but surely the St Peter’s man drew up on his man, and, coming into the finishing straight was hanging on his shoulder.   Both put in a mighty effort, and still Brackenridge remained those few inches in front.   Nearer the tape they came, spectators on ether side and immediately behind shouting encouragement.   And the finish.    With his last ounce of strength, McKenna threw himself at the tape, beating his plucky rival by inches.   Both men collapsed in a heap serving up a magnificent ending to a magnificent contest.” 
The meeting was won comfortably by Victoria Park from Garscube with St Peter’s third.   The meeting contained a  4 x 110, a 4 x 220 and the medley relay.   
 
That the relays attracted great support was not in doubt, and the fact that St Peter’s was involved encouraged was a real incentive for the upcoming meeting.   
The 1934 championships took place on 16th June – the third Saturday of the month instead of the first.   The report from the Scotsman began as follows:
 
There was more than one change to the programme in 1934.   There were two clubs on the results sheet who had never appeared there before: Shawfield Harriers who had a brief but fairly successful period in Scottish athletics was one and the other was Victoria Park AAC.   Founded in 1930 in the West End of Glasgow, it went from strength to strength becoming one of the best clubs in the land and for a period in the 1950’s and 60’s had a very good claim to being the best.   There were also several good athletes on display but Bobby Graham of Maryhill ,who would have a sparkling career in domestic athletics and run in the Berlin Olympics, was the pick of them all .   Unfortunately only the members of the winning teams were given in both the Scotsman and Glasgow Herald, the exception being the High Jump.   
Results, 1934
440 yards relay: 1.   Maryhill Harriers (AD Turner, D McBride, J Brown, AC Williamson); 2. Glasgow University; 3. Bellahouston Harriers
880 yards relay: 1, Glasgow U (IH Bishop, N Stone, RN Robertson, R Murdoch); 2. Maryhill H; 3. Glasgow Police
One Mile Relay:  1. Springburn Harriers (C Campbell, J Carson, J McKell, A Campbell); 2. Glasgow U; West of Scotland.
Two Miles Relay: 1. Maryhill; (R Graham, D Maclean, T Scoles, WH Calderwood); 2. Glasgow U; 3. Victoria Park AAC
One Mile Team Race: 1. Plebeian Harriers (WJ Gunn 1st, AS McGregor 4th, A Robertson 8th); 2. Shawfield Harriers; 3. Shettleston Harriers.   
Three Miles Team Race: 1. Garscube Harriers (J Bennett 3rd, L Lindsay 5th, D Brooke 7th); 2. Shettleston; 3. Springburn.
480 yards Hurdles relay: 1. Glasgow U (AM Chassells, JA Kitchin, TH Souter, AS Kitchin); 2. Shettleston; 3. West of Scotland.
High jump: 1. West of Scotland (C Ramsay + TD McKie  11’5″; 2. Glasgow U (AF McDonad + AS Kitchin  11′ 2 1/2″); 3. Shettleston (ER Walker + W Buchanan  10′ 8 1/2″)
Broad Jump: 1. Glasgow U (TH Souter + RNM Robertson  39′ 9 1/2″); 2. Glasgow Police (S Hewitson + T Seton  38′ 2 1/2″; 3. Shettleston (W Buchanan + ER Walker  37′)
Putting the weight: 1. Shettleston (JK Braid + ER Walker  79′ 4 1/2″); 2. Glasgow U (75′ 10 3/4″); 3. Glasgow Police ( 75′ 9″)
Throwing the hammer|:  1. Glasgow Police (D Maclean + D Campbell  276′ 10 1/2″); Glasgow U (239′ 2 1/2″; 3. Shettleston (235′ 7″)
Throwing the Javelin: 1. Shettleston (ER Walker + J McFarlane  283′ 2″; 2. West of Scotland (269′ 11 1/2″); 3. Glasgow U241′ 7 1/2″)
In the open events on the day, St Peters had three prize winners – JJ Reilly who was 2nd in the 100, J McAulay won the 880 yards for youths and G Dynes was second in the Mile.   
 
 
The 1935 meeting reverted to the second Saturday of the month but the format remained the same.   It was reported to be a dismal day and that was maybe appropriate.   The fixture list was becoming increasingly crowded and there were more and more events being held every week.  On the third Saturday it had been up against the might of the Glasgow Police Sports.   Formerly a professional meeting, it had become an amateur affair and was held at Ibrox Park with a much bigger budget than the smaller club.   It was accordingly a bigger meeting with more events, more attractions and more big names.   Pipe Bands, Tug O’War, Cycle Races, athletics matches were all on display; in addition it took away the Glasgow Police AC team from the St Peters meeting as well as individual policemen who ran for their local clubs.   There were possibly also bigger individual prizes rather than the medals, no matter how precious the metal of the medal.   The team meeting however took place on 9th June in 1935.   
Results, 1935.
440 yards relay:  1. Garscube H (G Walker, J McIsaac, JT McIsaac, T Paterson); 2. West of Scotland; 3. Maryhill.
880 yards relay: 1, Bellahouston (H Thomson, J Gallacher, WH Lawn, C France); 2. West of Scotland; 3. Maryhill.
Mile Relay: 1. Maryhill (G Terry, G Cairns, H ?, H Morrison); 2. Victoria Park; 3. West of Scotland 
Two Miles Relay: 1.Maryhill (D McLean, H Morrison, R Osborne, WH Calderwood); 2. Victoria Park; 3. Plebeian H.
One Mile Team Race:  1. Maryhill (D Mclean 1st, L Osborne 7th, WH Calderwood 8th); 2. Garscube H; 3. Plebeian .   
Three Miles Team Race:  1. Bellahouston (J Campbell 1st, T Lamb 2nd, G Hunter  5th); 2. Maryhill; 3. Plebeian 
480 yards hurdles relay: 1. Bellahouston (CJ Gordon, M Arnott, J Wyper, OR Gordon); West of Scotland were first but disqualified.
High jump: 1. West of Scotland; 2. St Peters AAC; 3. Victoria Park
Broad Jump: 1. West of Scotland; 2. Bellahouston H; 3. Victoria Park
Throwing the javelin: 1. West of Scotland; 2. St Peters AAC;  3. Victoria Park
Throwing the discus: 1. St Peters AAC; 2. Victoria Park;  3. West of Scotland
Putting the shot: 1.  St Peters AAC; 2. Maryhill; 3. West of Scotland 
The coverage was not good – the entire ‘report’ in the Glasgow Herald only ran to 11 lines of small print.   In 1935 coverage of athletics in order of reporting in the Herald was – first and biggest by far was the Inter University Championships, then came The Motherwell & Wishaw Police meeting which was a very big meeting with lots of events with 13 open athletics events for men and women, as well as cycling and 5-a-side football, then the St Peters meeting, followed by the Catrine AC meeting, then there was an inter-club meeting at Penicuik and finally the Lanarkshire Police meeting with 12 open events (including a pole vault, cycle races and events confined to the police.   The last of these was a professional meeting but no matter, it attracted an athletics loving public.   Changed days from 1928 when it dominated the headlines.
 
Other than the performances by Victoria Park athletes, and the improved performances by Bellahouston Harriers the teams competing and winning were pretty well the same as in the first meeting.   If the top athletes were heading for the Police Sports one week and the University championships the other, with the SAAA championships towards the end of the month, there was no point in clubs entering teams minus all or most of their top athletes.   Whether Press coverage influenced the spectators, or whether the Press followed the public, neither was favouring the club championship of Scotland for the past two years.  
eg In 1936 the first Saturday of the month had the Queen’s Park FC meeting at Hampden, School Sports (Glasgow High, Allan Glen’s, Hutcheson’s Grammar, Hillhead High, Greenock Academy, Watsonians and more) and the Foundry Boys Championships ; the second Saturday had the Universities championships, the Inter-Scholastics Championships, Babcock & Wilcox Sports and the Lanarkshire Police Sports; the third Saturday had the Glasgow Police Sports, The Glasgow Academy Sports, 15 schools in competition at Cumnock and Jordanhill College Sports; the fourth Saturday of course was the SAAA Championships with a host of minor sports meetings on the same day.   
 St Peter’s did not appear n the last week end in May or the first week end in July.   The meeting was no more.
Ironically, it was a time when the club athletes were appearing more and more in the athletics press and when relay racing was as popular as ever (see the report above!
 
Away from the June meetings organised by the club, the individual athletes were performing well in the 1930;s.   We cannot give all their results here, they are too numerous, but have a look at these to see the spread of events and the number of athletes involved.   A brief curvey of the period reveals the following appearances by St Peters members.
  
 July 1932. PJ Gaffney for Tailtean Games in Dublin
June 1933: Tom Cosgrove, JJ McDonald ran at Renfrew – a St Peters one-two in the mile.   June 1933
June 19, 1933 – Glasgpw Police Sports – J Reilly 2nd in 220; 880 yards relay (Women) 3rd St Peters; 
June 1st, 1934: West End of Glasgow Contest – VP, St Peters, Glasgow YMCA, CH, Garscube – 6 track, 4 field – Garscube, VP, YM.  Report
June 16, 1934 – J McAulay  Y 880y 1st; Open mile: G Dynes 2nd
 June 1935, RC Archer 2nd Javelin; 3 x 880 relay – 2nd; TC Boyle, 2nd Novices 100 yards; 
8th June 1935: Inter Club at Celtic Park Throwing the discus (2 men added) 1st; Putting the weight  1st; Throwing the Hammer 2nd; throwing the javelin  2nd.  A McDonald, J McDonald, JR McDonald and J Mackrell  were also competing under the club’s banner..
1935 Police Sports: Shot – J McDonald 4th; 
20th June 1936: Police Sports Putting 16lb ball  1st J McDonald
5th September 1936: At Campsie Sports, Lennoxtown: One Mile Flat Race: 1.  John Brinkins.
This last was very interesting.   Brinkins also won the One Mile |Novice Cycle Race and the Two Miles Novice Cycle race under the banner of the Glasgow Wheelers Club after winning the confined (to locals) mile race as St Peters AC.   The report in the Milngavie & Bearsden Herald read “”Another attraction was the appearance of John Brinkins, the noted Milton-of-Campsie cyclist, whose success in the Glasgow Wheelers Cycling Club 50 mile Lomond Road Race was recently chronicled.   Brinkins who was a road racer was, we understand, making his first appearance on the track” 
 
And then St Peters AC just seemed to disappear.   Historian Hamish Telfer says:  “The last mentions I have are one at the SAAAs champs on 24th June, 1939 with an AC Nicolson Putting the ‘Ball’ 40′ 4.25” to place 3rd.  It should be noted that this AC Nicolson competed for Glasgow Police at this SAAAs champs held at Hampden.  He appeared earlier in the month at the Burgh Police Annual Sports (Motherwell) on 7th June for St Peters coming 2nd in the Putting the ‘Ball’ open handicap with 43′ 10”.”   
And that’s where we have to leave the story of St Peters AAC and their marvellous meetings.   Times changed and the top athletes were attracted more by big meetings such as the Queen’s Park FC and the Glasgow Police meetings, add to that the large numbers of local sports meeting such as the Singers Sports in Clydebank, Beith Sports and the Babcock Sports and June was a  very full month with opposing athletics events pretty well all over the country.   We are still looking for information on St Peters AAC.

Cosmic Hillbashers

Clubs names tend to follow a pattern  XXX Harriers, or XXX Athletic Club, or for the more adventurous, XXX Striders.   There are some who are a bit different though and of these Cosmic Hillbashers stands out.    What was the club all about?   Before we go on to Fraser Clyne’s article on them, we reproduce their own description of their aims.

 

                                   

Ewen Rennie, who contributed all this material about the club, was a founder member and the first Cosmics coach.

Cosmic Hillbashers – a brief History

In the late 1980’s/early 1990’s many traditional athletic clubs haemorrhaged members to specialist and/or more local clubs. Aberdeen AAC lost members to the off-shoots of Cosmic Hillbashers and Metro Aberdeen Running Club and their respective disciplines.

Cosmic Hillbashers was founded in August 1993 and rapidly attracted members from AAAC and the local orienteering club (Grampian Orienteers) as well as unaffiliated runners. With the oil industry in good heart, they recruited useful international runners but saw a rapid overturn of members. (See below)   The Cosmic ethos was built around running off-road and enjoyment. This ethos cemented the early membership with social activities and overnight club trips involving a race being well supported.

Nonetheless the point of a running club is running and races. Inheriting EL-Brim-Ick Dash and Cairn William from members moving from AAAC, they quickly added Clachnaben and Morvern to their portfolio with Scolty also transferred to them from an aging organiser. Mither Tap and the Krunce Series became other Cosmic innovations.

Success at Championship and other classic races were also goals and 1999 was Cosmics’ year. The Carnethy Hill Race is the traditional classic start to the hill running season and the Cosmic men posted their intentions by taking the first prize with Bernt Njornsgarrd pushing Gavin Bland to a new course record in taking second place. Dan Whitehead and Greg Barbour also made the top ten with Thomas Bracegirdle rounding off the team in 15th.

There was more to follow with The British Fell and Hill Running Championships coming to Alva. With John Duncan running a stormer on the first leg, Cosmics eventually finished third and first Scottish Team. Not to be outdone, the Ladies finished second! The fact that Cosmics supplied three of the four Ladies for the Scottish Team at Knockdhu the previous year was indicative of what was to come.

Meanwhile Tracey Brindley and Sonia Armitage were part of the Scottish Team which took the Bronze Medal at the 1999 World Mountain Running Championship

Since then Cosmics have not been so prominent at the sharp end of races but, in Veteran/Masters categories, Sonia Armitage and Veronique Oldham were regular winners with Veronique still managing to do her stuff in the SuperVets. Other Cosmic internationalists include Catherine Mangham, Clare Millar (Whitehead) and Dan Whitehead.

Nowadays Cosmics’ strength seems to be in endurance events with Mike Raffan and Alan Cormack leading the way.

 

                                                                                        EL-Brim-Ick Dash

                                                             Jason Williamson and Colin Larmour displaying the different colours of Cosmic attire.

                                           Jon Duncan (a World Championship Gold Medallist at Orienteering) running away from the field at Cairngorm

                                                                                                       Cosmic quines showing off the Cosmic Logo

Demonstration of Cosmic social side: forming guard-of-honour for Laura as she finishes her first and last hill race (Glamaig). (Her fiance, Steve Rivers, persuaded her to come on the away weekend and then to do the race as you get a pint and plate of food for finishing).

                                           Cosmics endurance runners par excellence – Mike Raffan and Alan Cormack

                                                                                       THE HILL!! By Mike Raffan

As you will no doubt have read in the last blog after UTMB (Ultra-trail du Mont Blanc) I lost any reason to train, so I planned to sign up to The Hill. Only problem was I couldn’t sign up as I didn’t know when I was travelling to Boston for Annette’s sister’s wedding. After confirming dates, I was able to sign up to The Hill with 2 weeks to go. With lack of time for specific training this meant I was relying on UTMB fitness.

The Hill, for those that don’t know, is 1.45 ish miles up a hill, dib your dibber at the top turn around and go back to the bottom of the hill (pub/checkpoint), repeat 55 times for a total 160 miles. If you stop for more than 30 mins, you’re out. If you get to a point where the race crew don’t think you can complete the distance within the time, you are out. The race is in December so the weather has the potential to be really bad. The race starts at 8 pm in the dark, it gets light at around 8am in the morning and then dark again around 4 pm, repeat for a second night. Last year was the first running of the race and Jon Steele was the only person to finish in 47 hours 31 min.

Duggan drove me down to the race so he could shout abuse and most importantly drive home again. The rules are you are not allowed any outside support; this includes buying anything from the pub. We arrived at the bar with plenty of time and the only person that I knew was Sean Malay from the double Cateran earlier in the year. This also meant nobody knew who I was either. I heard Mark Cockbain the race director mentioning to someone that he was the favourite to win the race. I don’t know who it was.

With the race being in the dark for 10 hours, at the start I didn’t feel the boredom that everyone predicted, instead you just get the tunnel vision from the head torch. You start at the side of a busy road for about 200m then turn off to the right. It was around freezing so everything was icy. After another 200m, you’re on to land rover tracks for the rest of the hill. A gradual incline, and then you get to the hole in the wall and the bit I described to myself as the real start of the hill. Down for a few hundred metres and then the proper hill starts. It’s still not that steep, since Mark wants the whole thing to be runnable. The first lap I had no idea where we were going, so I stuck with the group until we got off the road – but after that the pace felt too slow. I had my Sunnto on just clock mode so I was just running as I felt. I got to the top and turned back down. I counted in my head when I passed the next runner, 30 seconds. First lap just under 24min, I was told I was going too fast by the race crew but I just laughed at them.

I got told later the social media chat was was along the lines of 1st lap “Don’t know who this Raffan guy is but he’s going too fast”. Lap 3 “He’s still going, it’s freezing outside and he is wearing shorts! He must have northern spirit”, “No, he’s Scottish”. Lap 5 “He is still wearing shorts and he has a beard. He is hardcore!” By this time, it was well below freezing and my beard was getting icicles forming in it. When I grew my beard for the whole year last year, one thing I wanted to do was get a snow beard but didn’t, so now job done! For the rest of the night and day it was steadily gaining a few minutes at a time on the guys behind me. When you dibbed in there was a screen at the checkpoint and if you could think straight you can work out how far behind the next person was. Two laps was a comfortable lead.

It was a full moon and the sky was clear which meant that you could see enough without a head torch; I think this actually helped me keep the pace up. Throughout the race I went into the pub 3 times to get some more layers on, since I slowed when I started to get a bit colder. I managed 100 miles in about 19 and a half hours. This was going to plan, as I knew the weather was not going to be as nice on the second night. After every second rep I stopped to have some food. I started with my own chia charge bars and some other things I had in my supplies box like dried fruit. In the morning I started to get some food from the race crew, usually porridge. I would ask for it on one lap and they would have it ready for the next time I was there. I wasn’t worried about it being hot – I just needed to pack the calories in. I added my own custard to the mix just for extra calories. On the laps that I didn’t pick up real food, I grabbed a gel from the race supplies. They were sponsored by Gu gels which I have never had before, turns out they are now my favourite gels. I have no idea what flavours they were (I liked them all) but it was the consistency that I found really easy to eat while running. Mark told me to take some home at the end of the race, but guess what? I forgot.

The race was 160 miles. This was far too much to get your head around when you are running, just thinking about how far you have left to go is not nice, even laps were too much. I ended up breaking down into how many double marathons to go, or sometimes marathons. It somehow seems like a smaller number. Like the distance, the lure of the warm pub was there to make you want to stop. I tried to stay out of the pub as much as possible. I think I was in there 3 times to get extra layers or new batteries for my torch.

Most times when I stopped, I started to get cold. I would put my buff on at the start of the lap and my thin gloves. By the end of the road section my buff would come off as I was hot again and at the top of the hill the gloves would come off for the trip down.

During the day the wind gets up and the freezing fog comes in. Every time on the down lap the wind was just at the wrong angle so that I couldn’t protect my face. Down the right ride of my face was feeling cold. Every so often I had to rub my right eye just to warm it up. After a few laps I could see a milky blur in my eye. Bugger, the wind must have scratched my contact lens. Oh well, nothing I could do about it as I didn’t have any spares with me.

At about 5 am on the second night the batteries started to run out on my torch. Luckily, I had put some spares in my pocket, but what I didn’t think about was that I had to get the batteries the correct way round. They ran out just before the hole in the wall. I hid down out of the wind and tried to use one of the glow sticks that was placed to mark the route to see what I was doing. This was not a fun experience, especially when I was falling asleep while running. I didn’t think this was possible before but now I was running along and suddenly waking up when I would kick a stone further down the course. I had been holding my head torch in my hand to try to waken me up a bit. Not long after I changed the batteries it seemed like the sun came up again very soon. It may have just have been the concentrating but I was awake again. This was enough to get me to the end. The lead, that I had forced in the first few laps, I was able to keep right to the finish.

Mark the race director joined every runner for the last lap!

                                                                                              Heart & soul effort from Mike Raffan

Ultra enthusiast Mike Raffan, whose running CV includes the UTMB and the West Highland Way race, has just achieved what is possibly his most satisfying competitive achievement.    The Aberdeenshire man took first place in the Isolation Ultra, organised by Cockbain Events, recording a distance of 180.2 miles, on a 50 metre course within the confines of his back garden.

What makes Mike’s performance even more remarkable is that he completed the epic run towards the end of the April-long window after setting out a 106 mile marker earlier in the month. AND he had undergone open heart surgery earlier in the year.

The IT specialist at the University of Aberdeen had the benefit of a scenic, if tight, course, with views across the North Sea from the garden of his family home near Collieston. He was also supported by wife Annette and young daughter Flora.

But Mike didn’t have a classic preparation for this serious ultra challenge as he had undergone surgery to correct an anomalous right coronary artery on 25 February. This followed concerns Mike had last year when he noticed that he was finding it hard to breathe while running uphill. This difficulty became more pronounced and Mike sought medical advice.

He describes the diagnosis: “I was born with my right artery growing out of the wrong place.” The upshot was an operation at Glasgow Golden Jubilee Hospital.

Mike told runABC Scotland online: “I was out of hospital after just three days. The nurses on the ward were not sure about discharging me so early as they had never let anyone out in less than four days – the preference is seven. However, I passed all their fitness tests and the surgeon said it was ok for me to go.”

After just 10 days, Mike went for a slow two-mile run with his wife Annette keeping an eye on him.

“Every time I went out, I felt I had to hold my chest. The rehab physiotherapist told me this was due to the impact and that my chest bones had not fused together properly, so I started doing a lot of cycling instead to get to get my fitness back.”

Mike had only started running properly again when he decided to make the Isolation Ultra attempt. He said: “I relied on muscle memory and stubbornness to get me through the challenge. The run was slow. Stopping so often to turn around was like doing a bleep test for 27 hours.”

Event conditions required a maximum loop of 100 metres at your home and a non-stop (not staged) run with a 1 hour maximum rest stop.

Event organiser Mark Cockbain was effusive about Mike Raffan’s double ultra effort: “Only a few weeks after heart surgery, he came back for a second attempt smashing out 180.2 miles to become the Isolation Ultra ‘Cooler King’.”

A major inspiration for the ‘convalescing’ Raffan’s superhuman effort was to thank the medical team at the Golden Jubilee Hospital and he has already raised over £2,000.

 

 

                                                                                                The Tunnel Ultra by Alan Cormack

I have participated in events organised by Mark Cockbain previously and when he announced the Tunnel Ultra in 2018, I was instantly intrigued. The concept of the Tunnel Ultra, is 100 laps of Combe Down Tunnel near Bath with 55 hours to complete.

I had attempted the Viking Way in January during which I was timed out. My immediate thought when being driven to the finish line in Oakham, was that I did not want to compete in The Tunnel. I seriously considered pulling out. Once I had something to eat and a good night’s sleep, I was glad that I hadn’t said anything to Mark and didn’t really give it much thought until a fortnight before the race.

It was when we received the Race Brief telling us about the lack of parking near the start that I seriously started thinking about the race. What I wanted to do was to arrive in plenty of time, be well rested and be as relaxed as possible before the race start. I immediately contacted the local hotel about being able to park in the car park and after being told of the cost, I decided to look elsewhere. I found a farm shop half a mile from the start who were more than willing to allow me to park my car and camp.

I arrived the day before the race, walked down to the tunnel entrance and ran down through the tunnel into Bath for a swim and a shower. I then understood when running through the tunnel, about the strange music and lights.

On the day of the race, I had a good night’s sleep and walked down through some muddy fields to the start line where I recognised quite a few of my fellow runners. Due to the location of the race, all the runners had to be self-sufficient. Some runners had taken chairs and plastic storage boxes. All I took was an extra pair of trainers, some extra clothing and a carrier bag of food. I felt very lightweight!

At registration, we were all given a dibber to be worn around our wrist so we could “dib” in at the end of each lap. After a group photo and a quick race brief, we set off in bunches of five at 5 second intervals.

As this was a railway tunnel, my GPS watch wasn’t going to be of much use. I had no idea how to pace myself so I set out and started running at what I felt was a reasonable pace. I did get a comment from another competitor that they felt I had gone off too fast so I made a conscious effort to slow my pace down. I had a long way to go and I didn’t want to fatigue myself too early.

Another drawback of the uselessness of our GPS watches was that it was difficult to know how far we had actually gone and it was easy to lose track of how many laps we had done. There was a whiteboard which was updated occasionally with the lap count. During both nights, this wasn’t updated due to Race Director Mark, staying in a luxurious hotel while we were running up and down a railway tunnel!

It was reassuring to know that I was keeping well within the cut-off which was 100 miles in 27.5 hours. I was so paranoid about forgetting to dib in at the end of each lap, that on some occasions I was double dibbing and this confused me and Richard Weremiuk who was in charge of the tracking system.

Mark had kindly provided a checkpoint which was 100ft outside of the tunnel, this was a luxury small gazebo with the finest leftover Pot Noodles and Cup-a-Soups from The Hill On Tour Ultra. We felt very spoiled indeed and Mark is clearly going soft. Many thanks to Karen Webber, Dave Fawkner and Byron Crook who were superstars, keeping the kettle on the boil and masterful at keeping the Pot Noodles constantly on the go.

Time was just immeasurable in the tunnel and it was hard to tell the time or even tell what day it was. At some point during the race, runners were starting to take rest periods and have a sleep, covering themselves with foil blankets and Karen Webber’s Dry Robe was also a very popular blanket. During a rare period when it wasn’t being used, I grabbed it, put it on and lay down for 2 minutes on the path to shut my eyes only for Karen to give me a kick to tell me to get going again. She was very firm.

During the night the lights went out and mercifully, the weird music was also switched off. During the evening, we had to use our head torches and it was actually easier to see as the tunnel lights were very dull.

On the 2nd night, the number of runners started thinning out so when I was starting a lap, I suddenly realised that the number of runners had diminished and I was wondering where everyone had gone. Come Sunday afternoon, I was surprised how few of us were actually left and it became a very lonely race apart from the general public running and cycling through.

By the Sunday evening, we were down to four of us: Bryan Clary, Bobby Irvine, Lena Conlin and me. It was really surprising and disappointing that Bobby and Lena pulled out after such a heroic effort of getting so close and I really hope they come back and complete The Tunnel Ultra race as they are more than capable.

That just left Bryan and myself who was 6 laps ahead of me and he asked to run with me so I ran with him until he became the first finisher. I had my last 6 laps to do on my own with the Tunnel to myself. This was when I started hallucinating which was a very strange experience. I was so delighted to be on my final lap and I have never been so happy to finish a race, ever.

Once I had finished, Mark said that he had never wanted someone to finish a race more, which meant a lot to me.

I want to say thanks to Mark, Richard, Karen, Dave and the other runners for all of their chat, encouragement and support. A special thanks to Byron who was an absolute superstar, who kindly drove me back to my tent at the farm as I couldn’t face walking over muddy fields at 11pm.

I started running 14 years ago age 38, my first race was a 10k, it just about broke me! I enjoyed a few marathons then I stepped up to the D33, a local Ultra in Aberdeen before trying a 55 mile ultra and I continued to push the distance. I have done over 70 ultras now and it has given me so much, physically and mentally. (Alan finished second in The Spine last year – Winter Pennine Way Race).

 

 

 

Scottish Hill Runner Covers: 2002 – 2008

Strictly speaking there are only SHR Covers from 2002 – 2005 but the Scottish Hill Runner Journals are included as far as 2008.   By now what had been a roneo’d or gestetnered magazine had become a professionally produced magazine with the annual Journal a really glossy production  ( to note huge efforts by John Hepburn (see link) working to format all inputs from ‘all over’ and get print layouts for Nevis Print whom he worked for at the time…   There was serious commitment by various people like Mark Rigby, Nick MacDonald, Keith Burns, Mark Johnston, and many others to generate impressive journals [as was the illustrious Fell Runner, by the English FRA, for many years preceding.. 

 

 

 

 

 

Uphill Only Races

There was something new in the hill running calendar for 1996: important enough to get its own box on the front of the Tiso calendar: an uphill only series of 7 races.


The Tiso calendar of the 1996 hill racing season had a box at the foot of the front cover advertising a new development: an uphill only series was promoted quite prominently at the foot of the page.   The selection of races was interesting in its own right but the question is how, after over many decades of hill racing, it had come to be.   But first you will note that the list included a half Ben Lomond Junior Race as well as six races for Seniors.   In the list of six there was a newcomer in the form of the Glencoe Chairlift Race which was a brand new arrival on the circuit, and about which, more later.   It may have been the first time that a series of uphill races as such appeared on the fixture list but the genesis had been longer, it had been discussed and the decision to encourage uphill only had already been taken. 

There was maybe a wee hint in this extract from the back page of the brochure as to why it started in 1996.

ICMR XII Mountain Running World Trophy 1966 (Uphill Only) is the phrase that should maybe be noted here.   

To begin our look at the ‘new’ series, we  asked Denis Bell, international hill runner, selector and team manager about it, starting with the broader European scene.  He tells us that: Europeans used to do most of their running ‘uphill only’ (aided by the fact that it was ‘considered safer’ and probably because they have so many mountain top services like chalets and cable cars, etc.)   I do think though that the Italians probably had a decent race series of our UK traditional style  ‘up and down’, I say this because on all race types and terrains they coped ‘brilliantly’ and with the rough (‘dangerous’) downhills.   The first European Championships were in 1995.   

As a general rule, though, France, Italy and Spain all race up-and-down  and  also uphill only races.   It’s mainly German speaking nations that stick to uphill only – Austrians, Swiss, Germans.    2019 was the  Trail World Championship in Portugal where 50 nations took part with up to 12 athletes per nation.   Around 600 entered.  From 2021 World Athletics (IAAF that was) are having a 4 day festival combining mountain and trail running.Sierre Zinal is part of the Solomon’s Golden Trail Series which probably explains why some people think it’s a trail race..’

Odd years are ‘short’ approx 50km, even years ‘long’ approx 80km 

So in my early years there was a compromise in the World Cup (yes, that’s what it was called) mountain races. They were however  forced to re-name those events because of football’s World Cup.   So the ‘World Running Mountain Trophy’ races developed. 
 
It was not the usual British format but following great negotiation by Danny Hughes et al of the Fell Runners Association, they gave the UK teams some wee balance by doing 2-yearly cycles:  uphill only one year then ‘up-and -down’ next.    It was, therefor, very sensible that we should try to ‘condition’ our best to cope with the, to us, ‘alien form of racing’.   He continues: “We set up uphill races and we might have actually had a series but I cannot remember if there was a ‘championship or award’ as such..   We already had …
Aonach Mor Gondola race [very early year]
Glenshee Uphill from way down the glen by the Dundee Uni ski club ‘tow’ to The Cairnwell
The Glencoe Chairlift Challenge, (by Alistair Lawson with some help from Denis Bell, we also added a super low key ‘relay’ (sorry I cannot remember the format for that …It might have been a team of 2,3,or 4…up and down a ‘same short-ish leg’…the athletes were asked if they wanted to do all 3 (same day!) and a fair few did!!!
An ‘Aberfoyle’ Braeval Uphill Evening race (set up by Dermot McGonigle)
Glas Tulachean set up by Martin Hyman, then run by Dave Hanlon (Dundee Hawkhill Harrierss).    I believe form Angela it’s in it’s 21st or 25th year!!
I also organised an uphill in Glencoe and got great support from the ‘manager’ using the base lodge / services area as a base, and running up the old access track by a secondary wee summit, right up to the summit of Meall a Bhuirdidh. I think this race might have been resurrected.
Can’t remember if there were ‘others’ but this parcel of races at least offered ‘experience of going up as fast as possible without holding anything back for a decent. Please note that the only assist down was of course from the Snowgoose gondola station on Aonach Mor…the rest meant all had to get back down safely anyway..so our absolute ‘up and down‘ was not fully compromised’! [even at Aonach Mor, most ran back off the hill!]
 
The Glencoe Chairlift Challenge was a brand new race devised by Alistair Lawson with some support from Denis Bell.   Hill races, rounds and runs are devised in all sorts of formats and for all sorts of reasons.   It is worth looking at how these things happen!   When asked Alistair explained that “The Glenshee Chairlift Challenge was a short-lived (mid-1990s) event in conjunction with the Glenshee Chairlift Company, which was anxious to attract new summer customers and generate new interests in order to justify keeping the skiers’ café open during the summer months.  The deal was that a stuffed dummy, created using a bright orange suit from the mountain rescue equipment) was strapped into one of the chairlift seats, thereby providing a visible marker for the runners.  The chairlift runs, of course, at a constant speed, which meant that the dummy gained ground on the runners on the uphill leg (straight up the rough hill, directly under the lift-line), whereas the reverse obtained on the downhill leg and the lead runners overtook the dummy.  It was a close-run thing, such as to allow the awarding of certificates to those who beat the dummy, while those who didn’t were simply “also rans”.  ”  
 
Picture from Angela Mudge
As part of the search for more detailed information on the topic, Denis discussed the topic Angela Mudge who had been more closely involved in the matter  and she was very helpful with information on the World Mountain Running Trophy format and ‘The European Championships’.   The WMRT, and Euro Champs are held ‘every second year‘ and they alternate between them having an ‘up and down’ and an ‘uphill only’; then the next cycle, they reverse the format of their previous event…so every 2nd year there’s an up and down or an uphill only.   
Denis goes on to say: “Scottish Athletics Limited have been holding a single race Championship event for all age categories for very many years now.  They also did a Championship race to combine it as an ‘Uphill selection race’ for the WMRT.   This was a very positive bit of management.   Over the piece you can clearly see that the ‘hill runners’ year could be very challenging and had many, many races of real consequence.  On reflection maybe the most complicated of all sports anywhere?
Angela reminded me that in 1996, the second Euro Champs (where I was a team manager) at Llanberis for the Snowdon uphill race format with ladies stopping at The Midway Station (Angela, Sonia Armitage, Tracey Brindley), and the men went to the summit(John Brooks, Dermot McGonigle, Mark Rigby, and John Wilkinson). 
Typically, ‘women’s uphill was to target 50 minutes; the ‘men’s’ 67 minutes.   Angela also reminded me that, on that occasion, we went into a local sports shop to buy them ‘blue shorts’ instead of them wearing the team kit of ‘white knickers’(???)….hill runners do things a bit differently to track and field.
 
The inaugural European Championship, was in the south of France, 1995.   Scotland had lots of presence over the years at both WMRTs and Euro Champs.   Angela has told me that in 2021, the IAAF are incorporating WMRT and going to ‘combine a format of Short Uphill; Up and Down; a 40km mountain ‘trial’ and an 80km trail event.    I think a 4 day festival.”
 
 
In Scotland, we used Broad Law in Tweedsmuir for a selection race (not quite to the ‘top’ top because of the radar beacon). I did that race, and I think though ‘not first 2’, it added to my race result profile for ‘considered selection’…..[i remember Dave Weir [Perth Strathtay] was very close, and he very shortly after matured into an internationalist…])

 

 

Junior International Selection 2002

The teams did well in the international, of that there is no doubt whatsoever.   Team selectors at whatever level often (usually?) get it in the neck for some inappropriate selection or omission.   Not this time.  It is appropriate to have a look at how the team was chosen.   First we have the race details and the course maps.

Having been informed of the venue, arrangements and trails, the races went off well as the report below shows.

 

Training Days

 
 
The range of people interested in and involved in hill-running is wide: there are races for Under 16’s and there is no upper limit as far as ages are concerned.   There are races for beginners (there are frequent articles in hill running journals and magazines by and about the pratfalls and pitfalls of a hill-running neophyte) and for the elite.   The sport was developed in several ways.  There were weekend gatherings aimed at the elite but open to all.   They were held all over Scotland and the cost to the attenders was as low as possible, and lifts to and from were offered where possible.   We asked Denis Bell for more information.    
 
“These were all largely down to Martin Hyman.   Martin was a superb organiser and a stickler for detail and whilst these ‘coaching weekends’ were really targeted towards the ‘elite runners’, they actually appealed more to the ranks and file .   Few of the elite joined up, but 80% of the attendees were excellent club members, experienced runners, and then the shades below towards novice.    To begin with we had juniors and seniors, and the events worked fine, but as expected, became a bit polarised between seniors and juniors.   Nonetheless the affiliations, camaraderie etc were bedrocks.   We soon determined to split off the ages and ended with seniors and juniors as separate events and these were all in my opinion ‘great successes’…Wanlockhead, Comrie Croft, the Scout Station at Lochearnhead, maybe Dalbeattie, the Scout Centre, near Hillend, and Glencoe I think (and definitely there were a couple ‘further north’).  I probably missed a few!
 
These were typically getting 30-40 seniors,  and separately c20 Juniors, and lasted from gathering Friday evening to departing mid afternoon Sunday. People travelled far and wide and again paid little to participate (£15 perhaps).  All the grub and drinks were provided by the organising team (this indeed was also the format for Will’s Bothy…provision of labour on the project (a couple of days..) and then the Will’s Bothy Relay afterwards….more ad-hoc as Martin arranged days to get down to get on with the workload  ( turning a pretty dilapidated ruin into a very habitable 2-floor Bothy)….again people travelled from far and wide to help.
 
The format of the Coaching weekends, was planned efforts, classroom-discussion sessions and also efforts out on the hills.
 
The class stuff was about keeping healthy, eating and drinking, injuries, preparation for events and racing, mountain craft and orienteering, training routines etc…we also set up personal training plans for the future….and then just generally shared experiences.  Some of the ‘lecture’ work was ‘formal presentation style’ in an open inclusive forum. We had invited guests sharing their experience with us and sharing ‘informed’ approaches in terms of coaching…SAL or active and well known in ‘athletics’…
We all could, were encouraged to, pitch in and have our say, do our bit.
 
We had ‘relay’ events and then did wider ranging into the hills. Wanlockhead was superb, very early in the year (2nd weekend Jan).. Varied weather over the years, etc. Other events at the places noted above took place at other times of the years and were well advertised to be planned in to our personal calendars.
 
These were a super success both for seniors and juniors, as affordable and smartly organised, and innovative approaches over diverse locations, where we tried to be inclusive to the fraternity beyond the Central Belt…   Malcolm Patterson took on a lot to do with juniors and we generally expanded interests by seniors, women and juniors..   I’d say our membership strengthened and grew, and all gained benefit, although of the top elites attended.
 
In my early years 200max members (SHRA)…later on by 15 years progression probably 600+ members .
*
As an illustration of these weekends, we have some of the documentation from the Wanlockhead weekend in January 1996.   The map used is at the top of the page, but first have a look at the schedule for the weekend.    Having been advertised beforehand, including a ‘last minute plug’ in the Scottish Hill Runner magazine for October 1995, applications received and Christmas celebrated, the attendees arrived and were given the following timetable.   Some had taken the option of travelling down the night before and staying in Wanlockhead, some had accepted the offers of lifts from others going there but all had the same weekend programme. 
  Attached to this information sheet was a list of participants with their details which included their name, phone number, where they were from, whether and how much they had paid and notes which included their age if they were juniors.   At this camp, there were 16 juniors and 26 seniors; 15 females and 27 males.   There were seven staff members.  These were Malcolm Patterson who was a run leader; Mags Turnbull head caterer, Edel Mooney helper and coach, Oleg Chepelin who was an orienteering coach, Jill Horsburgh Caterer, Denis Bell Coach and Martin Hyman who was noted as ‘Wise Old Man’.    The weekends were always successful but while talking about Squad Weekends, the Juniors were not left out: how could they be when they had been doing so well on the international scene in the early 90’s?   Staying with 1996, there was a very good one at the Comrie Croft Bunkhouse, between Comrie and Crieff.   The review below is from the ‘Scottish Hill; Runner’ of June 1996.
 
Senior Squad Days and Junior Squad Days in a variety of locations covering the country and all very successful.   If you put them together with such as  the Come and Try Days put on by Christine Menhennet then you have a sport that was catering for all: a recipe for success.
 

Denis Bell: Official & Administrator

A HELP prize giving with Guest of Honour Yvonne Murray

Almost everyone involved in athletics in any serious way takes on other tasks away from the training track and the racing programme.   There is almost always an overlap with club committees and even at times with District Committees, and in exceptional cases goes further yet and into national and international involvement.    Haddington East Lothian Pacemakers (HELP) was formed by a group of runners in 1983 as a result of people watching the first London Marathon in 1981.  Founding member, Henry Muchamore is the man the old brigade have a lot to thank for. Henry was the main driving force, pushing the club forward in establishing a very well respected, competitive club. The peak years of the club were from about the mid 80’s to late 90’s. It had athletes winning road, hill and cross-country races.     One of the club’s early aims was to raise money for charities and they raised a lot when they did a ‘Run the World Relay’ round the boundary of the town, they raised money from all sorts of local sources.    Tens of thousands of pounds were raised by the club.

Of the charity work, Denis himself says “I managed personal charity contributions too…my co-workers at Brunton’s Musselburgh were so generous on at least 2 occasions, and I think I got another two ‘personally collected’ amounts from families and friends etc. For doing my marathons especially….our HELP acronym was most certainly rooted so generously in trying to support and help charitable causes.”     Denis’s charity efforts did not stop there however. and among the more notable were the following: 

  •  He also did an abseil from Glasgow University Tower when working with Keystone Valves for the Macmillan Cancer Fund.   
  • He did the Corryairack Challenged from Fort Augustus to Kincraig for the Badaguish Respite Centre, near Coylumbridge.   This was a duathlon running 17 miles to Garbh Bridge and then cycling a further 10 miles to Kincraig.   
  • Denis was also part of a 10 man team with a support group of three ‘whusketeers’ that did the JOGLE (John o’Groats to Lands End) on their cycles just 7 years ago in eight and a half days to raise funds for Stem Cell research.

Henry was the club’s first Chairman, and when Denis and some other talented runners joined the club they added even more enthusiasm.    It is always important when setting up a new club to draw up a Constitution right at the beginning  and Denis played a big part in that.   A real livewire within the club,   he was said to be involved in everything: for instance, the club had a magazine called ‘The Chaser’ and Denis wrote reports on several issues including reports on hill running.   When Henry stepped down as Chairman, he tells me that Denis took over.   In about 1986 the club organised the ‘Haddington 5’ Miles  in June.   It subsequently organised the half marathon in June which in turn was followed by the ‘Haddington 10’ miles for August.   Henry Muchamore tells us that Denis was very important in setting these races up, maybe especially the 10 miles,  and filled many posts in the organisation.     He was the club’s first Scottish international when he represented the country in hill running doing the Snowdonia Mountain Race and was made a life member.   The photograph below shows Denis receiving a trophy (for something!) at a HELP Presentation.

Having started as a club committee member, he had held just about every office – from Chairman to Club Captain – and discovered that he enjoyed the experience, and it was natural that he should continue to be involved when he moved to Torrance.   The involvement continued at National level.

Denis was fairly quickly recruited to the Scottish Hill Runners Association committee and was active on a variety of fronts.   In the mid 90’s the governing body for the hill runners was one of the seven that came together under the Scottish Athletics Federation banner.   He says: “I was active in SHRA committee work and the transition from Scottish Hill Runners Association [aligned to Fell Runners Association] to Hill Running Commission, under direct Scottish Athletic Federation]”  This was a serious exercise as the whole structure of the sport in the country was being radically altered.  Apart from that,  I also did some informal coaching (hunting out Juniors from schools cross-country etc) and facilitating ‘Squad development'(really towards the elites, but in practice superbly supported by ‘rank and file’) under the tutelage of Martin Hyman..   It all developed from there and just grew.  Others pitched in from our ‘friendly sport’ , and took ownership ,led and made things happen, in my opinion, very democratically and inclusively.”

In brief Denis

  •  Worked as team manager/ assistant.
  •  Worked in race organisation.   
  • Carried on with administration (committee) work,
  • He also tried to ensure a continued  focus on uphill-only running races (WMRT format ‘bi-annual’) and
  • kept working to support juniors entering the sport.  ” Inaugural Juniors Home Championships were at Grasmere, Lake District, won by our Emma Gorman (Milngavie, straight from Cross-Country at school) and John Brooks (Lochaber).   It was a superb set of results too at the later Welsh event in Llanberis..  (we possibly got our ‘best ever’ Scottish athletics team at a single event.”). 

Emma’s picture is below – a real study in concentration and determination as well as a very good image of the height and nature of the course at Grasmere.   Denis commented on the race at Llanberis the following year: rightly so, it was a superb performance by the Scots. In the Under 18 Boys race, Iain Donnan by half a minute from England’s Andy Ellis with the other Scots being John Newsom 4th and Graham Bee 6th totalling 11 points to England’s 15 and Ireland’s 23.   The Under 18 Girls were led home by Sarah Blake who defeated England’s Katie Ingram by 19 seconds with the other two runners being Marbeth Shiell in 5th, Bryony Curtis 6th giving a team total of 12 points to England’s 14 and Ireland’s 19.   In the Under 16 Boys race, The three counting Scots were Scott Fraser 5th, Andrew McCall 6th and David Butcher 7th – all three within 30 seconds of each other.   The team wa second with 18 points, two behind England and six ahead of Ireland.   Three teams, two firsts and one second!   In the remaining race – Under 16 Girls – Jennifer Emsley was unlucky to be just out of the medals in fourth but there was no team there to back her up.   The selectors had done their work well – for a look at the selection race organisation and report just follow  this  link.  

The Fellrunner magazine of February 2003 reported on the race as follows:

“All the home countries plus Ireland made great efforts this year to field full teams for the junior home international which was held on the more gradual grassy slopes of Moel Eilio.   This coupled with a relatively flat start and finish was a much faster course than usual allowing those runners with a degree of speed to compete on more even terms with the more out and out fell junior.   In the team awards, England shared the team honours with Scotland, with Ireland taking a well deserved third in front of hosts Wales.   The competition up front was very competitive with Richard Newton of England winning with the biggest margin of the day.   Other notable wins were those of Karrie Hawitt of England who had the company of the new junior England Fell sensation, 13 year old Daniele Walker, all the way to the turn.   Scotland had two gold stars in Iain Donnan and Sarah Blake who impressed greatly with their front running and, in particular, Iain’s tremendous descending ability.   In the Welsh team, Rhodri Buffet had a super run in winning the  U/16 bronze medal, as did Colm Turner for Ireland in the U/18 race    Eoghan Gill in the U16 Boys race had the best performance from the N Ireland team.”

Denis had been a joint team managher with Helen Diamantides who sent his this note attached to some other correspondence after the event.

He continues, “In Committee work, I was also keen to try and give general runners something to aim for rather than most things being for the Elite athletes, so designed a format for ‘Alternative Hill Racing Champioships’, in 1996,  Effectively turning the  ‘points scored HRC format (21 points for 1st downwards making it easier for stats compilations for the Championships.)’ on it’s head…so that highest results got the fewest points and overall ‘lowest amassed points win’….this accounted for a good few people who went to many events through the year getting credits that were not elitist but results for commitments to ‘many races’.

Meantime, whilst still in Haddington, I was busy in committee work there and held the Chair position. I also helped out at our road race series, racing some; and did a quirky lovely event called The Chairman’s Challenge.  Multi-age team relays around Saltoun Woods, with a BBQ afterwards!! Great fun, serious (seniors trying to get ‘best timed legs!)  but not so serious with wee kids ‘n’ wives involved too!   

From ‘Chasers’, Christmas Newsletter, 1986

I was very generously made Honorary Life Member, and was the club’s ‘first international athlete’ ( having been selected to run Snowdonia (when it was an early-doors true international high calibrate race) ). 

We moved to Torrance with family (work, redundancy related) when at the tail end of my senior-vet period, and needed the Campsies and Lennoxtown Forest to train on.  I only had a couple of years competing as a vet  –  

Won the Vets silver medal in ’94,  there were a few after that, in 95. and defo 96 .   They included 
Eildons Two Hills on 22nd June, 17th, 2nd Vet behind Jim Paterson of NI;
Edinburgh 7 Hills ,  23rd June  4th in 1.45.47;
Maybe Dollar,  7th in 43.19…? 
That might also have been a year of the reverted Full length Moffat Chase (which has been shortened to about 13 miles for a number of years… I’d personally asked for it to go back, but numbers had been falling away for years and big commitment to marshall the full course…(Gala or Teviotdale?

After the racing, I then started a wee passion to do big ‘runs’ (ridge routes..) with great colleague Peter Marshall, and ultimately as solos.

By this time, still active in admin, management and trying to encourage our sport development, I had lost interest in competing (it had been about 12 years very active racing, plus all the overload of the other stuff as well as a busy life) and ended up training for fitness and trying to balance a career (still 45-50 hours per week), growing family, married life and being a ‘citizen’!!!!”

But Denis was still as active as ever.   For instance

*as part of his interest in education and the next generation of hill runners, he was involved in a Come and Try day, organised by Christine Menhennet in Clydebank.  Just click on the  this link for an account of it.     

*Then there were the squad weekends at Wanlockhead, Comrie, Lochearnhead, Glencoe, Dalbeattie, and more, which, although aimed at the top level of athletes, were open to all who wanted to come and learn.

*The SAF coaching committee wanted to set up a new type of coach education to replace that which had been in place since the days of Frank Dick and the SAAA in the 1970’s and Denis’s expertise was wanted on that too.   

*As part of his involvement with the SAF and its coaching structure, he was one of the selectors for the World Mountain Championships at Berchtesgaden in Germany in September, 1994 along with Jim Darby (national coach) and Alistair Lorimer.

Emma Gorman at Grasmere

Denis was, as suggested at the start of his profile as a runner, very energetic in all that he undertook.   He trained hard and then  combined the training with starting a career as an administrator at HELP where he is still fondly remembered and highly respected as a hard working and loyal club member.   He went on to run successfully on the hills in championships as Senior and Veteran, and in some international races, and managed to combine that with work on the SHRA Committee.  Finally there was his participation in a number of serious initiatives dealing with the development of the sport and its athletes and his duti8es as an international team manager.   As they said at the end of the movie about ‘Gregory’s Girl’ – “What a Guy!”