Author: The Author

We’ve got so many great pictures, great examples of athletics middle and long distance memorabilia, from Hugh Barrow that we have to start a new collection.  This is the start of collection 7.     Great pic of Eric Liddell which came from Frederic Humbert.  

The Edinburgh Southern Harriers Clubhouse at Fernieside being built

The plaque placed on the housing built where the clubhouse stood

Pirie, Brasher, Chataway, Bannister, Churchill: Festival of Britain time!

Zatopek finds a new event

1924 Olympic Cross-Country

Hugh says:  Another brilliant post by the equally brilliant Mike Fanelli , who continues to unearth wonderful facts

HOUDINI THE HARRIER
As a youngster, Harry Houdini was a great cross country runner.
Initially he competed for the Allerton Club and then (as pictured here) NYC’s Pastime Athletic Club.
At age 18, he set the record for the loop race aound Central Park.
Around the same time, he defeated Sidney Thomas, an English champion, in a twenty-mile race. Thomas would later set world records for ten-, fifteen-, and twenty-miles.
Many year’s later, I’d quite often run past his former San Francisco home…a great big vertical brick mansion in Sea Cliff, SF’s toniest neighborhood

.It wouldn’t be a Hugh Barrow collection without …  Herb Elliott.

The ‘Fell Runner’ magazine (sometimes called ‘The Fellrunner’) is a  marvellous publication.  It is published by the Fell Runners Association and is a well produced magazine and a fund of  information on the world of all who love to run on the hills of Britain – and indeed further afield.   There are detailed results of pretty all hill races in the country, articles of interest fo all interested in the sport, profiles of individual runners (not all of them champions) , training hints, addresses of accommodation all over the British Isles for those looking for somewhere to stay when running in some of the more remote areas – it also has photographs.   Superb photographs (‘superb’ was chosen deliberately) taken at great vantage points to show the nature of any particular race, to show the height that the athletes have climbed, the view down to the finish or even the feelings of the runner as displayed by his face or body posture.   The magazine is a ‘must have’ for the fell runner.   Some of the photographs will be shown here – mainly those of Scottish runners or races – from the period from Spring 1987.

The Bens of Jura, 1987 (Photo by P. Hartley)

From inside back cover, December, 1988

Colin Donnelly at Edale   (Photo by Peter Hartley)

September 1990

John Blair-Fish, Winner of the Pentland Skyline  (Photo: Brian Covell)

Back Cover:  June 1994

Main picture.  Dermot McGonigle on Ben Shiantaich ; October 1996

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Hill runners all love a challenge.   Not content with doing a Munro, or even two which are side by side, they have such as the Island Peaks Race where they sail from Oban and climb three mountains sailing by boat between them and finish in Ayrshire; or they do the three highest peaks in each of the three countries on the British mainland driving between them by fast car.   But the biggest challenges are those which rely on the runner tackling the environment.   There are three big ’rounds’ that are regarded as classics.   

In England there is the Bob Graham Round: “a fell running challenge in the English Lake District. It is named after Bob Graham (1889–1966), a Keswick  guest-house owner, who in June 1932 broke the Lakeland Fell record by traversing 42 fells within a 24-hour period. Traversing the 42 fells, starting and finishing at Keswick Moot Hall, involves 66 miles (106 km) with 26,900 feet (8,200 m) of ascent.”

In Wales there is the Paddy Buckley Round: “a long distance fell running challenge in Snowdonia. The route is a circuit of just over 100 km long taking in some 47 summits.  The Round has the reputation of being somewhat tougher to complete than its English equivalent, the Bob Graham Round.   Although no official time limit is set, an arbitrary 24 hours is applied, although the first completer exceeded the original aim of 24 hours.

And in Scotland we have the Charlie Ramsay Round: a long distance hill running challenge near Fort William. The route is a circuit of 58 miles, taking in 24 summits with a total climb of around 28,500 feet. Ben Nevis, Great Britain ‘s highest peak, is included in the route along with 22 other Munros.   This article is from the Fellrunner magazine of  Winter 1987 by  Martin Stone.  An Excellent article, it even includes a map of the route and split times.   [As a bonus, there is a note of the new Bob Graham Club members]

Colin Young, talking about his time at Glasgow Universitry and the award of Colours, has this to say:

When I was at Glasgow between 1958 and 1962. I was awarded my colours for athletics so was entitled to buy the dark green tie with a laurel wreath logo – which I wore regularly. A card was issued by GUAC which you took to the authorised supplier – either Rowans or Forsyth’s – and made the appropriate purchase. Club ties were common in those days and Rowans in particular had a whole window round the side of the building filled with an array of smart and sober neckwear.   

Colours were given to those of us who turned out regularly for the team but didn’t meet the standard for a blue by – for example – winning the Inter-Varsities. The colours gave encouragement to those who filled the lower places in the inter university meetings and were an acknowledgement of the teamwork required to win contests. As a 120 yard hurdler I had little chance of beating the first-string athletes – Bobby Mills, Frank Crawley, or Gordon Brown. However, in those days points were awarded as 5, 3, and 1, for first second and third so the second-string runner had a very important role in the overall competition. First and second together counted for 8 points and first and third gave a useful 6 points. Our team captain in my first year – John Asher- was always most encouraging  to those of us filing the second and third places and  in a memorable phrase he once voted myself and one of the other athletes those who had “ got the finger furthest out” that day, for unexpectedly filing second and third places to help win a match!

The GU Colours tie.

The Edinburgh Uuniversity website tells us that Colours were awarded for services to and dedication to University Sport and to University Sports Clubs.   It adds:  Colours reward those individuals have given time and effort above and beyond the call of duty to their chosen sport or Club. University Sport could not operate without these volunteers organising and co-ordinating Clubs and the Colours award recognises this endeavour.

Successful nominees for Sports Union Colours tend to show good club commitment, including an exceptional playing or appearance record, have a history of service to the Club through serving on Club Committees or in other positions, or have a good history of coaching and encouraging new members. Successful candidates tend to go beyond the duties of their Committee positions. Nominees will be a playing member of the Sports Union (though not necessarily to a high standard) and will be available to represent the University in the first instance (i.e. they prioritised the University Club over other commitments).

The university lists 65 ‘sports’ eligible for the award of Colours including Archery, Association Football, Women’s Assn Football, .and end with  Wakeboard & Waterski, Weightlifting and Windsurfing and surfing.   

Colin Young was a student at Edinburgh University and won his Colours there giving him an interesting ‘double colours’ – Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities.   He says of this spell:

“Athletes who participated regularly for Edinburgh but whose performances didn’t justify the award of a Blue were awarded a “Green”. Somewhat confusingly this was sometimes called a Half Blue – presumably because the recipient could move up to a Full Blue if his or her performance in subsequent seasons justified it.  Some universities awarded half blues to sports which did not merit the status of a full blue – as described elsewhere by Sandy Sutherland – but I don’t know if this was the case at Edinburgh.

The “Greens” tie was a simple bottle green one with a silver stripe -which doesn’t really convey much except to those few who know what it means.   However there was also a very smart bottle green blazer which could be purchased – complete with the university badge. I guess this had the advantage over the blues blazer that it could be worn as casual wear after leaving university without being as noticeable as the blues blazer. An authorisations card from EUAC was needed to allow purchase of Green Colours from R.W. Forsyth.”

Aberdeen University in 2020: Colours Awards.   The AUSA Sport Colours Awards are for individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to their club or to sport at Aberdeen. The award takes into account not only sporting performance and achievement but also positions of responsibility, fundraising and developing new players among others. They are awarded at two levels, Colours and Colours with Distinction and are presented each year at the Sports Union AGM.

Colin Youngson thinks that (back in the late 1960s and early 70s) Aberdeen University Club Colours were awarded to athletes who were not yet good enough to be nominated for Half-Blues or indeed Blues. They might be promising first-team newcomers, valuable regular members of the first team, or hard triers who were popular because they made the absolute best of limited talent. He recalls receiving Club Colours (a small tracksuit badge with the university crest) in his first year with Aberdeen University Hare and Hounds (as well as a Half-Blue); but does not remember gaining Club Colours for the Athletics Club, despite going on to obtain Half and Full Blues on the track.   

The Aberdeen University practice was to award those attaining colours to wear a patch, illustrated bottom centre above, on their tracksuit.    Also shown above are some of the medals  that the University awarded for championships.   We also have examples of medals presented by both Glasgow and Edinburgh.   These are shown below.   Edinburgh first, front on top, then reverse:

Then Glasgow :

St Andrews: Colours are awarded to students who have demonstrated extreme sporting excellence not at the standard of a Half-Blue, have enhanced student experience or have enhanced club engagement.   The range of sports involved is as noted in the article on Blues

University of the Highlands and Islands: Colours: To receive a Colour, athletes, where applicable, need to serve and play for their club and to be regular first team members, representing the team in at least 65% of the eligible matches, recording at least one victory.

`999 was a good year for the Scottish Hill Runner – 4 fat issues plus the shiny covered 36 page journal.   Mark Rigby had been editor for some time and had done a marvellous job in regular porduction and improving the standard of the magazine and this year was the best yet.

This was the format that would be used for some time to come – no picture but quite a lot of information.

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The  Journal for 2000 – 2001 was A4 sized and ran to 82 pages.  Front page above, back pagebelow.

The above cover was the standard cover for the magazine through the rest of 1994 and the whole of 1995

The January 1996 issue was a wrap around and the whole montage is shown here

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The Scottish Hill Runner proved to be a success and it went from strength to strength.   The covers with their illustrations – which became increasingly sophisticated – will be reproduced here and on successive pages.   Almost all have the date on the front cover. 

The original from the front cover of April 1993

The full wrap around cover for the August 1993 issue

The Original of Emma Gorman – December 1993 cover

It is possible to look at the career of any sportsman, particularly a successful sportsman in terms of awards. medals or trophies won to miss the big picture because of the focus on the triumphs.   Tom McKean was often accused of not racing enough but when time was taken to look at all the racing that he had done over the season, then the numbers contradicted that impression.   With that in mind, we can look at Denis’s career as a runner.  He himself describes his career in ‘phases’ and accordingly what follows is numbered in chronological sequence.   Some have been referred to in the previous page but as a totality the whole is overwhelming. 

As a pupil at Knox Academy in Haddington, he remembers doing the junior and senior ‘marathons’ where he thinks that ‘a place’ in first year ‘junior’, and possibly 1st in Jnr in 2nd year.
Then 2nd in senior marathon in 3rd year (behind Drew Donaldson who was probably in his 4-5th year?)
Then 1st, for 4th, 5th, 6th year..

After the school races he joined Haddington East Lothian Pacemakers and started running Marathons – seen above finishing the Edinburgh Marathon.  The marathon memories are discussed next>

Marathons : Trial in August on my own course getting 2.36.xx just before my 30th birthday, 15/8/82. [Dad was away a few days later].
Then Edinburgh, 2.34.xx, September 1984, with great running pal Phil Beeson, over the line together.   I think we were 26th out of possibly 2,000 runners
Then Snowdonia in October 1984 with the disastrous ‘dehydrated’ finish and 3rd in 2.42.xx behind Mike Neary and Malcolm Jones. [I clearly relate to Callum Hawkins’ desperate failure at the marathon ‘3’years ago when he ‘dnf’ due to dehydration shock].
Finally Galloway in April 1985, 4th in 2.31.xx…another torrid last few miles with heaving stomach, chilled and maybe bad water at last station…

Of course as a member of HELP he ran in Club, District, National and open races and of this period he says, ” In between times I cannot think of anything exceptional in terms of road races or Cross-Country…but I was mightily glad not to lose any places at the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay I ran in (one and only) covering the last leg. in the team that was 14th in 1988.   It is interesting to look at the results of the races he ran in, he was relatively better placed, further up the field and running in better company than in the road races.  

Denis came to hill racing rather late compared to many (most?) of competitors.   He says of his hill racing career: 

The first year or two were a mighty and serious introduction…
So, 1985 and ‘86 were a bit special and I think Carnethy, Ben Lomond, Bens of Jura (what a classics introduction!!), Chapelgill, Moffat Chase, Two Breweries, Angus Munro’s (old course) ..the Ben….
ALL of these were standouts and I think generally I was very proud to run and survive the big ones with decent results (???) ...so these early ‘apprenticeship years’ were precious…I learned loads from my superb peers, and refined hill-craft!

Other stand-outs have to be the races that helped me clinch my medals, so in Scottish Champs of 6 out-of-9 races I knew that being in the ‘first 6’ of each of those’9’ (if I could manage them all.) I’d highly likely get a medal’; I got bronze, silver and gold (and gold vets) so obviously every one of my Champs races were precious…
I knew I could get gubbed by ‘many’ on the shorts or even mediums, but I knew I had an edge over most on the longs!

And of course, there were the internationals.   Of these he says this.
“Of course ‘selection’ races were precious to put myself into a shortlist….  I think I was favoured from ‘overall racing ability’ for at least 2 or 3 of the 4 vests I got. I maybe ‘scored’ at the Dollar Hill uphill selection race at Tweedsmuir, but I cannot remember.   Of course I cherish all my vests, and at the times, believed I had done ‘decently well’ . but used to then think back ‘could I, should I have done a bit better?’ for the Team results. (I think I was in 4th team in Keswick…?)..  The internationals were pitched at a different level to the Scottish Champs, and were ‘all-or-nothing’ one-off races, so the pressure was rather different. In the Scottish vests’ I always ‘placed’ (first 3 of 4 to count)…probably reflecting my ‘consistent decent-mediocrity’…!

I would think that he does himself down a bit in the remarks above on selection.   I have been involved in team selection and don’t know if there were ever any big favours done.   When he says that his overall racing ability was in his favour, it would probably be the case that ‘overall racing ability’ was one of the criteria against which all contenders are measured.   Have a look at the face in the picture above – it is the face of a competitor, not the face of a time triallist.   Selectors want competitors.   

Des Crowe, Malcolm Patterson and Dermot McGonigle

When talking to athletes coaches often urge them to be ‘task focused’ not ‘self focused’.   It would seem to be the case that Denis is a natural example of what coaches look for.   He says when asked a couple of times for detail of races, “Being honest, I never diarised, – usually a wee note in the race calendar or on the back of my race number. I was not precious about the ‘keeping of racing results’ and I was too busy to be a good personal record keeper. At the end of the day, ‘sights were set on objectives’ and race places (rarely ‘I’m going to win this one’!) I treated every race as history!…what’s the next immediate challenge in front of me?  Of course I had to have a good feel for who were close to me and thus ‘could I manage to get a few points off ‘so-and-so’?’   So we have a task focused competitor who didn’t keep diaries.  Maybe more on this later, but has taken the trouble to reconstruct many of the key races of his career which looks like this.

Marathons
Galloway, 28/4/85,  4th [P Howarth, 2.27.10; M Bately 2.31.02; D Thomas 2.31.07; D Bell 2.31.29.

Early races [these are off my race numbers and a few certificates/ race result sheets]
Carnethy, 16/2/85, 11th, 53m 56s (in racing flats!)
Chapelgill, 23/3/85, 8th, 20m 34s, 1 minute behind winner; 68 starters.
Ben Lomond, 4/5/85, 4th, 67m 55s.
Bens of Jura 25/5/85, 8th, 3hr 51m 16s (82 starters; winner 3h 16m !)
Dollar, 8/6/85, 6th, 42m 33s (69 starters)
Eildons 22/6/85, 19th, 29m 24s (6th scot, probably a British Champs race. Winner H Symonds, Kendal, 27m 31s)
Ben Nevis, 7/9/85 , 28thth, 1hr 37m 25s (500 starters/435 finishers)   Winner H Symonds, Kendal, 1:28:00

Total (underestimate of the total – doesn’t include club races, cross-country, etc)  7 Hill Races, 1 Marathon.

1986 Sco Champs – 4th @ 82 points, behind D McGonigle 116; A Farningham, 109; A Curtis 89 points.
Carnethy 15/2/86, 8th, 65 mins?? 5th scot.
Chapelgill 22/3/86, 5th, 21m 38s??
Dollar 7/6/86, 5th, 43m37s , 5th scot [D McGonigle 1st, 42m 17s’ A Curtis, A Farningham, R Boswell)
Lomond of Fife 15/6/86, 1st, 1hr 07m 47s. [D McGonigle 2nd, D Rodgers, A Farningham]
Eildons 21/6/86, 10th, 28m 11s, 4th scot.

Snowdon, 19th July 86, 16th, 1hr 09m 47s, 3rd Scot – (C Donnelly 4th, 1.05.16, D McGonigle 15th 1.09.32). (And I think 22nd at top, probably 10th fastest descent)
2 Breweries, ?? Sept 86, 3h 06m 21s, 6th (165 starters)[1st J Maitland, 2h 48m, 2nd A Farningham, 5th A Curtis]
Ben Nevis, 6/9/86, 1 h 36m 11s, 23rd.   ‘disaster..legs went at the Green Bank when placed about 14th…!?.’  Winner C Donnelly (Eryri) 1:25:48
Tinto, 8/11/86 , 6th (34.50, same time as Ian Davidson) out of 103 starters ….winner A Curtis, 40 secs ahead.

Total: 9 Races   (see note for 1985) Top Ten: 5 + 3 top ten Scots

Carnethy 5 14/2/87, 12th o/a, 4th scot [excl M Patterson, running for Dark Peak FR] 52m 22s.
Criffel ???, 11th o/a, 6th scot 52m 28s
Ben Lomond 9/5/87, 1h 08m 19s, 11th, and 6th scot.
Dollar 12/6/87, 7th, 43m 36s
Lomond of Fife 13/6/87, 4th, 1h 07m 08s
Eildons 20/6/87, 5th, 28m 06s
Edinburgh 7 Hills 21/6/87, 5th, 1h 37m 48s
N Berwick Law ??June, 4th, 18m 33s
Angus Munro’s 9/8/87, 6th, 3h 49m 53s
Caerketton 19/8/87, 5th, 13m 31s
Arrochar Alps 22/8/87, 8th, 3h 31m 34s
2 Breweries 26/9/87, 6th, 2h 48m 06s

Total: 12 Races (9 top ten) + 3 top ten Scots

Carnethy 5, 20/2/88, 3rd, 49.55****
Criffel 13/3/88, 4th, ???m s
Chapelgill 26/3/88, 10th, ??m s
Kaim 15/5/88, 5th, 28m 39s
Bens of Jura 28/5/88, 7th, 3h 22m 35s
Traprain Law 11/6/88, 2nd, 39m 47s (Johnny Ross, 39m 39s)
Lomond s of Fife 12/6/88, 3rd, ??m s
Edinburgh 7 Hills 19/6/88, 2nd, 1h ?m ?s (A Farningham)
Eildons 2 Hills 25/6/88, 3rd, 28m 45s (AFarningham; J Wilkinson)
Moffat Chase 4/7/88, ?????
North Berwick Law 3/8/88, 3rd, 18m 06s (J Wilkinson, A Farningham)
Angus Munro’s 7/8/88, 2nd, 3h 16m 52s (C Donnelly, 3h 10, 3rd A Farningham, 3h 17)
2 Breweries 24/9/88, 9th, 2h 52m ?s (J Maitland, 2h 37m ?s0.
Pentlands Skyline 9/10/88, 2nd, 3h 16m 52s (C Donnelly, 3h 10m 05s; 3rd A Farningham, 3h 17m 02s..)E to G 13/11/88  Rod Stone; Johnny Ross; Joe Forte; Andy Graham; Peter Marshall;  John Graham; Scot Mathieson; DB (31m 06s)
Keswick WMRT, ‘Coledale Horseshoe’, 16/10/88, 21st, 74m 48s (C Donnelly 5th, 70m 25s; 13th J Maitland 72m 45s. 4th team on 39 points, 11 behind Switzerland).

Total: 16 races, 1 WMRT, 4 seconds, 4 thirds,  4 more top ten.

And in the WMRT, 17/9/89 [ladies 5th; 6,25,26th :short men 3rd; 2,12,15th ]: Debis was in the long men’s race finishing 8th; 28,31,46th – 10 points behind England in 7th (66 points).

When you first meet Denis Bell you are immediately struck by his energy, enthusiasm and dynamism.   He exudes all three but a look at his cv says that this has always been the case.   He tells us that as a pupil at primary school in Berwick he used to be able to run dozens and dozens of times around the playground.  Then adds that these early signs subsequently lay well dormant for rather far too long!   When the family moved to Haddington when he was 10, he  attended Knox Primary School before going to Knox Academy.   He found early on that he managed to do well at the Sports Day ‘Marathon where the short junior course was approximately two miles, and the longer seniors course another mile and a half.   He goes on to say – “I won the junior marathon in second year and was second in the senior course in 2nd or 3rd year, then won it every year after (no training as such, a degree of natural ability to pace and sustain).
Got selected for 1500m interschools East Lothian, and was last out of 6 I think. Hopeless and not enthused!   Of course we played rugby first sport,  with football aside (often as town-area competing ad-hoc teams which were rarely 11-a-side but any number would do, ‘matched side by side’.   The heady days of kick-aboot!    Athletics and cricket were in the summer term.   I really only ‘enjoyed’ the marathon (not quick enough on track events), liked spin bowling and fielding at cricket.   Rugby, wing forward then scrum half, the indoctrination to being kicked about and getting hurt!  I was a ‘prefect’ then ‘head-boy’ and House Sports Captain, Rugby Firsts captain, and Company Sergeant Major in the CCF.”   

They were very active school days and the out of school life was not short on that front either.   From a family of 6 children, Denis always worked part-time…. Like many another of his generation he went tattie picking in  Berwick at 8 years old.   Then there were all sorts of jobs going.   It was the time when there were always part-time jobs for boys (and girls) and shops really did have ‘Smart Boy Wanted’ notices in the window from time to time.   Denis had jobs on small holdings (berry picking)  in summer) but  for the rest of year  all other duties were undertaken.   These included jobs such as  butcher’s boy, assistant in a delicatessen grocers, and 2 huge (4 bags) Sunday paper rounds.

Back at school there was of course the academic side of life.   Despite all the work in school and out, he tells us that he “did eight o-levels one sitting, then seven Highers in one sitting, managed to get to Edinburgh University while still playing rugby for Haddington thirds and even,  a couple of times, seconds …. ultimately nearly getting my neck broken, but all rib cage cartilages sprung (horrible!!)     Went on to play football for a couple of seasons with Athelstaneford Bluebell and loved training and playing (only ‘reasonably’) for a few years ..started to see the effects of sprint shuttle training with pulse down at about 40…

So by the time he had left school and university he had enjoyed an action packed sporting life combined with a very successful academic career path.   But how did he get into athletics, specifically running?

“When HELP Running Club was formed,  I was living in a farm cottage with my wife Mary and doing some training in the fields.  Realising that my times for ‘some indistinct distances’ were not far away from what club members were running in races, I decided to join them.”   The club was formed in 1983 with Henry Muchamore  one of the founding members and a great driving force behind the club which enjoyed great success from the mid-80’s to the late 90’s.  “Joe Forte ‘got me going’ (Joe, a peer and excellent road runner, had supported me as I approached Snowdonia Marathon, and personally at Galloway and he had suggested I do the hills; Eddie O’Neill, Henry, Adrian Bone, George Armstrong, Dave Jones, Murray Scott, John and Helen Fyffe were all ultra  supportive of my hill running aspirations…)   From these early days, Denis stayed with the club for his entire career, and even when he moved across the country to Torrance, he wore the red and white vest.   Henry sent out a circular at the start of each winter season with the races in which it was hoped (expected?) that the members would support.   These included District and National relay championships and District and National championships.   And Denis did indeed represent the club in those events.   He says:

“I did a few road and Cross-Country races and was doing OK, but aiming for marathons.   I had planned Glasgow, Edinburgh and London for my 30th year but lost my Dad just before my 30th birthday and that flattened me for 6 months or so.   I had just done a ‘training hilly course’ in East Lothian as a trial and supported by Mary (and baby Lauren) got in in 2.36… Quite pleased.
I then did Edinburgh with my running pal and training partner (at times) Phil Beeson and we got a joint 2.34.30.   I had planned on Snowdonia (with clubmate Adrian Bone) where I was third in about 2.43 after a shockingly naïve, inexperienced run with a colossal dehydration from about 24/25 miles (seeing psychedelic circles and shooting stars!!) and only managed to finish by following the kerbstones.  The winner was Mike Neary and second, overtaking me in the last 1/2 mile was Malcolm Jones, an international Welsh hill runner, who never beat me again in the ‘hill races’!  Mike was unemployed and doing 120 miles a week (de rigeur those days while I was doing about 75-80 but I had been doing some great workouts at Fa’side Castle near Tranent.   My attitude at the time  was about ‘compromise, family and work and training’ with the latter tending towards quality, speed and tough sessions, about 12 hours a week max, but doing 5 milers in just over 25m, 10 milers 52m, 1/2maras 1hr 15.  .20 milers in 1hr50-2 hours (with Phil mostly). Hill rep sessions were solo and  brutal with ‘virtually no recovery period between legs’ …it worked.

My last marathon was Galloway Milk Marathon, getting 4th just behind Dave Thomas (HBT) on a very tough weather day and stomach cramps last 3-4 miles…2.31.30?I had recognised that my running fitness was probably based on an 18 months ‘apprenticeship’, following my decent training and speed work from football.”

More a racer than a time trialist, it is nevertheless valid to ask him what his personal best times for standard distances were.   He was unsure but suggested that his half marathon best was on the hilly Haddington course and he was clocked in at 1 hour 09 minutes, his best marathon was the one quoted above in 2:31:30 and he has no record of his best 10 miles but he had an unofficial 25:11 for five miles.   He adds, “I recall that I did a lunchtime training run from Brunton’s Musselburgh and thought it was a ‘close’ 5 miler in 25.11 ( was pleased with that) … I think in the Scottish Cross-Country at Irvine I maybe squeezed into top 60 , when there used to be about 3000 runners (was Colin Donnelly 2nd or 3rd?) … can’t remember either on 1 mile (or 1500m) training only, but may have been about 4.30-4.40? ”   What standard was that, well from the many results sheets available for the period, the extract below gives an idea of the people he was battling with.   Note among the names that there were in this extract from the 1988 District cross-country championships: Scottish internationalist on road, track and country, Willie Day; Irish  internationalist and fellow HELP-er, Rod Stone; hill running internationalists McGonigle, Curtis and Dymoke and many other well known quality runners like Matt Strachan, Mike McQuaid and John Pentecost.

Henry Muchamore 

There were some obvious questions that arose from his early running days and he was very happy to answer them 

What did you get out of the sport?   I got a lot out but worked hard to put a lot in…always.   My regrets are that I took too much time out of Family, stressed my marriage and let my daughters down in schooling support. I was tired, anxious and nervous quite a lot and went into my zone leading to big races.    Not too many of my most competitive peers had families nor ‘private industry stressful jobs’ (that I recall) … but that’s an opinion. I enjoyed the races for the socials, especially after the event,  and even more especially if I had done OK!   My wife and girls were hugely supportive and tolerant beyond call. 

Are there any particular experiences that you treasure?   I loved the classic races, and often the tougher and steeper the better if ‘long’ 15-20 miles.   Getting Scottish vests was amazing and made me (a long time resident Scottish Englishman) very proud of the Saltire, ardent Indy man!!!) . The Scottish teams I raced with were super, supported latterly with class runners like Tommy Murray and Bobby Quinn, for superb ‘uphill international races’ though both did ‘up and downs’ superbly well too 

Any unfulfilled ambitions?   Ambitions.. none unfulfilled. I worked hard to become ‘good’, never top class and hugely admire those who did make it; though my respect is across the board for all entrants, always..   I loved the big ridge runs after my racing career when I was still very fit and strong and loved the tests of personal capability without competition; Peter Marshall was a great buddy (we did a few epics like Aonach Eagach,  Grey Corries and Aonachs, the Devil!’s Ridge…others..?   I did solos on south Glen Shiel, and a superb North Glen Shiel; Suilven and Canisp; The Devil’s Ridge; Ben Dubhcraig, Oss and Lui…..others?   Loved a point to point Moffat to Peebles (32 miles?) with a bunch of good friends  – Jim and Janet Derby and maybe eight others – way back.    (Did not enjoy the 2 Elite Karrimor I did with Andy Dytch… we tried but never made it happen properly.) 

Any ‘likes’ as they say on Facebook?!    Many things.  I liked being able to cover good ground quickly – until later on and unfortunately my feet and ankles gave way one weekend training up at Kinlochleven when I was about 58 or 59…. I had previously still been running local ‘5 mile training road runs in about 26.5-/27.5 minutes’, though recovery from those took several days..!

*The heady days of riding the crest of a wave made me feel like I could turn it on anytime, day after day.. on air..? But, I also knew there were cycles and depletion meant fall off.. so I learned the hard way.    After a dose of post-viral stuff about 42 or 43 I did realise that such ‘viruses’ were potentially very scary and damaging (.. for some fatal?). 

*I liked being able to eat like a horse and never put on weight.   I ran best about 9 st to 9st 3lb..whereas at rugby my heaviest was about 10 1/2 stones (no body strength building in those very very amateur days!)    I am about 65 kgs now, and cycling and walking the dog, so  10 years without running is very hard. If I walk the hills I try to work hard if I’m in the mood.

* Maybe especially, I loved seeing people develop, probably especially the youngsters, but also guys and gals who were next wave and developed to great athletes over the years and who surpassed me towards the end of my career.

Denis was by now a more than capable runner turning in good times and proving himself a true competitor, but how did he get into the hill running scene?   He says

I had already been encouraged to do ‘the hills’ by Joe Forte and actually did not know what the heck they were other than Joe’s ‘like cross-country but in amongst the hills!’……!!   My first events were Traprain Law (third) , then Carnethy (Kenny Stuart’s record year, in eleventh?..third ‘scot’?)  then Chapelgill?, Ben Lomond (classic medium) top-ten?,  and Bens of Jura ( serious classic long) top-ten?…  I think I was 4th ( joint with Jim Stephenson, Irvine…?) …I think my Carnethy ‘did not count in the championship results’ because I hadn’t joined Scottish Hill Runners…”   (Third Scot but it didn’t count because he had not joined the club – we all have these wee  brushes with officialdom. )   

“Thereafter, I learned the craft and  relied on my age (maturity, into early 30s) I had the endurance marathon background to work off and wasn’t intimidated by the long races; they maybe tended to be towards my speciality.  

My race records are as per race results and I was consistently ‘good’ rather than ever brilliant. I knew too that to get top Championship results would be hard (6 to count from 9…3 each of short, medium and long, dropping lowest scores in each category). Very few people ever got through a 9 race championship without illness or injury, me included.”

To focus on my Championships, I always marked my race calendar…’must do’, then I backed off those dates and took account of ‘classics’ (superb courses, great competition because the best athletes tended to be there, and big fields), and such as ‘selection races, internationals’ etc.

I tended to run lean seasons of maybe 16-22 races. The ones I wanted to do, or had to do. I’d starve myself from races, to not get stale and to work an appetitive for racing the ‘big events’…the Calendar could be very complex and I also had to then ad-hoc account for injury and illness. My serious period was coming through a Winter with usually the risk of virus early season(like ‘Carnethy’…which incidentally gave me one of my ‘best ever’ in 3rd at 49.55s one of maybe only 15 who had ever gone sub 50.( now there are ‘dozens who have gone <50, but of course weather, underfoot and wee course changes all affect races).

Other ‘usual’ issues were twisted ankles…probably did both ankles several times, most racing seasons (….the result being knackered feet and ankles at 59.)

Luckily I got a few vests and always managed to count (2nd once, 3rd the others); last at 38 yo.”

We’ll come back to the ‘vests’ but a scan of his racing career leaves us breathless.   Races from the North of the Country to the South and beyond.   The photograph below shows him running in the Snowdonia Marathon.   He ran short races, he ran long races, he ran uphill only races but usually he followed the old maxim that “what goes up must come down.”   He ran up the highest in the land, the Ben of course, and he ran whole series of races with Carnethy probably the longest streak of them all.    It was also a series where he was quite successful.

eg in 1986 he was eighth overall , in 1988 he was third (in front of such as Alan Farningham and Jack Maitland) but in the international team race he was second Scot to finish, and into the bargain the HELP team was third with Denis leading them home as  third  runner of those in the team races.   There were 400 finishers that year. 12th the next year, he finished in the low ‘teens in the 90’s, with the number of runners finishing the course still around the 400 mark. 

Denis with Belgian Jan Sebile in Die, c 1990.   They still keep in touch

A look through his memorabilia is quite an experience in its own right but what were his best/ performances?

Denis said something there a bit further back about ‘getting a few vests’.   There were several running for Scottish teams in domestic championships but the most impressive by far were the two World Mountain Running Championships. 

 In the World Mountain Running Championships (Long Course event), SATS states that Denis Bell ran twice for Scotland. In 1988 the race was held at Keswick, in Cumbria in October.   There were the usual long and short courses for men, the women’s race plus a junior race.  Denis ran in the senior long course event which was 14.0 kilometres distance and 1185m in ascent.  n the team that finished fourth: he was third Scot and the team was Colin Donnelly 5th, Jack Maitland 13th, DB 21st, Alan Farningham 26th.