This one was a big one. 48 pages long with club news, articles on all sorts of topics, club ranking lists and athlete profiles as well as some humour and several line drawings. Not all were equally clear but this selection gives a real flavour of the production.
Most clubs at one time or another have a club magazine to record the club’s activities. Some only hast for a few months others for many years. It is easy enough in 2020 to produce a professional looking job with colour print and even colour illustrations using the by-now ubiquitous laptop computer. Most clubs have a website with most – if not all – the bells and whistles which is kept up to date on a weekly, if not daily basis. Before the advent of the computer however, it was a fairly strenuous job: first the material had to be typed out, in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s probably on a ‘skin’ to use on a rotary printer. Then the skin had to be fitted to the machine – not always a straightforward job of simply fitting the ‘skin’ holes on to the machine/ The machine had to be equipped with enough ink to do the job in hand. Then the magazine had to be hand cranked to produce the finished item. By ‘hand cranked’ I mean the handle had to be turned once for each sheet of the magazine. ie for 100 copies of a 15 page magazine, there had to be 1500 turns of the handle! You also had to be sure that the back of a page was the same way up as the front, and on occasion a page stuck and had to be redone after the rogue sheet had been removed. It took a degree of dedication to produce a club magazine. So when I say that the 1962 issue that Alistair Ballantyne turned out had 48 pages … Oh yes, remember that each of the 100 copies had to be ‘bound’ by a stapler, usually 2 staples per issue. Then the nagging wee question was, was there enough paper?
We have a selection of pages from the 1962 magazine – some were just too faint to be easily read, there were pages with drawings which had not turned out too well and some articles were funny at the time. What we have are items of club news (the first club man to run a marathon), articles by professional journalists (Alan Dunbar and Allan Heron) and best club performances. We also have seven of Colin Young’s magazines from the 1970’s – again some of the print is quite faint but the content is worth reading. But first is the 1962 issue – it’s a good’un!
The 1962 Club Magazine extracts
[Editor A Ballantyne]
July 1971 October 1971 March 1972 June 1972 July 1973 February 1974 June 1975
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Most clubs at one time or another have a club magazine to record the club’s activities. Some only hast for a few months others for many years. Victoria Park had one which ran from 1971 to 1975, edited by Colin Young, which covered many topics of interest to club members – race reports and results, notes on committee meetings, notes from the various sections such as the Ladies Section, items of general interest and some there was some humorous comment. They are reproduced here but note that they were typed on a typewriter (not a computer) and reproduced using a Gestetner or Roneo hand cranked printer. It was a lot of work to produce and there were times when the print was faint because the ink was running out or for some other technical reason. This first issue was like that but the content is interesting and it was the first so it is worth any effort required to read it.
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There were many souvenirs made and sold or presented for the Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1970 – as everywhere else, some were very, very good, some less so and some much less so. One of the more useful was this booklet about Edinburgh and the wider Scottish scene provided by the Bank of Scotland. Made of stout paper, almost a thin card material it was attractively illustrated in full colour.
Bute Highland Games were held at Rothesay and it was another trip ‘doon the watter’ for the athletes. It took place on the penultimate Saturday in August – the week before Cowal Highland Games and was a good well-supported meeting on an ash track where the back straight was downhill and the finishing straight was uphill. There were all the usual highland games events – highland dancing, pipe bands, wrestling heavy and light athletics and it had one of the longest road races on the calendar for many years – an 18 miles race. It was originally a 12 miles race before going up to 18 which was reduced in the early 1980’s to 10 miles and it is currently run as a 10K race. This does not seem to have affected the attractions since there were 225 runners entered for the 2020 event.
The origins of the Games are admitted by the organisers to be a bit hazy but there is no doubt that the modern version dates from 1947 when they were started by the Bute Shinty and Athletic Club. Results here as printed in the Glasgow Herald have a couple of well-known names – Willie Marshall of Motherwell YMCA and Arthur Warton of Garscube.
The organising body was recognised by the SAAA. One well-known official did not represent his club on the committee of the governing body, preferring to represent the Bute Shinty and Athletic Club. If you were active in athletics in the 50’s/60’s or 70’s you’d recognise the names of the great and the good of the sport at the time among the officials listed at the foot of the first page – including the name of A Nangle. A man lauded and insulted in equal measure – he was one of the two handicappers employed by the Association.
The meeting was immensely popular with all disciplines right from the start – in 1948 Alan Paterson cleared 6′ 2 1/2″ in the high jump (but was only third in the handicap), JE Farrell won the 12 mile ‘marathon’, in 1950 W Jack won the 100 yards; JJ Barry the Mile, D McD Clark broke the native and all-comers records for the hammer (and JE Farrell won the road race for the third year). In 1952 Ulick O’Connor was there for the pole vault, the road race was won by Harry Howard of Shettleston and ECK Douglas won the wire hammer throw. In 1954 the road race went up to 18 miles and was won by Jackie Higginson of Clydesdale Harriers and cross-country and track champion Aileen Drummond won the women’s 220 yards. The records did not stop. In 1955 Miss JDM Webster from Leith set a new Scottish women’s half mile record of 2:23.4, Ulick O’Connor from Eire pole vaulted 11’6″ and Tom Logan won the shot putt. Incidentally folk singer Joe Gordon, running in the colours of Springburn Harriers won the mile in 4:23. There were always women’s events on the programme and in 1956 Dale Greig won the 220 yards – she would become the first ever world record holder for the marathon in due course, and Doreen Fulton of Springburn won the mile but the race of the day was the 18 mile road race where Pat Moy of Vale of Leven defeated Harry Fenion of Bellahouston taking four and a half minutes off the best time for the race.
Three years later Tom McNab of Shettleston won the 100 yards and marathon runner Gordon Eadie of Cambuslang won the road race before a crowd of 5,500. It was a very successful meeting all the way although the date was becoming very crowded. The principal ones were The Edinburgh Highland Games at Murrayfield with its galaxy of international stars, and Crieff (a very popular professional meeting). Nevertheless the standard remained high eg. in 1965 David Stevenson broke his own ground record in the pole vault with 14′ 8″, Mike McLean ran a 1:57 half mile, Mike Bradley won the Mile, Bill Stoddart won the road race from Andy Fleming and Doug Edmunds won the shot putt. Every one was an international athlete. However by now there were so many more meetings both international and national on the card that the meeting was not always reported on. For instance, in 1970 the two big reports in the Glasgow Herald were on a meeting at GB level and on Edinburgh Highland Games, these were followed by an account of the final League match of the season and there was no space left for Bute HG.
The date of the meeting, the attraction of sailing down the Clyde, the historical connection of Glaswegians heading for Rothesay on holiday, all made it a popular destination. Coming back on the boat with pipers, some of whom ‘had drink taken’ after a good day’s sport was another memory to treasure. The Games has a reputation that still attracts many good athletes. The attraction did not go away.
Have a look at the extracts from the 1971 programme below:
The extract from the programme for 1970 below includes all the running events, and the meeting results are at the foot of the page.
The results as published in the Glasgow Herald on the following Monday:
The two big names on that list are Willie Robertson the ‘heavy’ athlete and Lawrie Spence winning the Junior 800m – he would go on to be a sub-4 minute miler and a 2:16 marathon runner and possibly the best ever Scottish endurance runner based on times acr0ss all distances.
The Games declined during the 80’s and 90’s, the road race became a 10 miler and then down to the ubiquitous 10K distance. The reports disappeared from the Press. Alas, now that we are in the 21st century, just as at Cowal, there are no light athletics at all the Bute Highland Games. The programme extract above serves to illustrate the change. The outline programme for the meeting in 2020 is below.
Compare that with page five of the 1971 programme with all the events listed and the extent of the decline in provision of athletics is obvious. The Games website still says that “All competitions at the Bute Highland Games are run in accordance with Amateur Rules and Regulations.” Nevertheless the prizes include £85, £65, £45 and £25 for the first four men in the road race and £40 and £30 for the fastest two women not in the first four. And that was in money. Compare that with the first three road race awards in 1971 as shown above (note that ‘the prize values were – eg a £5 rose bowl maybe rather than £5):
Scratch Prize Value – £5; Handicap Prize Values – 1st £4; 2nd £2; 3rd £1.50
The decline continues with no road race at all at several meetings (eg Strathallan which went from 20 miles, to 14 miles to 10K to zero) and the sport continues with even track events dwindling in number. I am glad that I don’t have a crystal ball.
MOTHERWELL PEOPLE’S MARATHON
1983: 15th May. The event started and finished at Wishaw Sports Centre. 956 finished.
The Glasgow Herald reported briefly: “Tony Bird (Greenock Wellpark Harriers), a missionary home on leave from Africa, defeated a field of over 1300 runners to win the inaugural Motherwell People’s Marathon yesterday in a personal best time of 2.27.01. On a hilly route described as the toughest marathon course in Britain, he finished half a mile ahead of David Fairweather (Law and District AC) who recorded 2.29.38, with Brian Carty (unattached) taking third position in 2.32.57. Ian Moncur (Forres Harriers/Clyde Valley AC) was fourth in 2.34.50. Lynda Stott (Aberdeen AAC) won the women’s prize when finishing 25th in 2.46.47, becoming the third fastest Scotswoman over the marathon distance.”
The Wishaw Press and Advertiser reported in greater detail.
The headline was: THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES MARATHON VICTORY.
“First to cross the line was University teacher Tony Bird who completed the extremely tough course in just 2.27.01. Tony, a member of the Greenock Wellpark Club, did not look like a man who had just run over 26 miles and, within seconds of crossing the line to great cheers, he was able to talk freely about the race and the course. At 33, Tony was running in only his second marathon, having finished in a respectable 28th place in last year’s Glasgow event. A keen cross-country runner, Tony had regularly been covering 60 miles each week in training and he was delighted with his success.”
He commented, “I am really pleased. To finish in first place after only my second trip over the distance is much better than I had hoped for. I am really delighted.” Tony thought the course was very tough and hilly but he thought that the organisation was first class. He said, “Everything went smoothly and I felt there were enough refreshment stops. Although I thought there were too many hills for a marathon, I am still very pleased with my time.”
Lynda Stott said, “I just felt really good and relaxed today and everything went well. The course was quite tough with a lot of strength-sapping hills but I just kept going and it is great to be first woman home. The organisation has been very good and there were enough drink stops and plenty of people to cheer us on. It really encourages you to keep running when you get very tired.”
Under her married name of Lynda Bain , she ran for Scotland in the 1985 World Cross and for GB in a 1984 marathon in Czechoslovakia, then set an outstanding Scottish National Record of 2.33.38 in the 1985 London Marathon. In 2020, Lynda remembers that the Motherwell Marathon, “was a bit up and down. It was a very friendly event and I spoke to a few folk as we ran round. A bizarre thing which I remember was the drinks – they had water and orange squash on offer all the way round and I took turn about of each. I really enjoyed getting the squash as I am not a lover of water (still try to avoid it even now).”
David Fairweather remembers, “The inaugural Motherwell Marathon was held on 15 May 1983, starting & finishing at Wishaw Sports Centre, sponsored by Ian Skelly Motors.
The race started at 9 a.m. and Jim Rowley (Law & District) quickly went into the lead on the road to Bogside. From there we went by back roads to Allanton, Bonkle and Newhouse. Jim had stayed in front on his own, but we caught him before Newhouse, and a small group including Tony Bird (Greenock Wellpark), Brian Carty (Shettleston H), Ian Moncur (Clyde Valley AC) and myself sped downhill through Holytown to Mossend.
Tony broke away, and I found myself on my own along Calder Road. I struggled a bit up the road through Forgewood to Motherwell, but with a police motorcycle escort and encouragement from the crowd, including my family, I kept going to Wishaw, finishing over 2 mins behind Tony, and over 3 mins in front of Brian Carty. The race was well-organised, and the weather was quite good, but it was a pretty hilly course and hard going in some places. Actually, most of the course was easier than expected, until the last four miles, when a combination of the uphill run and the headwind made it difficult.”
1984: 20th May. The Wishaw Press and Advertiser reported.
“At exactly 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, Provost John McGhee, assisted by Chief Judge Robert Peel, started the second Motherwell District People’s Marathon. Hundreds of spectators lined the start at Alexander Street to see the runners set off on the 26 miles 385 yards long circuit. Conditions were ideal as the fastest men lined up at the front with the women, slower athletes and fun runners bringing up the rear. Right at the back of the field were two wheelchair competitors Alex Paton and Michael McReadie.
By the time that the first runners had reached the one mile stage at Wishaw Cross, a pack of four runners, which included the eventual winner, had already made a significant break….. All of these men had done well in the race last year, so they all knew what to expect and had probably picked their attacking spots in advance……”
By 14 miles, Andrew Stirling dropped back and looked like he was feeling the pace. The toughest part of the course was approaching. After the Newhouse climb and a chance to recover slightly, there was a three miles gradual uphill which suited the strength of Ian Moncur (Clyde Valley AC) and it was here that he made a decisive break. David Fairweather (Law and District AC) ‘hit the wall’ and did well to fight on and finish fifth in 2.34.18. (David recalls, “I don’t remember much about the race, except that I was a marked man, and had to do a lot of work at the front, eventually ‘hitting the wall’ at 22 miles in 2:02:05.”)
As Ian Moncur entered the arena with a substantial lead, he received great applause from the spectators and managed to put on a spurt for the finish. His time – 2.26.29 – was a course record by 32 seconds. He was almost two minutes clear of Billy Dickson (Law and District AC) in 2.28.11, with Andrew Stirling (Bo’ness Runners) in 28.57 a further 45 seconds behind in third. Pat McErlean (Aberdeen AAC) was fourth in 2.31.45.
Strathclyde policeman Jim McMillan won the Veteran’s prize in 2.42.30. First woman to finish was Kay Dodson (Law and District AC) in 3.25.
Marathon winner Ian Moncur was a teacher and worked in Elgin, although he came originally from Holytown. In 1982 he became the North District Cross-Country champion. His time in the Motherwell Marathon was four minutes slower than his personal best (2.22.09) achieved at the 1982 Glasgow Marathon, but he felt that the local marathon was a more challenging event because of the hills and consequently was pleased with his time.
He commented, “Last year I had tackled a very hard race just a couple of weeks before the marathon and I suffered for it. This time I was better prepared and it all went according to plan. I was feeling good at the 20-mile stage and thought that, if I could put in a little more effort I could draw away from the other lads and that is exactly what happened. The last six miles were very tough but I managed to keep going and it is great to win.”
In 2020, Ian remembered, “Motherwell was the only Marathon I actually won. I was second twice in the Moray Marathon at Elgin behind Don Ritchie and Alastair Wood; lost narrowly to Don McGregor at Loch Rannoch; and also finished second in the 1985 Motherwell.
However, Motherwell was my local marathon, and the course went through my village of Holytown, so family and friends would gather to encourage me as I went past. I ran the Motherwell marathon 3 times finishing 4th, 1st and 2nd. In the 1984 race I was determined not to set the pace as I had faded badly over the last few miles the previous year. Davie Fairweather set the early pace followed by his Law and District clubmate Billy Dickson and I tucked in behind. The three of us soon broke away and established a sizeable lead. I made my move on the long hill up from Bellshill to Motherwell (one of my regular training routes) and finished strongly this time. Billy Dickson was 2nd but Davie faded to finish 5th. Andy Stirling (Bo’ness Runners) ran a well-judged race to take 3rd. with Pat McErlean (Aberdeen AC) 4th.”
1985: 19th May. 475 competitors started. Charlie McDougall (East Kilbride AC) won in 2.26.53. Last year’s winner, Ian Moncur (Clyde Valley AC) was second in 2.27.34. David Fairweather (Law and District AC) was third in 2.27.43 and won the award for first Veteran. Kay Dodson was first woman home once again, this time improving to 3.11. Veteran Jim McMillan (Strathclyde Police AC) finished in 2.38.20.
Left to right: Ian Moncur, Donald Ritchie, Davie Fairweather, Charlie McDougall, with Ernie Walker behind.
Ian Moncur about to move away from Davie Fairweather
The Wishaw Press headline was “TRUE GRIT CHARLIE IS 1985 MARATHON DARLING”. The report started as follows: “Sheer contempt for pain gave Charlie McDougall victory in Sunday’s Motherwell Marathon. For the 36-year-old East Kilbride runner waited until some tough hills at the 21-mile mark before he made his break for glory.”
Charlie McDougall remembers: “Before I became a runner, I raced on a bicycle for 16 years. I trained with Robert Millar twice a week and our cycle team was very strong. [Robert Millar was the first man from Scotland (and Britain) to win the King of the Mountains jersey in the Tour de France.] My cycling background was very useful in becoming a good runner.
I got really fit by running many long hard miles. When the Motherwell Marathon came around, I told three people that I was going to win it. Now I had never said anything like this before. But the power of the mind really kicked in. I did not know who else was there till I arrived at the race. Okay, I saw Ian Moncur and Don Ritchie there, but I said I’m still going to win it. During the first few miles I heard someone say to Don, “How far ahead will you be today when you win it?” Anyway, a long time and many miles later, there were only a few runners left and we came to a short but steep hill. I went to the front and I could hear everyone else really breathing hard. I thought that there was a longer steeper hill around the corner and, when we got there, I was away! I did look back to see Ian trying to close me down but no chance. I was off on my own to win it. Afterwards, Davie Fairweather said that he thought I was mad when I surged away like that. I replied, “Who won the race, then?” A few weeks later, I went down to Blackburn in England and won that marathon too, on another very hilly course.”
Donald Ritchie wrote in his training diary: “The weather was pretty unpleasant, with slight rain and a headwind. For a while I felt fine and the pace seemed easy, but it began to pick up at around seven miles and our group thinned to five as Mike McCulloch and Dave Taylor dropped behind. After Newhouse roundabout we started running quite fast on the downhill stretch through Bellshill and Holytown. At about 18.5 miles Charlie McDougall surged away and our group began to split up. Ian Moncur and Davie Fairweather went after Charlie, but I began to feel weak and had to ease back. I managed to get back to them on the long downhill past Ravenscraig into Motherwell, but I was dropped soon after. From then on it was just a question of plugging away and hoping that I might feel stronger again. I was reasonably pleased with my run, as it was not a do or die effort. I was not distressed after finishing; I just could not run fast enough. Probably I was running marathons too close together (London; Dundee a week later; and Motherwell three weeks after that!) I finished fourth in 2.28.04.”
David Fairweather recalls. “This race was memorable for the freezing conditions and the strong leading group, who worked very well together. Charlie McDougall broke away near Mossend, by which time it was snowing! He did really well to stay clear, but was obviously the strongest runner. The finishing times were pretty good, considering the conditions and I did my best time for the race. The late Don Ritchie MBE from Moray Road Runners was 4th not far behind me. Only 4 weeks earlier, in London, he had run a near PB 2:21:26, aged 40! A week after London he had run 2.26.35 in the Dundee Marathon. He was a truly great runner and I was proud to be in his company in the Motherwell race.”
Part of the 1985 race report
1986: 18th May: This was the fourth and last occasion that the Motherwell Marathon was raced.
Andy Stirling (Bo’ness Runners) won clearly in 2.31.21. He went on to be a very good ultra-distance runner, winning the 36 miles Two Bridges race (from Donald Ritchie) in 1991 and again in 1993. He won the Scottish Veterans hill running title four times.
Davie Fairweather (Law and District AC) was second (and first Veteran again) in 2.34.20 – this very competitive athlete – outstandingly good as a Veteran – had completed with distinction all four Motherwell Marathons. Third place went to James Malone (London: 2.40.42), followed by H. Ilgunas (2.42.07). Davie Kirkwood (Wishaw) was first Veteran. Kay Dodson, strong and consistent as ever, finished first woman for the third year in succession, with a time of 3.09. Only 134 finished.
Davie recalls, “I don’t remember much about this race. I think Andy Stirling and I ran most of the race together, but I was dropped well before the finish and it was my slowest time for the race.”
(24th May 1987)
From then on, the race became a Half Marathon. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the course was short (12.25 miles)
1 Alan Robson (Edinburgh Southern H) 63:42
2 Martin Coyne (EAC) 63:58
3 Billy Dickson (Law & District) 66:11
4 David Fairweather (Law & District) 66:33)
1958
The Glasgow Herald report on Saturday’s events is because there are quite good reports on several events, the Friday report was not available so the complete results in order – printed by Walter Ross in The International Athlete (Vol 1, issues 1 and 2) – are as follows:
Following the championships, the team for the Empire Games in Cardiff was selected and the selectors put their faith in the following athletes:
