Author: The Author

Lyn Harding

Don Ritchie, left, winner of five of the first six Moray Marathons

The oldest still running marathon in Scotland, the first Moray Marathon was held in 1982 and since then it has developed into a 3 in 1 running event incorporating the Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K Road Races. In 2014 the venue was changed from the Cooper Park to the Glen Moray Distillery, and was run on a different course.

The 2006 event celebrated the 25th anniversary of the marathon with Simon Pride (Forres Harriers) finishing in 2:39:53 to win the event for the 5th time and Kate Jenkins (Gala Harriers) first woman home in 2:58:29 to win her 8th Moray Marathon. (Kate went on to win this marathon an amazing 14 times!)

Kate Jenkins: 14 times winner of the Moray Marath0n

The marathon was part of a real festival of running wit associated 10K and half-marathon events.   The marathon results are below and the results of the other two races are available at these links:     The Moray 10K                     The Moray Half-Marathon

Course records (Finish at Cooper park 1982-2013)

• Marathon
  • Men – Simon Pride – Keith & District – 2 h 21 min 17 s
  • Women – Trudi Thomson –Pitreavie AAC 2 h 49 min 43 s
• Half marathon
  • Men – Graham Crawford – Springburn Harriers – 1 h 06 min 09 s
  • Women – Lyn Harding – Houghton AC – 1h 14 min 58 s
• 10 K
  • Men – Chris Hall – Aberdeen AAC – 29 min 46 s
  • Women – Lyn Harding – Houghton AC – 33 min 58 s

Course records (Finish at Glen Moray Distillery since 2014)

Marathon

Men – Wayne Dashper – Forres Harriers – 2 h 45 min 40 s (2014)

Women – Debbie Moore – Unattached – 3 h 16 min 12 s (2015)

Half marathon

Men – John Newsom – Inverness Harriers – 1h 12 min 55 s (2015)

Women – Sarah Liebnitz – Inverness Harriers – 1 h 22 min 10 s (2014)

10 K

Men – Gordon Lennox – Forres Harriers – 33 min 10 s (2014 & 2015)

Women – Sarah Liebnitz – Inverness Harriers – 38 min 16 s (2016)

A SELECTION OF RACE REPORTS

Don Ritchie, the legendary ultra-distance runner, wrote the following in his training diary. “On Sunday the 15^th of August 1982, I ran the first ‘Moray Marathon’ in warm and windy conditions. I went into the lead at about 6 miles and pulled away from Ian Moncur and John Robertson, passing 10 miles in 54.30 and 15 miles in 1.21.04. I was running well and felt good. In Lossiemouth I began to feel tired and had difficulty with the strong headwind by the harbour. I passed 20 miles in 1.49.58. Over the last four miles I found the conditions difficult and was getting dehydrated, so my pace dropped considerably and I was glad to reach the finish in 2.29.36. Alastair Wood (former European marathon record-holder) came through for second in 2.35.02, well ahead of Ian Moncur, who finished in 2.43.48.

There was a feeling among the runners that the course was over-distance, so I would have to try to get it measured by a Jones Counter, on a bicycle calibrated over a measured mile. Adrian Stott from Edinburgh, an accredited course measurer, agreed to assess the course so he, Elgin marathon runner Duncan Davidson, who also had a Jones Counter and a calibrated bicycle, and I cycled the course on a summer evening. The measurement indicated that the present course was 315 yards beyond the standard marathon distance, so the route would be modified for the next edition of the race.” (Donald always treated the Moray Marathon as merely a hard training run – but still won it five times!)

Fraser Clyne (Metro Aberdeen Running Club, above winning in Morpeth) was a couple of weeks short of his 37th birthday when he travelled to Elgin for the 1992 Scottish Championship race. The event, held along with a 10km and half marathon as part of the Macallan Moray Festival of Running, was organised by Moray Road Runners. It started and finished in Elgin’s Cooper Park and the course followed a series of quiet rural roads past Burghead and Lossiemouth. This was the furthest north the championship had ever been held.

Although Clyne was taking part in the championship for the first time he still wasn’t taking the event too seriously. His training diary reveals that 90 miles had been run in the seven days before the Moray race so he was hardly well rested for the challenge.

John Duffy of IBM Spango Valley (formerly of Greenock Wellpark Harriers – and later of Shettleston Harriers) got the race off to a spritely start on a bright but breezy day. The stiff climb out of Elgin after two miles resulted in a slowing of the tempo and soon a small group which included Duffy, Clyne, George Reynolds of Forres, Aberdeen-based New Zealander Stuart Mills, Ayr’s Alistair Stewart and the Teviotdale pair Nicol Maltman and Andy Fair settled in at the head of the field. Duffy seized the initiative approaching the 12 mile mark by increasing the pace and quickly pulling away from the group which immediately began to break up. Clyne allowed the Spango Valley man to open a lead of 100 metres before setting off in pursuit. The Aberdeen athlete quickly pulled in his rival and swept past to open up a gap which stretched to almost three minutes by the end of the race. Clyne coasted home in 2.25.38. It was the slowest time he had ever run for a marathon but a course record nonetheless. Duffy collected the silver medal in 2.28.25 and Mills was a clear third in 2.30.16.

‘I just did enough to win,’ Clyne said at the time. ‘I wanted to win the title but I also didn’t want to interrupt my training which is aimed at the California International Marathon in December.’ (Clyne later ran 2.20.5 in the American race).

Trudi Thomson of Babcock Pitreavie AC, who would later become an international class marathon and ultra-distance runner, won the women’s race in 3.14.30. Fiona Nicholson and Clare Slatter were well behind in second and third respectively.

1995 featured a very close race in the Moray Marathon. David Lancaster (York), who won the Moray Marathon in 1993, 1994 and 1999, and was involved in a competitive battle to retain his title. He finished third this year in 2.35.30. Ultra-distance star Alan Reid (Peterhead AAC), with a tremendous sprint, won in 2.34.43 from George Sim (Moray Road Runners) in 2.34.45. Lynda Bain (Garioch Road Runners), a former GB Marathon International, finished first woman in 3.06.49.

The Moray Marathon was the chosen venue for the Scottish Marathon Championship in 1997, so Fraser Clyne travelled to Elgin to bid for a fifth title in 1997 at the age of 42. Interest in the championship had dwindled to an all-time low and even some of the people involved with the organisation of the event were unaware it had been given championship status. ‘When I handed the trophy over to them before the start of the race an official asked what it was for,’ Clyne said.

The race itself was over within the first two miles. On a warm and blustery day Stevie Ogg of FMC Carnegie Harriers kept with Clyne for a little more than ten minutes before dropping well off the pace. Clyne, who had been worried by a foot injury in the preceding weeks, was able to relax and cruised away to win by more that ten minutes in 2.29.39. Ogg achieved his aim of securing a London qualifying time when finishing second in 2.39.39; while Londoner Steven Kovacs seemed bemused at receiving a championship bronze medal after taking third place in 2.45.18 – it was the slowest medal-winning time for more than 30 years.

Kate Jenkins of the Carnethy Hill Running Club was a convincing winner of the women’s race when recording 3.18.07 to finish well ahead of Pat Donald of Deeside Runners (3.44.38) and Val Goldie of Milburn Harriers (3.51.48).

David Lancaster won three times: in 1993 (2.30.10, well clear of the opposition); 1994 (2.33.31); and 1999 aged 42 (2.46.37) on a very hot, humid day which made the marathon ‘a gruelling slog’. He was also third in 1998, behind Simon Pride and Sam Graves from Fife AC. 

The 1999 report had the headline: “Lancaster does it the hard way”. He ‘came home ten minutes clear of the field’. ‘This was Lancaster’s first race as a veteran and he had to win it the hard way by running solo for most of the race. “The main thing,” he said, “is the mental anguish of being on your own the whole way. Mentally it is very hard, but the good thing about the Moray Marathon is that there is plenty to see en route.” For the last five years, David Lancaster has been a regular visitor to the Moray 3 in 1 event, which also incorporates a half marathon and 10k. He combines the race with a family holiday in the area.”

“Despite the heat taking its toll on her legs by the finish, Kate Jenkins clinched her third successive Moray Marathon Ladies’ Championship win in style. She was delighted to run a personal best of 3.03.56, which was good enough for fifth place overall. The Carnethy Hill Runner is the reigning Scottish Ladies’ Hill Running Champion and completed an amazing 40 miles on the hills just a week before tackling the marathon.’

Simon Pride (Keith and District, above) enjoyed his greatest triumph in May 1999, in France, where he won the World title with a UK road best of 6 hours 24 minutes 05 seconds. It was a superb performance which took the ultra-marathon world by surprise. Even more surprising was Simon’s decision a year later not to defend the World title. ‘I need a break from ultras,’ he said at the time. He decided to concentrate on marathons for a while and, when the opportunity to bid for a Scottish title on his home patch presented itself, Pride was in no mood to miss out.

He was determined to win the 2000 Scottish championship – and equally keen to break the Moray Marathon course record of 2.25.38 set eight years earlier by Fraser Clyne. He achieved both with plenty to spare. Running on his own for almost the whole way, he took advantage of perfect conditions to stop the clock at 2.21.17. It was the quickest winning performance in the championships since 1984, the biggest winning margin ever, and was just 14 seconds outside his personal best set in London four months earlier.

Martin Ferguson (City of Edinburgh) was more than two and a half miles behind in second place (2.35.49) and Nick Milovsorov (Metro Aberdeen), who was ‘training for the Amsterdam marathon later in the year’ collected bronze in 2.40.04.

Kate Jenkins (Carnethy), who earlier in the summer had set a women’s record for the 95 miles race along the West Highland Way, in which she finished second overall, added another title to her growing list of endurance achievements, by taking the Scottish Women’s Championship in 3.04.21. Carol Cadger (Perth) won silver in 3.12.24 and Averil Dudek (Perth) struck bronze in 3.18.34

(Simon Pride’s concentration from 2000 onwards on the marathon distance paid dividends. He recorded an excellent personal best of 2:16:27 in the 2001 London event and represented his adopted country, Scotland, in the Manchester Commonwealth Games marathon in 2002, finishing 16^th.)

The 2001 Scottish Marathon Championships, for both Men and Women, started and finished in Elgin, as part of the Moray Marathons series on September 2nd. The Athletics Weekly report by Fraser Clyne was as follows.

“Simon Pride (Metro Aberdeen RC) retained the Scottish marathon title with a comfortable victory over a field of 162 runners, but women’s champion Trudi Thomson was in tears at the finish after missing the Commonwealth Games qualifying standards in tough conditions.

Pride, who clocked a Commonwealth qualifying time of 2.16.29 at London earlier this year, eased round the windswept course to finish in 2.28.34, well ahead of Martin Ferguson (City of Edinburgh – 2.32.50), who collected the silver medal for the second year in a row.

Ferguson had bravely tried to hold on to the former World 100km champion for much of the race but Pride proved to be much too strong over the last six miles. Robert Davidson (2.42.55) was third, while fourth placed Terry Coyle (2.43.48) was top M40.

The result virtually guarantees Pride a place in the Scottish team for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He said, ‘I felt quite comfortable but there was a very strong headwind in the closing four miles which made things difficult. The time was unimportant. I just wanted to win and I’ve achieved that, so now I can relax. I’m happy.’

Pride also led Metro Aberdeen Running Club to the team title on a day when the North-East outfit also won the half marathon and 10k team trophies.

Trudi Thomson (Pitreavie AAC, above) became Scottish Women’s Marathon Champion, but came to the Moray race hoping to get the Games qualifying standard of 2.40 and the strong winds ruined any hopes she had of achieving that mark. She said, ‘I so wanted to get the standard. It was very hard in the first ten miles but, despite that, I was still on schedule at 20. Then it all fell away. I am so disappointed. I cannot believe how tough it was at the finish.’

Thomson, who was beaten by only six men, took little consolation from the fact that her 2.49.33 broke the course record of 2.51.09, set by Belgrave’s Frances Guy in 1987. Carol Cadger (Perth Strathtay) was second in 3.20.57 and Scarlett Courtney (Milne’s) took third spot in 3.21.54.”

Carol Cadger was a durable athlete who won the Scottish 50km title four times, in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

In 2003 Jamie Reid reduced his ten mile time to 48:51. Then on 31st August in the Elgin Moray Marathon in Elgin, over a much slower course, he retained his Scottish title in 2:34:08, still three minutes ahead of his closest rival James Snodgrass (Kilbarchan AAC – 2.37.20), with Andreas Merdes (Lothian RC 2.39.58) third.

2007: In Elgin, at the Moray Marathon, the Scottish Women’s Marathon title was won, for her fourth and final time, by Kate Jenkins (Carnethy HRC – 3.10.43); in front of K. McKinnon (Carnegie H – 3.16.27); and L Schumacher (3.18.09).

Jamie Reid (Cambuslang – 2.33.11) won his third Scottish Marathon title, gaining revenge on Simon Pride (Forres H – 2.33.46). Bronze medallist was David Gardiner (Kirkintilloch – 2.38.07).

Jamie Reid wrote very frankly about this race: “My most recent Scottish title was at Elgin in 2007 where I had my first marathon victory over Simon Pride. The previous day, my girlfriend Roisin and I had driven north as she was competing in a a six-a-side shinty tournament near Inverness for her club, Tir Connail Harps from Glasgow. I spent the afternoon watching the tournament, drinking diluting juice and eating large amounts of cake! Afterwards we drove to a B&B in Elgin where we checked in and went out for a meal. We settled for some pizza and relaxed talking about the shinty that afternoon and the race the next day. I wasn’t really nervous as I wasn’t expecting much as recent races hadn’t gone particularly well. I had hit the over-training button again as I had logged a tremendous mileage (maximum of 144 miles per week), switching to this after my best ever fifth place at the National Cross-Country Championships in February. It hadn’t improved me, only made me worse. Never mind, I entered the marathon, hoped for a solid run and then I could look forward to the autumn relays – my favourite part of the season. The morning of the race we had coffee in the hall after picking my number up. I saw that Simon Pride was entered, along with Adam Reid from Peterhead and David Gardiner from Kirkintilloch whom I knew fairly well.

Early pace was slow as the four of us settled down and let the countryside pass by. The day was warming up and there was little wind. I managed to get some drinks from Roisin as the race progressed, with the pace beginning to pick up as we passed Burghead (c14 miles). Simon and David pulled away and I knew it was too fast for me. In the distance I could see Simon moving ahead of David, but as we neared Lossiemouth, I could see I was gaining some ground. The sun by now was shining fiercely and I could sense a silver medal. I managed to pass David in Lossiemouth offering words of encouragement to each other, and I now looked to see how far ahead Simon was. He was out of sight.

Still, always believe – funny things can happen in the marathon. I finally caught sight of him as we entered the woods around 20 miles and I checked his lead in seconds. I can’t remember exactly but it must have been at least a minute. After a mile or so, I checked again – it was now around six or seven seconds less. A quick calculation in my head told me it would be close if we maintained the same pace, so I pushed on. Three miles to go, I could see Simon more clearly now and I calculated I could catch him by the end if we both maintained the same pace. Roisin was at this point in the car and she drove quickly back to the finish.

Every step was taking me closer to Simon now and the Scottish title was back in my head. What will happen when I catch him? How much has he left? Is he tiring or just unaware that I’m coming through? I caught Simon just as we entered the outskirts of Elgin, around a mile to go, and I decided to give it a push on to try to discourage any attempt to try to stay with me. Thankfully for me it worked and I went on to win in 2:33:11 with Simon not far behind and David taking bronze – marathon title Number Three! A slow time for all three of us, and perhaps highlighting the dropping standard, but it was one of the few marathon races I’ve run which had been tactical and a real ‘race’. I knew that, due to injuries, Simon had been past his best (although he had won the Scottish Masters M35 title in 2006), and neither David nor I had been at our peak, but it remained a very happy day for me. The rest was spent celebrating with ice-creams in Lossiemouth before driving south to Aviemore where we spent the night and I stuffed myself with burger and chips, washed down with chocolate fudge cake and ice cream!”

2014: Fraser Clyne reported on the controversial (and very last) race: “Kilmarnock’s Connell Drummond got more miles for his money than expected when winning the Glen Moray Marathon at Elgin. Race organisers were left with a major headache after runners were directed off the proper course in the early stages of the race. Despite the best efforts of everyone involved to resolve the situation, the competitors ended up running anything from two to four miles over the prescribed regular 26.2 miles distance.

Drummond, who has a best time of 2.41.13 set at London in April, reckons he ran closer to 30 miles after completing the route in 3.16.14. He said, “I was hoping to run faster than I did at London but obviously that was never going to happen once we were put the wrong way. I was leading at the time but when they tried to sort things out I found myself behind a whole pile or runners. I reckon I had to pass 15-20 guys to get back into the lead and I’m just happy to win, although the finishing time doesn’t mean anything now.”

Mary McCutcheon (Giffnock North) was second across the line in 3.21.05, while John Goodall (Keith and District) finished third in 3.25.11. Elaine Armour (Bracknell Forest) was second woman in 3.49.23 and Carol Massie (Fraserburgh Running Club) was third, first over-50, in 3.49.45.”

In the days when every club member received a booklet or card as evidence of having paid their sub or on joining the club, there was a great variety of what the various clubs produced.   One of the very best was the Bellahouston Harriers booklet which contained much more than most other clubs in the land.   The page size was only three and a half inches  by  two and a half and the whole contained a lot of social history – eg note the reference to National Service on p 14.   Thanks to Jimmy Irvine for letting us copy the booklet/

…

Every club used to issue cardboard or cardboard and paper handbooks or membership cards annually to their members.   Much better than an online list of club information, they had club rules and regulations, club trophies and their holders and fixture lists as the basic information with other details tending to vary from club to club.   Two of the Monkland Harriers handbooks are below.   Thanks to Joe Small for forwarding them

Part Four really was a long chapter – over 100 pages plus photographs, hence the breaking it down into several smaller sections.   This is a particularly interesting part of the book for me since it deals with the time when Fred Lumley was in charge of the arena and there were several items of significance took place in the period.   This bit includes the period of the 1914 – 18 war.  

Fred Lumley was a giant of a man in athletics giving tireless service, and money, to the sport in both its amateur and professional forms.   His Lumley Shield is still awarded for the winning team in the Scottish National Cross-Country Championship, for instance.   Chapter Four deals with him and his time at Powderhall.

The photograph above shows Alan Simpson winning a typical early 1960’s domestic race.   The races, whether won by Simpson, Stan Taylor, Brian Kent Smith, Mike Wiggs, Brian Hall or any of the other top UK runners, were typically three and a quarter laps of keeping an eye on each other with a final desperate sprint finish.   Even runners who came from abroad fell into that pattern.  Have a look at these results of the AAA’s Mile Championships at the start of the 1960’s.   

The times were not slow but the fact that the athletes were content to run as a pack until the final ‘burn up’ indicated to Frank Horwill and a number of other athletics coaches, officials and aficionados a lack of desire to commit themselves.    This was reflected in the coverage of the AAA’s championships where over the years in question the headlines were for Robbie Brightwell, Frank Salvat, Gordon Pirie, John Savidge and others with the mile at times not even mentioned in the reports.  The Daily Mirror report on the 1961 version, run on a wet and heavy track, read as follows:

 That’s the entire report and the final sentence stands out.  Almost the entire report was given over to Gordon Pirie who won the Three Miles.   That particular event was getting lots of headlines with Bruce Tulloh and Frank Salvat getting more than their share of the AAA’s headlines over the years.  Frank Horwill was  maybe a bit more vociferous than some others.  That was always the case though: I remember at a BMC two day AGM in Liverpool in the 1990’s watching coverage of a major Games with others when Frank stood up, announced “I am going to leave the room to throw up!”   The race on the screen was showing a heavily strapped up Said Aouita leading the field slowly round the tracK.   Frank thought like many of us that the other runners were showing too much respect to an injured runner – instead of having a go at winning it, they were in effect conceding the race to him and thinking only about second place. 

The tactic of sitting in and sprinting has its merits – Brian Hewson won the 1958 European Championships 1500m by doing just that, and, for the Scots the outstanding example of sitting and kicking was Lahie Stewart winning the 10000m at the Commonwealth Games in 1970.   At any rate, there was a feeling in the country at large that the ‘wait-and-see’ tactic had been elevate to an art form by that generation of milers while the rest of the world was passing us by.   Look at the result of the 1500m in the Rome Olympics:

1.   Elliott  3:35.6;  2.   Jazy  3:38.4;  3.  Rozsavolgyi 3:39.2; 4.  Waern  3:40.0;  5.    Vamos  3:40.8;  6. Burleson  3:40.9; 5;  7. Bernard  3:41.5; 8. Grelle  3:45.0; 9.  Hammarsland  3:45.0

The British 1500m and mile rankings for 1960 were 

The best British runner, on his best day of the year would have finished eighth in the Final.   In the 1962 European Championships, the first three were Jazy (3:40.9), Baran (3:42.1) and Salinger (3:42.2) and the only British runner in the Final was Berisford in 3:45.2.   Cornell and Taulor were eliminated in the Heats in the identical time of 3:49.9.   Also in 1962, the Empire Games was won by Snell in 4:04.6 from Davies in 4:05.1, Sullivan (Rhodesia) 4:06.6 and Blue in 4:08.4.   The two Britons in the Final were Taylor in 4:12.7 and Tulloh (formerly of Scotland) in 4:22.1, both of England.   Domestic Rankings for 1962 are as follows.

Mile

Boring races over the classic mile distance, lack of success in any of the major Games (Olympic, European, Empire) and a lack of any perceived action by the governing led to Frank and some colleagues taking their own action.   That was the situation when the best British milers, like BMC member number one, Hugh Barrow, received a letter from Frank about a new club being set up to foster Miling in Britain to be called the British Milers Club.   That was the start of something which was to become the tremendous success that is the BMC that we all know and which has done so much for British middle distance running.   

The Scottish Association of Track Statisticians (SATS) have posted annual best performances (usually top ten Men’s times) from 1959 to 2017. In addition, a Scottish Athletics Yearbook was published from the 1960s to the 1990s – and this includes approximately a top forty. Examining these statistics gives clear evidence of improvement (or, during a number of years) deterioration in times achieved.

In this article, the intention will be to consider probable reasons for improvement or deterioration in performances:

• before the 1970 Commonwealth Games course was used;
• during its use for the Scottish Marathon Championship;
• afterwards until ‘Big City Marathons existed;
• during the 1980s ‘Marathon/Jogging Boom’;
• and since the disappearance from the fixture list of so many Scottish (and British) marathons.

Although the Scottish Marathon Championship started in 1947, no settled course was used. Footwear could be unsupportive and only a fairly small number of hardy amateurs took part each year. Joe McGhee (1956) and Harry Fenion (1957) reduced the Championship Best Performance to 2.25.

However, it took until 1965 for three, or in this case four men to break 2.30 in the same Championship (Alastair Wood (2.20.46), Donald Macgregor, Charlie McAlinden, Hugh Mitchell). Ron Coleman ran 2.28.04 in Aberavon. Earlier in 1965, the Shettleston Marathon had allowed Fergus Murray (2.18.30) and Wood (2.19.03) to become the first Scots to break 2.20 in Scotland. The ranking list shows an unprecedented six Scots under 2.30.

Top Scottish marathoners, at this time, had a choice of three marathon courses: the Scottish, Shettleston and Inverness to Forres. There was also the opportunity to race in England at the Polytechnic or another, often fast, course which might be used for the AAA Championships. In 1967 at Nuneaton, Scots were the first three finishers in the AAA event: Jim Alder (2.16.08), Alastair Wood (2.16.21) and Donald Macgregor (2.17.19).

The 1970 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games Marathon course, when the weather was kind, was undoubtedly fast. It was first trialled in 1969, but the 1970 Scottish Marathon Championship, which was the Trial for the Scottish CG team, showed real progress. Jim Alder set a Championship Best Performance of 2.17.11, with Donald Macgregor, Fergus Murray and Alastair Johnston also under 2.20. Tenth man home ran 2.25.27! In the actual Commonwealth Games event, Jim Alder finished a valiant second in a new Scottish National Record of 2.12.04. The Yearbook shows that, in 1970, five Scots ran sub 2.20; another ten sub 2.30; and a further five sub 2.40.

What factors may have allowed Scottish Marathoning to improve to this good level? Certainly, the fast 1970 course, but aspiring marathon racers could peak gradually by building up fitness from early September, not only through fast, short cross-country relays but also road relays culminating in the prestigious and enormously popular Edinburgh to Glasgow 8-Man Road Relay. On New Year’s Day, there was the 14 Miles Morpeth to Newcastle road race. Shortly after, the 5 Miles Nigel Barge race. After stamina-testing Cross-Country Championships, there ensued many traditional road races (often linked to Highland Games) over distances from ten to 22 miles. On the track, 5000m and 10,000m races increased speed and tactical awareness, while the Scottish Ten Miles Track Championship might be another stepping stone. At the end of June, the Scottish Marathon Championship was a major target. In early Autumn, another marathon might be attempted. If not, a brief rest – and then the Road Running Year would start afresh.

From 1971 to 1980, the Scottish Marathon Championship continued to take place (on the same potentially fast course) during the Track and Field Championships at Meadowbank, Edinburgh. Consequently, a good standard was maintained. Donald Macgregor finished an excellent seventh in the 1972 Munich Olympics Marathon. The Scottish Championship record was lowered to 2.16.05, first by Colin Youngson (1975 – 2.16.50) and Jim Dingwall (1977). In the latter year, the first four in the Scottish Marathon broke 2.20, making a total of six in the Yearbook. First Sandy Keith, then Jim Dingwall took over from Donald Macgregor as Scotland’s best marathon man.

Change started happening in 1979, when the first Aberdeen and Glasgow Marathons commenced, followed by the most important factor of them all – the London Marathon – in 1980. As the number of runners contesting London increased, times became ever faster, due to the long mainly downhill early miles and groups sheltering from any headwind while hanging on grimly! Gradually, cash prizes became available, In London and fast events abroad, such as Rotterdam, Boston and New York. Semi-Professional athletes appeared; and domination by ‘Serious Amateurs’ ended.

In Scotland the same traditional events continued to exist, allowing ambitious young marathon runners to peak in a structured manner: short relays, longer ones, cross-country, track and longer road races. As Big City Mass Marathons, developed, finishing times improved for Scottish competitors.

Yet the lure of such events ensured loss of status for the Scottish Marathon Championship itself. The 1970 CG course was last used in 1980. A slower Edinburgh course was used in 1981 Another fast course from Grangemouth was used only in 1982; a slower Edinburgh course was used in 1983; the 1984 Scottish Marathon was farmed out to a reasonably fast course in Aberdeen; and the 1985 event, on another slower course in Edinburgh, was the very last one to take place along with the Scottish Track and Field Championships. Thereafter, the Scottish Marathon Championship was doomed to wander, a pale shadow, to courses which were usually rather slow, as part of events like Inverclyde, Lochaber, Elgin, Loch Rannoch and Loch Ness. 1982 was the last time that the winner ran under 2.20 (apart from the 1999 heavily-sponsored event, when three foreigners took the medals) until 2009, when Martin Williams ran 2.18.24 in the Edinburgh Marathon.

The 1980s Marathon Boom undoubtedly produced many fast times for many Scottish runners, even if the Glasgow Marathon (and its fast course) ended in 1987) and Aberdeen (on a much slower version than the one used between 1980 and 1984) was last run in 1990. Dundee (1983 to 1991) could also be fast, unlike several other, fairly short-lived Scottish marathons.

Most fast times by Scots were achieved in Glasgow and London. The ranking lists show the following.

1980 was the first time that more than ten Scottish Men ran under 2.20. John Graham set an excellent new Scottish record of 2.11.47 at Rotterdam; and bettered this mark at the same venue in 1981: 2.09.28.

In 1982, 18 broke 2.20; 46 2.30; and 70 were under 2.40. Compare that with 1970! By 1983, 2.17.33 was only good enough for tenth in the ranking list. In 1984, tenth fastest was 2.17.04. That was as fast as tenth place ever got, although ‘best ten times under 2.20’ was also achieved in 1985, 1986 and 1987 – but this never happened again, right up to 2019.

A new breed of fast Scottish marathon runners thrived during the boom years: John Graham, Graham Laing, Andy Robertson, Dave Clark, Fraser Clyne, Lindsay Robertson and, later on, Peter Fleming. (Paul Evans, mysteriously, topped the list twice, but raced for England, never Scotland.) In 1985, Allister Hutton set a Scottish National record (2.09.16) that lasted until 2019. In 1990, famously, Allister Hutton won the London Marathon.

(This article focuses on Scottish Men’s marathon running; but the Scottish Women’s Marathon Championship started in 1983 – and many Scottish female athletes have shone brightly in the marathon, including Leslie Watson, Lorna Irving, Lynda Bain, Lynn Harding, Liz McColgan, Karen McLeod, Trudi Thomson, Lynne MacDougall, Susan Partridge, Kathy Butler, Hayley Haining and Freya Ross. However, their story is for another article.)

Gradually, the slide in Scottish Men’s marathon standards began. By 1990, tenth in the rankings meant 2.28; by 1995, 2.33. In 2004, 2.38. Yes, a few top racers appeared, such as David Cavers and Simon Pride, but there was no doubt that times were much slower, not only when compared to the 1980s, but also to the 1960s!

What factors might account for this?

• A lack of fast marathon courses in Scotland and, apart from London, in England
• 1987 being the last year when Scotland could compete as a separate nation in the World Cross Country Championships – which had been a major ambition for good distance runners, who later turned to the marathon
• The Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay last being run in 2002. Like so many other traditional relays and road races, the police or local councils no longer granted a permit – using as unconvincing excuses expense or safety
• In the Scottish fixture list, a lack of structured training opportunities for road racers to gain speed and stamina in time to peak for important goals (which used to be the E to G in November and the Scottish Marathon Championships at the end of June)
• Mass Marathons led to fun runs and the mistaken notion that a sub 3 hour marathon is an excellent performance, even for physically talented men in their 20s and early 30s

In 2010 (for the first time since 1998) there were two Scots under 2.20! Ludicrously, in that year, the so-called Scottish Marathon Championship became part of the London Marathon. However, Andrew Lemoncello finished first Briton in 8^th place and recorded 2.13.40 – the fastest time by a Scot since Peter Fleming in 1995. Martin Williams ran 2.17.36.

Since then, although Derek Hawkins, Ross Houston, Callum Hawkins, Michael Crawley, Tsegai Tewelde and Robbie Simpson have produced sub-2.20 performances – and, in some cases, run much faster than that mark – tenth fastest in the yearly rankings continues to hover around 2.30.

Therefore, a few Professional Scottish Male Athletes (especially, Callum Hawkins, who in the 2019 London Marathon broke Allister Hutton’s record with a superb 2.08.14) are still capable of running very fast and competing well in Commonwealth, World or even Olympic marathons. Otherwise, the overall depth of Scottish Men’s marathon running continues to be unimpressive. More support from the Event Calendar would help enormously, with just a few significant alterations.

HOW MIGHT THE DEPTH OF SCOTTISH MARATHON RUNNING BE IMPROVED?

EACH ASPIRING MARATHON RUNNER WILL NEED TO CHECK THE CURRENT SCOTTISH FIXTURE LIST.

At present (assuming that road running is possible, after the coronavirus pandemic), the Scottish Athletics fixture list includes the following:

From the beginning of the Cross-Country Season (October 1^st) are there any other short, fast ROAD relays?

District Cross-Country Relays (mid-October)

Scottish Cross-Country Relays (Cumbernauld, end of October)

Allan Scally Memorial Road Relay (4x5k) (Glasgow Green, end of October)

Scottish Short Course (4k) Cross-Country (early November)

District Cross-Country Championships (early December)

ARE THERE ANY ‘TRAINING’ ROAD RACES IN DECEMBER/JANUARY?

Scottish Inter-District Cross-Country (Stirling, early January)

Scottish National (10k) Cross-Country (Falkirk, end of February)

Scottish 6-Stage Road Relay (Livingston, end of March)

Scottish 10 miles (Motherwell, also end of March)

Scottish Marathon Championship (Stirling, end of April – but a slow course) LONDON IS MUCH FASTER.

Scottish 5k (Edinburgh, early May)

Scottish 10k (Stirling, early September)

Scottish Half Marathon (Glasgow, end of September) 

[The Scottish Road Running Grand Prix was aligned with all of the Scottish Road Championships at 5K, 10K, 10 miles, 1/2 marathon and marathon and the final score is calculated with the best 4 out of 5 races. (Therefore, decided after the Half Marathon, end of September.)]

CONCLUSION: 

Although Scottish Athletics and British Athletics does support a very small number of Elite or Near-Elite Scottish Marathon runners, the existing race calendar does NOT seem to support aspiring road-racing athletes who wish to a) improve and achieve a fairly good marathon time and possibly b)  improve further to sub 2.20 or faster and then c) JOIN the Elite and receive funding to make them truly competitive. (Cross-country, track and shorter-distance road runners are reasonably well catered for; but not marathoners.)

ROAD RUNNING PEAKING CALENDAR: SUGGESTIONS:

(TO IMPROVE THE DEPTH OF SCOTTISH MARATHON RUNNING)

It is logical that a fairly young (up to mid-thirties) aspiring Scottish marathon runner (aiming at sub-2.30 or even sub-2.20) may wish to compete in a) a Spring Marathon and b) an Autumn one.

Obviously,  each aspiring marathoner should be following an appropriate training schedule (including a longish Sunday run (steady or varied effort 10 miles gradually increasing to 16 and occasionally 20), easier recovery runs, faster work – long reps, fartlek, road hill reps, time trials/hard effort parkruns ); and should include carefully selected ‘training races’ to improve speed and stamina, then tapering for two weeks to ensure freshness before a target marathon. (For sub-2.30, a talented youngish runner might average 60-70 miles per week (including these ingredients every fortnight), while for sub-2.20 (on a fast course, with sensible tactics and considerable luck!) 80 mpw might be more suitable. Some runners go for 100, but the ‘ideal amount’ depends on the resilience of each individual.

END OF MARCH/VERY EARLY APRIL: TEN MILES ROAD RACE (TOM SCOTT?); PLUS A HALF MARATHON OPTION REQUIRED. (NO NEED FOR CLASHING SIX STAGE ROAD RELAY HERE. The National XC in February serves as a non-road-running target for this part of the season).

END OF APRIL OR EARLY MAY: FAST SCOTTISH MARATHON REQUIRED; OR PEAK FOR LONDON END OF APRIL.

JUNE, JULY AND EARLY AUGUST; MAJOR TEN MILES OR HALF MARATHONS REQUIRED. EXCELLENT ‘TRAINING RACES’ to show top potential for the Marathon. A road race of 18 or 20 miles would also be excellent pre-marathon preparation. Perhaps the Edinburgh to North Berwick might restart?

EARLY SEPTEMBER: STIRLING OR EDINBURGH MARATHON (= SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP). ALTERNATIVE TO GREAT SCOTTISH RUN HALF MARATHON IN GLASGOW. OTHERWISE, THERE WILL BE A NEED TO TARGET A FAST EUROPEAN MARATHON.

OCTOBER: THE SCOTTISH CROSS-COUNTRY RELAYS TAKE PLACE AT THE END OF OCTOBER; WHY NOT SHIFT THE ALLAN SCALLY RELAY TO MID-OCTOBER TO BE A ‘TRAINING RACE’ FOR ROAD RUNNERS?

SHIFT SIX STAGE ROAD RELAY TO MID-NOVEMBER (= MAJOR ROAD RUNNING TARGET LIKE E TO G FOR FIRST HALF OF SEASON). THEN TRAINING FOR NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY, FOLLOWED BY MARCH TEN MILES/HALF MARATHON, THEN LONDON OR POSSIBLE SCOTTISH ALTERNATIVE.

Recently, the Scottish Athletics Marathon Project has been set up, under the direction of Robert Hawkins (who coaches his talented and very successful Elite sons, Derek and Callum). The aim is to boost Scottish marathon standards before  the next Commonwealth Games.  A maximum of three Scots can be selected for that, but several other aspiring young Scottish marathon runners have been included in the Project. Although Coronavirus has delayed developments, everyone has access to a fund if they require physiotherapy. Some runners are entered for the Wrexham Elite Marathon in early October, and personal bests may result.

Would it be possible for the Scottish Athletics Marathon Project to consider the suggested adjustments to the Events Calendar to encourage even more up-and-coming Scottish Road Runners and Marathoners to improve their times and be considered for training camps and selection? Wouldn’t it be great to see the DEPTH of Scottish Marathon running return to the standards of the 1980s?

Previous Parts of this Post:   Part 1     Part  2     Part 3 

Back in the 1970s, nearly every road-running Scot was male. [SAAA, SCCU and SWCCU rules did not allow men and women to race together. The only time they might see each other racing was during the SAAA/SWAAA Track and Field Championships – and then only in separate events.] After the advent of City Marathons (starting with Aberdeen in September 1979) could take part in the same races. (The developing Veteran scene was also important in allowing men and women to compete together on the roads.)

Any road-racing specialist would train on a variety of surfaces – track, grass, trails and hills as well as tarmac. In addition, he would almost certainly race on track and cross-country as well as road. Nevertheless, the Road Running Year provided a calendar of events, which allowed the athlete to increase fitness gradually, before peaking for major races like the Tom Scott 10, Scottish Marathon Championship, the Two Bridges 36 and the Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay.

The very top road runners had the organisation of their year down to  T.   It might be of course that that was the difference between the real top men and the ‘nearly top men’.    

One of our best endurance runners who had success on all surfaces – track and country but especially road – at all age levels is Colin Youngson and we asked him to discuss and explain his racing year and how it was planned.    

For example, his best year was 1975 when, representing Edinburgh Southern Harriers, he was training 70 or 80 miles per week and did not suffer injury. No fewer than 24 races were completed that year, and he did peak successfully for the Scottish Marathon and Edinburgh to Glasgow, as well as producing decent performances on cross-country, middle-distance track and (without extra training) the Two Bridges. At the end of such a busy season, he was delighted to be presented with the SAAA Donald McNab Robertson Trophy (for Best Scottish Road Runner of the Year).

                                                                         Colin finishing the last stage of the 1986 E to G, which his team Aberdeen AAC won.

What follows is a list of his 1974-1975 races, with road races in bold, and his comments on the season.   He takes over  the story:

“The Road Running Year may be said to start (or in the case of marathons, end) around 1^st October. In June 1974, I returned to Scotland after ten months teaching English as a foreign language in Sweden. There, I was slowly improving as a runner, despite having to do all training on my own in a flat part of the country. The opposition, apart from a few tough athletes, was nothing like as strong as in Scotland, let alone Finland and England. My marathon personal best was 2.22.28.

Having reached my home city of Aberdeen in early June, I raced the Scottish Marathon on the 22^nd, finishing a tired third (2.21.36). By mid-August, I had moved to hilly Edinburgh, started teaching English at Craigmount High School, had become a member of Edinburgh Southern Harriers, and proper 70 to 80 miles a week training had resumed, including Sunday Runs (16 to 25 miles), hill reps and long and short interval work with a number of good runners. How would this fresh regime affect my speed and stamina?

 On 25^th August 1974, in a slow time, I won a very windy Scottish 10 Miles Track title at Meadowbank. On September 28th came the first road running fixture of the Winter season: the ESH Fernieside Relays. Our team won, I posted the fastest time – and it was the only occasion that my brilliant young clubmate Allister Hutton let me finish a few seconds in front of him.

5^th October: We finished second to Edinburgh Athletic Club in the McAndrew Road Relay in Glasgow. I was third-fastest behind Andy McKean and Gareth Bryan Jones.

19^th October: Kingsway Relays, Dundee. ESH first team. I was third-fastest behind Alister Blamire and Craig Douglas.

26/10/74: Harlow Marathon, Essex. 8th. Although I chipped a few seconds off my pb with 2.21.06, I was disappointed not to get closer to the 2.20 mark.

16/11/74: Delighted to come home first (outsprinting Willie Day due to the uphill finish) on Stage One of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay. ESH won this legendary race after a very close battle with EAC.

23/11/74: ESH third in the Scottish XC Relay. I took over third and finished there but felt a bit stale.

7/12/74: A poor run on a bumpy, muddy course during the SCCU v SU v Northern Ireland contest.

There was absolutely no doubt that running on the road suited me best. What would 1975 bring? Could this new training regime allow me to build up for important races and produce new pbs for 10.000m, 10 miles and, especially, the Scottish Marathon Championship?

Nigel Barge Road Race, 1984 

There followed four weeks hard training, totalling: 71 miles, 80, 100 and 80, leading up to the first race of 1975.

4^th January – Nigel Barge Memorial 4 and a half mile race, Glasgow – 4th.

12^th January – East District Cross Country League (final race), Livingston. 6^th.  ESH won team title.

18^th January – East District CC Championships, Fernieside, Edinburgh. 4th. ESH first team.

5^th February – Scottish National CC Championships, Coatbridge. 19^th. ESH second team.

1^st March – Edinburgh University 10 mile road race. Third. ESH first team.

5^th April. After release from hospital (for a minor face operation) a poor run in the Tom Scott 10. Only 20^th, but got fit again surprisingly fast.

26^th April – AAA National 12-Stage Road Relay, Sutton Coldfield. ESH second team against the cream of English clubs. I was third-fastest on the short stage – a hilly 3 miles 100 yards in 14.16.

3^rd May – Scottish Athletics League, Division One, Meadowbank, Edinburgh. 5000m (B race): 1^st in 14.32.

10^th May – SAAA Ten Mile Track Championship, Carluke. 2^nd in a lifetime best 49.00.8.

17^th May – Drymen to Scotstoun 15 mile road race (Glasgow Highland Games). 1^st.

.31^st May – East District 10,000m at Meadowbank. Second in a lifetime best 29.33.4. This very hard run led to selection for Scotland v Iceland 10,000m.

8^th June – Pye Gold Cup 5000m, Meadowbank. 1^st in 14.37.6 (despite fall on first lap).

28^th June – Scottish Marathon Championship, Meadowbank. Won in 2.16.50 (Championship Best Performance). Best race ever. Led to selection for a GB two-man team in an International Marathon.

29^th June – ESH (unsuccessful) attempt on 100 x One Mile world track record, Meadowbank. 4.29 mile, the day after the marathon. (A long warm-up was essential.)

Scottish Marathon leaving Meadowbank Stadium, 1981.   Colin Youngson leads (and won).

5^th July – Forres Highland Games. Ten Miles. CY 1^st.

19^th August – Scotland v Iceland Athletics match in Reykjavik. 10,000m: second to team-mate Allister Hutton.

23^rd August – Two Bridges Race, Dunfermline. 36 miles 158 yards. Second in 3.29.44, almost three minutes behind Cavin Woodward (World number one ultra-marathon runner that year.) This run probably clinched the Robertson Trophy award.

Friday 12^th September – 6^th Internationale Berchem Marathon, Antwerp, Belgium. Second, 17 seconds behind Danny McDaid (Eire), with GB team-mate Max Coleby just 9 seconds further back. We beat the Irish on countback as well as several Continental pairings.

McAndrew Relay changeover, 1979, 

4^th October – McAndrew Road Relay, Scotstoun, Glasgow. 6^th fastest. ESH won.

12^th October – Coatbridge 5: fifth in a classy field.

25^th October – Allan Scally Road Relay, Baillieston, Glasgow. 6^th fastest. ESH won in a new course record 90.45.

8^th November – Glasgow University 5 miles road race. 3rd in a PB 24.57.

15^th November – Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay. 1^st ESH 3.33.32 (new course record). I set a new Stage One record of 26.00. Second-best ever run.

29^th November – International Cross-Country, Gateshead Riverside Bowl. Scotland (1^st team) v England v Rest of World v Gateshead Harriers. Reality check! Horrible circuit with vicious little anaerobic hills. Ended up 27^th ex 32, in front of two Scottish team-mates.

(N.B. After such an outstanding year, Colin trained too hard (100 miles per week), got sciatica, had to reduce mileage and was never quite as good again, although between 1977 and 1985 he ran eight more sub 2.20 marathons and had a long, often successful career as a Veteran/Master up to the age of 70.)

Comments on 1975

Important training ingredients included: long fairly hard Sunday runs; speedwork (short and long repetitions plus hill sessions, short road relays, 5000m races); easier, recovery training runs; track 10,000m events (there very were few road 10ks back then); cross-country; ten and 15 mile road races. This produced fitness for a fast, competitive marathon and the stamina to complete 36 miles steadily before finishing strongly.”

What other possible races featured in the calendar?

(The Scottish Marathon Club provided an excellent fixture list.)

(Originally 13.6 miles but this was changed to 14.1 miles in 1983.)

Then it was back to the winter cycle of 

  October: McAndrew Relay

Mid-October: the Kingsway road relay in Dundee

End of October, the Scottish CC Relays.

Early November, the District CC Relays.

In format

Early December, County CC Champs.

SCCU v Scottish Universities.

East Kilbride road races.

Queen’s Drive road race, Edinburgh.

The outline is clear and then you can see the races that Colin added in to trim and tweak his progress through the year.   For instance in May he added the tough Drymen to Scotstoun race instead of the quicker Gourock HG 14 miles.   At the end of May and the start of June he fitted in a 10,000m on the track followed by the even shorter and quicker 5000m on the track in the lead in to the fast-paced marathon.   Without labouring the point too much, the season now is a bit different.   

First, there is a proliferation of 10K road races.   No one in the governing body is tasked with asking some of these organisers to alter the distance of their race to help the runners in their preparation for the major championships.   Instead, the governing body dishes out permits to all who want them – or maybe they have completely stopped trying to control the flow of races by permits or by any other method.      

Second, there does  not seem to be any concern about races being dropped from the programme.  For example, the Strathallan 20 became the Strathallan 14, then the Strathallan 10 before being dropped; other races such as the Dunky Wright 5K have just been dropped.   No one has enquired of the organisers why these events have been dropped or offered to assist in their restoration.   It is impossible to imagine such as Jimmy Scott or Dunky Wright not acting.   The road racing scene seriously needs examining by the governing body.

The Scottish marathon championship is now run as part of a mass marathon – the last five have been enmeshed in the Inverness, London and Stirling marathons.   These in no way resemble a marathon championship race.   For two years it was not even run in Scotland.   It is a proper Scottish championship and should be treated as such rather than as an add-on to a glorified fund raising exercise.   

The last five championships have been run on 27th September 2015, 24/4/2016, 23/4/2017, 29/4/18 and 28/4/2019.    How can any serious marathon runner build up to a peak for the very start of the season?   

The once excellent Scottish endurance running organisation has been deprived of the proper stepping stones to success, as used by such as Colin, Donald Macgregor, Fergus Murray and all the other genuine national marathon heroes.

Alastair Macfarlane, a fine runner who became Scottish Marathon Champion in 1979 (beating Donald Macgregor and Colin Youngson) commented as follows on his own approach to ‘training races’ and peaking for important events.

“Thinking about the running calendar: Brian McAusland is right in suggesting that there was a bit of progression back in the day – but I suppose it was what you made it. I wonder if there was ever any planning on the part of the SCCU or SAAA and their female equivalents with regard to progression. I always tried to adhere to the principle of short, medium and long term targets – didn’t always succeed but that was the plan. And in the most successful part of my running career the long term target was a marathon.

I would aim to target no more than six or eight races per year in which I would aim to do well. These would include the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay, the Balloch to Clydebank, the Clydebank to Helensburgh and the National 6 Stage Relay. Other races such as the District and National Cross Country Relays, the County Relays, the Glasgow University 5 miles, the Nigel Barge and the Springburn Cup were really used as glorified training runs. I would always try to run and compete well in them, and sometimes achieved that, but wouldn’t ease down my training. I would often be beaten by runners who wouldn’t normally beat me when I was at my best but was confident enough to realise that.

As I alluded to earlier, I wonder if the racing calendar in the seventies and eighties was progressive by accident or design and of course it was up to the individual to design their own fixture list. Nowadays I wonder how much if any planning goes into it. In Autumn the District and National Relays are still around and the National Short Course Cross Country has been added. This is a good start to the winter season along with the District Cross Country Championships but there are now far too many races available to runners. If an individual or organisation wishes to organise an event, Scottish Athletics will issue a permit without too many questions, providing safety requirements are met. This is because events are an income source and there is probably little consideration given to where events will fit into the competitive season.

Nowadays I coach a group of runners, mainly Masters who, after some effort, I have convinced should decide on targets and focus on certain events within a race programme, rather than treat every race with equal importance. However, my experience tells me that nowadays the huge majority of those taking part in our sport give little thought to race planning. Maybe it was always so?”

The Road Runner’s Year Part 1     Part 3      Part 4