Author: The Author

This page will be one of several pages of photographs – this one will be of more or less formal club groups from all round the country and from whatever era.   The oldest is of West of Scotland in 1887, then there is Clydesdale in 1889 and Bellahouston in 1910; the more ‘modern/ ones are of Aberdeen (below) in 1976, and Bellahouston in 2017.   The re are also University teams on display – they were/are a major part of the athletics scene. There will be pages of smaller club groups at races, winning teams and, if we can get enough photographs, of women’s teams and clubs too. 

Aberdeen AAC, 1976

Hunter Watson is extreme right of second back row.   Also in that row are Fraser Clyne, 8th right, and Graham Laing, 3rd right,  both ran in the Commonwealth Games: Graham in ’82 and Clyne in ’86.   Also in the picture is Mel Edwards, 6th right.

First team: Back row: John Dixon, Bob Anderson, John Aberdein, Hamish Cameron, Kenny Laing, Charlie Macaulay.
Front row: Charlie Downing, Jim Maycock, Colin Youngson, Andy Downing.

Aberdeen University Hare & Hounds 

Bellahouston Harriers, 1910

Bellahouston Harriers Centenary Photograph

 

 

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.Above:  Bruce Street, 1957;    Below, Whitecrook, 1989

Dundee Hawkhill

Edinburgh Harriers winning team in the inaugural Scottish Cross-Country Championship of 1886: 1 Tom Fraser, 2 David Colville Macmichael, 3 David Scott Duncan, 4 William Mabson Gabriel, 5 John William Lodowick Beck, 6 Peter Addison, 7 Robert Cochrane Buist, 8 John M. Bow

 

 

Edinburgh Southern Harriers

 

.Edinburgh University Hare & Hounds, 1950’s

GUAC: 1961

Glasgow University H & H:

Greenock Glenpark Harriers, 1950’s

Greenock Glenpark Harriers, 1960’s

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Springburn Harriers (above and below: 1950’s)

(Above) A later one of the Springburn club – Dunky McFarlane on the right, Jim McKenzie on the left

Shettleston Harriers founder members, 1904

The first of the Shettleston Harriers photographs: Above the oldest know club group, 1906

Club Group, 1920

 

 

 

 

Shettleston Harriers: Club muster run, 1933

The next three are all Teviotdale Harriers.   In the first one note the bags of shredded paper or straw used to lay the trail in the early days of Hare and Hounds paper chases.

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Victoria Park Group, Mountblow Recreation Ground 1950

Victoria Park club group, Milngavie, 1951

 

West of Scotland Harriers, 1887

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Various online sources miss out a very important part of Priscilla’s athletic progress: when she was living in Shetland and often racing in Scotland between 1981 and 1983.

Wikipedia sums up her running career as follows:

“Priscilla June Welch (born 22 November 1944). 

Priscilla Welch was a very good marathon runner indeed – one of the best in Britain – whose career has been deservedly covered in detail.  But various online sources miss out a very important part of Priscilla’s athletic progress: when she was living in Shetland and often racing in Scotland between 1981 and 1983.

Online reference site Wikipedia sums up her running career as follows:

She twice broke the British marathon record, with 2:28:54 when finishing sixth at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics; and 2:26:51 when finishing second at the 1987 London Marathon. The latter time stood as the W40 World Masters record for over 20 years. She also won the 1987 New York City Marathon in 2:30:17..

Born in Bedford, England, she had a most unlikely career in international athletics, having smoked a pack of cigarettes a day until she began running competitively at age 35. An officer in the British Army, Welch met her future husband Dave while serving in Norway. She quit smoking and, under his tutelage, ran in the 1981 London Marathon at age 36, finishing in 2.59.00.

Welch won the 1981 Glasgow Marathon (2.55.15) and 1982 (2.46.58), before twice improving her best in 1983 with 2.39.29 for 10^th in London and 2.36.32 when winning the Enschede Marathon in Holland.”

Further research revealed an online interview Priscilla Welch did years later for her English club Ranelagh Harriers; and a fine 1987 article by the well-respected athletics writer Mel Watman; reveals significant details about the Scottish Connection!

Mel Watman wrote: “When Priscilla met Dave in Norway, she was a petty officer in the Wrens, serving as a NATO communications clerk; and he was stationed with the Royal Signals. Dave was a keen runner and Priscilla found a new interest. She took part in her first marathon in Stockholm in August 1979, finishing ninth in 3.26. She was two minutes slower a couple of months later, but a year’s solid training paid off for the late-starting newcomer, when she edged under 3 hours in the 1981 London.

In July 1981, Dave was posted to the Shetlands for two years, but the harsh conditions encountered in that most northerly outpost of the UK failed to deter the increasingly enthusiastic Priscilla. Indeed, the adversity was a blessing in disguise, as it toughened her up for the challenges ahead. During the winter, while logging up 85 miles per week, she had to wear a miner’s helmet with a lamp, just to see where she was going.

Undramatically, [she won the Glasgow in 1981 (2.55.15) and 1982 (2.46.58)] it would have needed a vivid imagination to picture her as a future British Marathon record-breaker and Olympic representative.

However, in 1983, she made a major breakthrough by cutting more than 14 minutes off her best time. After placing tenth in London (2.39.29), she was selected for her first international, in which she excelled by finishing fourth in the European Cup Marathon in Laredo, Spain. In very hot weather, she came in less than four minutes behind the winner in 2.42.26.

Later in the summer of 1983, having moved from Shetland to Kingston upon Thames near London, she scored her first international victory, clocking 2.36.32 at Enschede. That 1983 campaign ended with yet another personal best (2.32.31) for third in her New York debut – a performance which, at the time, only the trail-blazing Joyce Smith had ever bettered in British marathon history.”

After the 19 84 Olympics Marathon: Sarah Rowell (14th), Priscilla Welch (6th) and Joyce Smith (11t)h

Mel Watman missed out a few relevant Scottish details. Lynda Bain (Aberdeen AAC), twice Scottish Marathon champion, who in 1984 at London set a new Scottish Women’s marathon record (2.33.37) and ran for Great Britain, remembered her first attempt at the distance: the Aberdeen Marathon in September 1981, which was run in gale-force winds with driving rain, making conditions almost unbearable. Lynda showed great resilience in coming home third (3.21.12) behind Katie Fitzgibbon (3.07.46) and Priscilla Welch (3.08.55). A month later, Priscilla won the Glasgow Marathon in 2.55.15.

In 1982, Priscilla ran London in 2.53.36, the Bolton Marathon (2^nd in 2.56.19); and the Scottish Championships at Aberdeen, where, running for Shetland Harriers, she was third in 2.55.59 (behind Lynda, who was second in 2.53.04.) After all that hard Shetland training and tough racing, Priscilla deserved her improvement, recording 2.46 to win in Glasgow!

In 1983, her London pb (2.39.29) and subsequent good GB race in Laredo, were both based on training in Shetland.

When she moved to the London area in summer 1983, and joined Ranelagh Harriers, this may have ‘sharpened’ her for that international victory in Enschede (2.36.32) and fine New York Marathon (2.32.31).

The rest has been summarised above by Wikipedia, or mentioned in her Ranelagh interview: training in Lanzarote with the British Olympic Squad; a marvellous second place in London 1984 (2.30.06); altitude training in Boulder, Colorado (later to become home for Priscilla and Dave); that fantastic Olympic sixth place (2.28.54); working on speed for two years [plus six American marathons (including a victory in Columbus) and two Japanese)]; then that superb 1987 London (2.26.51) and a win that year at New York (2.30.17).

Priscilla Welch secured her selection for the Seoul Olympics with that New York performance plus 4th place in the April 1988 Boston (2.30.53) but unfortunately injury prevented her from taking part.

Priscilla continued to run at a high level in the States for four more years before breast cancer in 1992 brought her serious running career to an end. In 2003 Runner’s World magazine voted her the best-ever female masters marathoner.

Personal Bests: 16.13 (5k), 26.26 (5m), 32.25 (10k), 53.51 (10m), 73.06 (half marathon, but 71.04 on a slightly short course), 2:26.51 (marathon)

Priscilla’s favourite running memories?

“London Marathon 1987 – Seeing the finish clock on Westminster Bridge and saying to myself, “Bloody Hell, this is a good day!” I think the clock read 2.24+. I crossed the line in 2.26.51 – fresh as a daisy. Yee-hah for running with a free brain!!

Olympics 1984 – Crossing the finish Line (with instructions from Dave to behave myself seeing as I was a rookie) I became 16 yrs old and crossed the javelin competition which was live (twice) looking and cheering for Joyce and Sarah. Was well told off by an official, and became 39 again. Saluting the British fans with Joyce and Sarah. Dave meanwhile had started to lose his hair!”

In her online Ranelagh interview, Priscilla Welch comes across as a clever, thoughtful, athlete, who loved distance running and deserved every triumph in an outstanding career. There is little doubt that she laid the foundations for that success in Shetland, Aberdeen and Glasgow!

 

The original route of the North Berwick to Edinburgh race.

They were impressionable young men. Old enough to remember the childhood privations of war but too young to recall what went before. But even in the years before the war, marathon running had been little more than a fringe sport that led a Cindarella-like existence. The 1908 Olympic Games had, thanks to the futile heroics of a dehydrated and strung-out confectioner from Capri, elevated the marathon to a certain popularity north of the border. While the professionals had embraced its commercial appeal, the Amero-Canadian Hans Holmer notably setting a professional world record on the cinders at Powderhall in 1911, the fervour in amateur circles had, with few exceptions, been relatively short-lived. The number of important amateur marathon races in Scotland since the London Olympiad could be counted on one hand: a 15-mile “Marathon” from Dalkeith to the Scottish National Exhibition Grounds at Saughton in 1908, a 20-mile “Marathon” from Stonehouse to Hampden Park in 1909; a 16-mile “National Marathon Race” at Glasgow in 1911, where runners from south of the border filled the first seven places; an Olympic trial at Glasgow in 1912 that was ignored by the A.A.A. selection committee; and, in 1923, a full-fledged marathon race from Fvyie Castle to Aberdeen that unearthed a rough diamond in Dunky Wright. Lately the marathon had been on people’s lips again, garnering press coverage and building a grassroots following thanks to Wright’s triumph in the 1924 London Polytechnic Marathon and Olympic Trial. A spindly little Glaswegian runner would become an unlikely anti-hero in a hungry nation starved of sporting role models.

It was astonishing at all that Scottish marathon runners could even make a ripple on the British scene, let alone shake it up. For unlike their English brethren, they had no national association behind their endeavours and would have to wait until 1946 to crown their first national champion.

In the early 1920s the clubs in the East were short on long-distance running talent, the war having taken its toll on some of their numbers. The numbers had been less depleted in the West thanks to the proliferation of essential war occupations in the Clydeside area. The consequence of this was that athletes from the West of Scotland enjoyed an unbroken run of success in the national cross-country and 10-mile track championships between 1920 and 1927. In the pre-war years, Edinburgh clubs were still able to hold their own in the long-distance stakes thanks to outstanding runners such as Tom Jack, John Ranken and Jimmy Duffy, but those heady days seemed to be over for the time being at least. Aberdeen was the sole eastern bastion of long-distance running, the Aberdeenshire Harriers and Aberdeen Y.M.C.A. clubs having resumed their annual “marathon” fixtures after the War. Apart perhaps from Alex King, however, none of the men from the Granite City could make a compelling case for national honours.

Into this void stepped Canon Athletic Sports Club, a new club formed at Canongate (hence the name), Edinburgh, in 1922. They recruited their membership largely from the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders regiment stationed at Redford Barracks, where the training facilities were the envy of other Edinburgh clubs. What set them apart was that they also catered to hill and road running, “indulgences” the more established clubs were reluctant to entertain. It was not as if Canon ASC were ahead of their time because road races had enjoyed some measure of popularity during the Marathon Craze in the years preceding the war. During the 13 years of their existence, before they changed their name to Edinburgh Eastern Harriers, who in turn merged with Edinburgh Harriers and Edinburgh Northern Harriers to form Edinburgh Athletic Club in 1961, they instituted several popular, long-running fixtures. Among its members was one Willie Carmichael, an enterprising young sprinter, a visionary with organisational talent who would later become an influential figure in Scottish amateur athletics (http://www.anentscottishrunning.com/willie-carmichael/). Their most famous member was the John T. Suttie-Smith, the noted Dundee runner, who joined in 1932 as the Scottish cross-country champion and 10-mile record holder. The Arthur’s Seat Hill Race and the Queen’s Drive Races, for example, were the brainchild of Canon ASC. Likewise the first full-distance marathon race for amateurs in Edinburgh. Ironically, their most enduring legacy would be an event they did not institute: the race from Edinburgh to North Berwick.

Late in 1925 a small band of Canon ASC runners centred around the 21-year-old Lance-Corporal Edward Hoare Fernie began looking into the possibility of running the 22-mile route from North Berwick to Edinburgh as a time trial rather than a full-blown race. Of course, it was not a marathon run in the classic sense, but neither was it a world away from it. In fact, it happened to be almost identical to the distance that the messenger Thersipus is said to have covered from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce the victory over the Persians in 490 BC. And it was without doubt a tougher test of endurance than the Powderhall race, which had been downsized from 26.2 miles to a mere 10 miles while hanging on to the grand “Marathon” tag.

Fernie, a stonemason from Falkirk, is said to have been a cousin of the 1932 Olympic marathon silver medallist Sam Ferris and was evidently cut from a similar cloth to his famous relative. On New Year’s Day 1926 he took advantage of the quiet roads on the morning after Hogmany for his undertaking. The run started at North Berwick P.O. and went along the coastal road to Edinburgh via Dirleton, Gullane, Aberlady, Longniddry, Prestonpans and Musselburgh, and ended opposite Edinburgh G.P.O. at Waterloo Place, a distance of exactly twenty-two and seven-eighth miles or 36.8 km in metric units. Accompanied by a motor car and his club mates W. Simpson and A. Good as pacemakers, Fernie ran a steady race and finished the course in 2 h 54 mins. He arrived covered in mud, but comparatively fresh, despite the heavy going on the still unpaved section between Longniddy and Musselburgh.

Local and even some regional newspapers covered the race and aroused unexpected interest. Members of the other Edinburgh running clubs evidently felt called upon to take up the challenge. In March 1926 Dr. A. Millar of the Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds launched an attack on the course record, but broke down on King’s Road in Portobello and gave up after covering just over 20 miles in 2 h 37 mins. Another medical student at Edinburgh University, James D. Horsburgh, made the next record attempt on 17 April 1926. Horsburgh, a member of the Edinburgh Southern Harriers, used the favourable conditions to set a fast pace and at one point was 17 minutes ahead of record schedule. However, he too had misjudged his capabilities and was reduced to a crawl during the closing stages of the run, failing narrowly with a time of 2:55:15.

The great response prompted Fernie to undertake another solo run from North Berwick to Edinburgh on 13 November 1926. Despite a strong southwest wind, he managed to improve his own course record to 2:48:36 thanks to the active support of his club mates.

In 1927 the members of the Canon ASC undertook two more runs, albeit neither from North Berwick to Edinburgh. After Fernie was defeated by Andrew Ruthven in the 44 1/4 mile race from Glasgow to Edinburgh on New Year’s Day, he won the 26-mile 385-yard Canon ASC Marathon Race by a large margin in 3:26:06 on 6 August.

In 1928, however, interest in the North Berwick to Edinburgh run was reawakened when Edward Fernie undertook his third solo time trial. He got off to a good start by covering the first 4 ½ miles from North Berwick P.O. to Gullane in 26:30 min, then he passed Aberlady (7 ¼ miles) in 49 min, Prestonpans (13 ¼ miles) in 1 h 35 min and Levenhall (15 ¼ miles) in 1 h 50 min. Could he keep up the pace on the last part of the run through the eastern suburbs of Edinburgh? He struggled a little and lost some time but he still made it to the finish at Waterloo Square in a new record time of 2:45:24.

 

After Fernie’s departure, the North Berwick course record went unchallenged for a couple of years. Nevertheless, the rank and file of Canon ASC had not lost sight of the record or interest. On 22 February 1930, three members set out to erase Fernie’s record once and for all. This one was to be an actual race. The runners – W. Gilchrist, A. Good and J. Morrow – started from the North Berwick G.P.O. in ideal conditions and were accompanied by a considerable retinue of supporters, including the record holder. To save their strength for the last and most difficult part of the route from Portobello to the G.P.O., they started conservatively and were over four minutes behind the record at five miles. All three kept together until just beyond the Musselburgh town hall (about 17 miles) where Good dropped back due to a stitch. The race was decided at Piershill (about 20 miles) when Morrow broke away from Gilchrist. Morrow, a 4:47.8 miler in 1926, finished the last part of the Levenhall course eight minutes faster than Fernie and sprinted to the finish in new figures of 2:38:15. Gilchrist and Good also bettered the old record, running 2:39:50 and 2:44:25 respectively. Nearly two years later, on 2 January 1932, Morrow rang in the New Year with another attempt at a record. Despite stormy winds and pouring rain, he was on course for the record halfway through the race when the battle with the elements began to take its toll. In the hilly second half he slowed considerably but refused to give up and dragged himself to the finish in 3:00:41.

There was no further record attempt on the North Berwick route until December 9, 1953, when Joe McGhee, Scotland’s latest marathon sensation, did a solo time trial in the style of Edward Fernie 27 years previously. There is no other way to say it: he destroyed the course record! By completing the distance in 2:05:19.6 he gave a glimpse of the rare talent that would carry him to a shock victory a few months later at the Empire Games Marathon in Vancouver, Canada. It should be noted that McGhee ran the route in the opposite direction – from Edinburgh to North Berwick – to take advantage of the prevailing westerly wind.

When annual North Berwick to Edinburgh Road Race was inaugurated in 1958, the organisers also adopted the more advantageous west-east route. From the outset, the race was well received by the Scottish long distance elite, with the 1966 Commonwealth Marathon Champion Jim Alder among the early winners. The two-hour mark was broken for the first and only time in 1968, when strong winds blew Don MacGregor, 7th placed in the marathon at the 1972 Olympic Games, to a time of 1:59:57. Edward Fernie, the original course record holder, would have been amazed, but unfortunately he had died of pneumonia earlier that year. The 1969 race was the last on the original route. From 1970 onwards the race started at Meadowbank Stadium and was over a mile shorter at 21.7 miles. It was also run as a full-length marathon from 1971-73, and again in 1991.

The event continued each year as an irregular distance until 2009, when it changed into a measured 20-mile race from Portobello to North Berwick, continuing as such until 2017, after which it collapsed. In 2022 the famous race was successfully revived by Alan Lawson, best known for his 40+ years of staging the Seven Hills of Edinburgh event. He also managed to find the event’s (lost) trophy, below, which had originally been presented to the Scottish Marathon Club in 1960 by North Berwick Town Council.

 

Three of the finest: Adrian Stott, Donald Ritchie and Willie Sichel

Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km, 24^th March 2019.

The Scottish Athletics website reported as follows.

“On a chilly, but mainly sunny, early spring day, with a strong breeze at times, the runners ran 42 laps of 2.38 km on the North Inch Park by the banks of the River Tay.

In the accompanying 50K event Paulo Natali ran an excellent 3.02.14 in the challenging breezy conditions, with Kerry-Liam Wilson of Cambuslang taking second place in 3.13.45.

The popular Scot thus claimed the Scottish 50K title to add to his many other Scottish championship medals.

Andrew White of Greenock Glenpark took third and second place in the Scottish championship in 3.14 .51. David Tamburini of Inverclyde in fifth took third in the Scottish championships.”

K-L wrote that he couldn’t have asked for more from his debut at the Ultra distance (or venture to the ‘darkside’). He was delighted to be a double Scottish Athletics Champion, winning both Senior and Masters 50K titles.

This excellent result by a current Masters athlete, who is closer to 50 years of age than 45, started me wondering about Scots who were successful in long-gone road events like: the Two Bridges 36; the Edinburgh to Glasgow 44 (or 50); the Speyside Way 50km trail race; and the current Scottish 100km and 50km championships. I decided to add the annual Anglo-Celtic Plate International 100km race, which has often been held in Scotland.

Many names must be mentioned; several (especially those active before 1990, have profiles in the Who’s Who section of scottishdistancerunninghistory.scot). On that website, at the foot of the home page, click on ‘The Ultra Marathons’ for more on the Two Bridges, the Edinburgh to Glasgow individual race, and the Speyside Way race.

THE EDINBURGH TO GLASGOW ULTRA-MARATHON (44 MILES)

Gordon Eadie (Cambuslang), who in 1960 had become Scottish Marathon champion, won the E to G three times: in 1963 (37 minutes clear of second place, in a new record 4:51:17, against heavy rain and strong winds); 1964; and 1966 (new record 4:41:27). Gordon was an excellent third in the 1965 London to Brighton; and next year gained revenge on Bernard Gomersall, (who had won the 1965 L to B). Gordon finished more than nine minutes ahead on July 23^rd 1966 when victorious in the Liverpool to Blackpool 48 and a half miles race, recording 5.00.22. The award for Scottish Road Runner of the year was the Donald McNab Robertson Memorial Trophy. Gordon had received it in 1960. In 1966 he regained the Scottish Marathon Club championship, for a number of road race successes, culminating in the E to G and Liverpool to Blackpool victories. Jim Alder had won the Commonwealth Games Marathon in Jamaica, and Alder and Eadie were both considered for the Robertson Trophy. Gordon Eadie was selected as the recipient for this honour by five votes to four. Jim Alder was made a Life Member of the SMC, an organisation which achieved a great amount for post-World War Two Scottish distance running.

Andy Fleming (Cambuslang) was second in the very first E to G in 1961; and won the event in 1965 (team-mate Willie Kelly was fourth, so Cambuslang also secured the team trophy). Andy was fourth in the 1965 London to Brighton.

Hugh Mitchell (Shettleston H), twice (1964 and 1969) silver-medallist in the Scottish Marathon, won the E to G in 1967 and 1968 (when he set a new record of 4:39:52); and finished second in 1969. In the Two Bridges 36, Hugh was second in 1968 and third in 1969. Shettleston Harriers (Mitchell and J Macdonald 4^th) won the team prize in 1968. (Scottish Veteran Harriers Club readers should note that Hugh finished second in the very first SVHC cross country championships in 1971, and was second in 1972.)

Bill Stoddart (Greenock Wellpark H) was second in the 1968 E to G. In 1969, as reigning Scottish marathon champion, he won the E to G, breaking the course record with 4:36:13. Bill and D Anderson (7^th), won the team prize. Bill Stoddart finished first again in 1970, but Shettleston (Willie Russell 3^rd and J McNeill 5^th won the team award on countback from Wellpark (Stoddart and George King 7^th). In 1972, Bill Stoddart won the second SVHC cross-country championships and went on to be an outstanding World Champion veteran athlete.

Alex Wight (Edinburgh AC), intending to attempt only a long training run, managed to win the 1971 E to G event. Team-mate John Gray was sixth so EAC won the team award. Alex went on to win the Two Bridges 36 in 1971, and won again in 1972, breaking the record with 3:24:07. He and his brother Jim (second), plus Jimmy Milne (9^th) won the team prize.

Jimmy Milne (EAC) won the 1972 E to G. This was, apparently, the 12th and last of the event series. He also contributed to EAC winning the 1972 Two Bridges team award.

Donald Ritchie (Aberdeen AAC) was an easy winner in the one-off 1984 E to G, which now started at Meadowbank Stadium, with the overall distance increased to 50 miles. Don’s finishing time was 5 hours three minutes 44 seconds, which was relatively faster than the record for 44 miles. Donald’s team mate Colin Youngson was third, behind EAC’s Dave Taylor, so Aberdeen won the team award. Back in 1977, quite early in his wonderful ultra-distance career, Donald (Forres Harriers) finished second in the Two Bridges 36, a race which he won in 1983, 1986 and 1990.

Don Ritchie and Cavin Woodward in the Two Bridges Road Race

THE TWO BRIDGES 36 MILES RACE.

The first Two Bridges took place in August 1968, and the victor was Don Turner, an Englishman who ran for Epsom and Ewell, but for Pitreavie AAC when he lived in Scotland between 1959 and 1964. Don had been a close second in the 1962 London to Brighton 52 miles race. He finished third in the 1968 Scottish Marathon championship; and later became President of the prestigious Road Runners Club.

In 1969, Alastair Wood (Aberdeen AAC) became the first Native Scot to win the Two Bridges 36, in the record time of 3:27:28. Then he broke the World 40 Miles Track Record. Three years later, in the 2B, Alastair was a minute ahead of the field when a marshal went missing, sending the leader off course, so he finished third behind the Wight brothers – Alex won, with Jim second. However, two months later, Alastair Wood won, and smashed the record, in the famous London to Brighton 52 miles road race. A year later he was second in the South African Two Oceans (Indian to Atlantic) 35 miles event near Cape Town.

Jim Wight (Edinburgh AC) was second in the 1969 Two Bridges; second again in 1972; and won the race in 1974. He ran for Scotland in cross-country and the 1974 Commonwealth Games marathon.

Donald/Don Ritchie (Forres Harriers) won the Two Bridges in 1983, 1986 and 1990.

In 1991, Andy Stirling (Bo’ness Road Runners) finished first in the Two Bridges. Later that year, he represented Scotland in the Home International 100km race near Edinburgh. Andy won the 2B again in 1993.

Peter Baxter (Pitreavie AAC) won the Two Bridges in 1992 and, along with clubmate Kenny (or Archie) Duncan, who was second, and Paul Swan (7^th), the team title.

Colin Hutt (Bo’ness Road Runners) achieved Two Bridges victory in 1997; and finished first again in 2000.  

Simon Pride (Keith and District AAC) won the Two Bridges with ease in 1998. In May 1999, running for GB, he triumphed in the World 100km road championship, with a superb UK best road time of 6:24:05. He was Scottish Marathon champion four times.

Alan Reid (Peterhead AC) won the Two Bridges in 1999. His finest ultra-running achievements include: Gold (2001), silver and bronze medals in the British 100km Road Championships, the Scottish 50km title in 1999 and 2000 and winning the Barry 40 miles track race in 2001.

A number of Scots finished a meritorious second in the Two Bridges, which for more than 30 years was Scotland’s premier ultra and frequently attracted international opposition. They were: Hugh Mitchell (1968); Jim Wight (1969 and 1972); Willie Russell (1970 – a year later, he won the very first SVHC cross-country championships); Rab Heron (Aberdeen AAC) in 1974, plus the team award (with Alastair Wood 3^rd and Don Ritchie 5th), then (for Brighton and Hove AC) in 1978, 1979 and 1980. Rab was also second in the 1977 London to Brighton; Colin Youngson in 1975; Don Ritchie in 1977, 1984 and 1991; Kenny (or Archie) Duncan in 1992; Allan Stewart (Moray Road Runners) in 1997; Peter Morrison (Fife AC) in 2000; and Stevie Ogg (Carnegie Harriers) in 2002.

The only Two Bridges Scottish team win, which has not been mentioned above, was by Fife AC (Ian (or Sam) Graves, Dave Francis and Ian Mitchell) in 1983.

Trudi Thomson (Pitreavie AAC), such a versatile runner, won the 2B Women’s race three times and held the course record. Her finest ultra-distance performance, running for GB, was a silver medal in the World 100km road championships in 1994, by Lake Saroma in Japan. Her time of 7 hours 42 minutes and 17 seconds still stands as the Scottish record and third on the UK all-time list. In 1999, running for Scottish Masters, she won the W40 British and Irish International Masters cross-country championship. In 1992 and 2001 she won the Scottish Marathon.

THE SPEYSIDE WAY 50KM TRAIL RACE

Simon Pride

This was held, in April, 11 times between 1994 and 2005. The route followed the Speyside Way from Ballindalloch to Spey Bay. To accomplish the full distance a deviation of approximately 5km commenced on the descent from the forest track off Ben Aigen, to the east of Boat O’Brig. The track from Bridgeton Farm was taken to the right, onto the B9103, past the Distillery, and then next left onto a road through the Moss of Cairnty. The Speyside Way was resumed on the Ordiequish road. After skirting round Fochabers, the final stretch was a track by the river Spey to the Moray coast at Spey Bay. Altogether a safe and very scenic route. The event was devised and organised by Donald Ritchie, with considerable assistance from volunteers.

Simon Pride (Keith and District) AAC won the race an incredible seven times, usually as preparation for British, European or World ultra-distance performances for GB. His course record time, in 1997, was 2 hours 59 minutes 54 seconds.

The M45 record (3.26.54) was set in 2000 by British 100km champion and World Masters ultra-marathon age-group record-breaker William Sichel from Orkney, representing Moray Road Runners. However, this was a little slower than Don Ritchie’s M50 mark of 3.26.25. Another M50, Charlie Noble of Peterhead AC, the Scottish 100km champion, recorded 3.26.44 in 2002. Don Ritchie set the M55 mark (3.43.32) in 2000. The Women’s record was 3.31.59, set in 1999 by regular GB International ultra-runner Carolyn Hunter-Rowe, a World and European 100km champion.

Other Scottish winners were: Fraser Clyne (Metro Aberdeen RC) in 1994, setting an inaugural course record of 3.02.03. (Fraser was Scottish Marathon champion five times and a frequent GB International); Peter Baxter (Pitreavie AAC) in 1995; Alan Reid (Peterhead AAC) in 2000; and Carl Pryce (Cosmic Hillbashers) in 2005. Scots who won the Women’s race were: Helen Diamantides (Westerlands AC) in 1997; and Kate Jenkins (Carnethy HRC), usually accompanied by her spaniel, in 2000, 2002 and 2004. Kate won the Scottish Marathon four times.

Scottish second-placers included: Alan Reid (1994); Andy Farquharson (Inverness H – a GB ultra-marathon international) 1995; Robert Brown (HBT) 1996; Allan Stewart (MRR) in 1997 and 1998 – he ran for Scotland in the 100km Anglo-Celtic Plate; Steve Reeve (MRR) 1999; William Sichel (2000); Ian Lewis (Shettleston H) 2002; Nigel Holl (Stirling) in 2003 and second-equal in 2004; and Ritchie McCrae (Penicuik H) in 2005.

SCOTTISH 50KM CHAMPIONSHIPS

(Results online are incomplete)

The most prolific winner was Terry Mitchell (Fife AC) who won the first event from Simon Pride in 1996, setting a record (3.02.27) which lasted 20 years. Terry also won in 1998, 2001 and 2002. Terry was second in 2007. He won the Scottish Marathon twice (1987 and 1991).

Peter Morrison (FMC Carnegie H) finished second in 1997.

Alan Reid was champion in 1999 (in front of Clyde Marwick of Shettleston H); and 2000.

In 2004, Jamie Reid (Ronhill Cambuslang H) won from Andreas Merdes (Lothian). Jamie was Scottish Marathon champion in 2002, 2003 and 2007.

Andy Farquharson was second in 2005.

In 2009, David Gardiner of Kirkintilloch Olympians was second.

Marcus Scotney, an Englishman from Dumfries RC, won in 2010, from Roger Van Gompel of Dundee Hawkhill H.

In 2010, Cambuslang’s John Brown won from Gavin Harvie of Kirkintilloch Olympians.

Dr Andrew Murray, the Edinburgh doctor who has run very long-distance routes filmed for TV) finished second in 2013.

Ross Houston (EAC) created a new record (2.56.37) in 2016, from Mark Pollard of Inverclyde. Ross was Scottish Marathon champion in 2011 and 2012; and represented Scotland in the 2014 Commonwealth Games marathon.

Women’s Champions include the following.

1996 – Isobel Clark (Arbroath Footers). She also ran 100k for Scotland in 1996..

1997, 1998, 1999 and 2002 – Carol Cadger (Perth Strathtay Harriers). Carol won Scottish Marathon silver medals twice (2000 and 2001).

2001 – Avril Dudek (Perth Strathtay H)

2003 – Lynne Kuz (Carnegie H) 

2004 – Debbie Cox (City of Glasgow)

2005, 2006 and 2010 – Elaine Calder (Strathaven Striders). Elaine won Scottish Marathon silver medals in 2002 and 2004.

2007 and 2011 – Kate Jenkins (Gala Harriers/Carnethy HRC). Kate won four Scottish Marathon titles: 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2007.

2009 – Isobel Knox (HBT) in a record time of 3.55.21

2019 – Angela Howe (Fife AC)

SCOTTISH 100KM CHAMPIONSHIPS

For some reason, results online are even more incomplete

1992 was the first Scottish title that the legendary Donald Ritchie ever won! Aged 48, he recorded a fine time of 7.01.27, with Ian Mitchell (FMC Carnegie) second. N.B. Donald Ritchie has been inducted into the Scottish Athletics Hall of Fame.

In 2010 Grant Jeans (unatt) won from Dave Gardiner of Kirkintilloch Olympians. Grant was a confident 26 year old from Elgin – a boxing enthusiast who worked as a journalist and part-time postman in Glasgow. He was first Scot to finish in the 2010 Anglo-Celtic Plate 100k; contributed towards Scottish team victory in the 2011 Plate; and won the Welsh classic ultra (Barry 40 Mile Track Race) in 2012 and also 2015.

2011 brought victory to Craig Stewart (Forfar RR), who also won the Anglo-Celtic Plate International race in 7.01.36.

In 2016, Rob Turner (EAC) won the Scottish title.

2019 was when Rob Turner finished second in the Anglo-Celtic Plate (which he had won in 2018) but secured the Scottish title in both years. In 2019 Kyle Greig (Metro Aberdeen and Forres Harriers), the Scottish Ultra-Trail Champion, was second in the Scottish 100km.

ANGLO-CELTIC PLATE 100KM INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

This annual 5 Nations event has almost complete online results

Many Scottish ultra-marathoners, male and female, ran very well in this annual Four Home Countries (plus Ireland) International contest.

FIRST SCOTS HOME (and Scottish 100km Champions)

1995 – William Sichel third.

1996 – Don Ritchie second; Kate Todd (Kilmarnock) second. Kate had been second in the 1993 Scottish Marathon.

1997 – Simon Pride second; Kate Todd second again.

1998 – William Sichel second.

1999 – William Sichel fourth; Carol Cadger fourth. (She ran ultras for Scotland three times)

2000 – Alan Reid second; Carol Cadger third.

2001 – Alan Reid won, and became UK champion.

2002 – John McLaughlin (Springburn H) third; Lynne Kuz fourth.

2003 – Clyde Marwick (Shettleston H) 5^th; Lynne Kuz third.

2004 – Andreas Merdes (Lothian AC) 4^th; Debbie Cox (City of Glasgow) third. She ran ultras for Scotland five times.

2005 – Les Hill (Dumfries RC) eighth; Debbie Cox sixth.

2006 – Les Hill eighth; Debbie Cox third.

2007 – Paul Hart (Dumfries RC) fifth; Anglo-Scot Sandra Bowers (Winchester) second. She ran ultras for Scotland five times.

2008 – Paul Hart seventh; Sandra Bowers second.

2009 – Andy Rankin eighth; Sandra Bowers fourth.

2010 – Grant Jeans sixth; Nathalie Christie (EAC) second; Gail Murdoch (Carnegie) third. The Scottish Women’s team won. 

2011 – Craig Stewart (Forfar RR) first; Gail Murdoch seventh. She ran ultras for Scotland five times.

Scotland won the Men’s Team Title: Stewart first, Grant Jeans fifth, David Gardiner (Kirkintilloch Olympians) eighth.

2012 – Thomas Loehndorf (Greenock Glenpark H) fourth (and Scottish Champion); Isobel Knox (HBT) fourth (and Scottish Champion). She ran ultras for Scotland six times.

2013 – Donnie Campbell (Glasgow) third (and Scottish Champion); Charlotte Black (Shetland AAC) fourth (and Scottish Champion).

Scotland won the Men’s Team Title: Campbell third, Marco Consani (Garscube H) fifth, Paul Giblin (Paisley) seventh.

2014 – Paul Giblin third; Rosie Bell (Strathaven Striders) sixth. She ran ultras for Scotland three times.

2015 – Ross Houston (Central AC) first (and UK Champion) in a record event time of 6.43.35; Rosie Bell second – and won the Women’s Team Title with Charlotte Black fourth.

2016 – Rob Turner (EAC) third (and Scottish Champion); Sophie Mullins (Fife AC) third (and Scottish Champion).

2017 – David McLure (Johnny Walker Kilmarnock Harriers) third (and Scottish Champion); Rosie Bell fifth (and Scottish Champion).

2018 – Rob Turner first (Scottish and UK Champion); Scotland won the Men’s Team Title: Turner first, David McLure fourth, Dave Ward (HBT) fifth.

2019 – Rob Turner second in the UK championship (and won the Scottish). His team-mate Kyle Greig (Metro Aberdeen and Forres Harriers – the Scottish Ultra-Trail Champion), was third in the UK championship and second in the Scottish.

                                        Left to right: Rob Turner, Kyle Greig, Charlie Harpur (England), who won the British title.

Sophie Mullins (Fife AC) became the very first Scottish woman to win the Anglo-Celtic Plate (along with UK and Scottish titles). 

                                                                                        Sophie Mullins

The Scottish women were clear winners of the team competition ahead of England and Northern Ireland & Ulster. (Sophie Mullins, Morgan Windram [Fife AC] 2nd, Jo Murphy [Carnegie H) 3rd and Lynne Allen [Kirkintilloch Olympians] 4th.)

Turner and Mullins in claiming the Scottish titles also became the first winners of the Don Ritchie Trophies. The two cups were awarded to celebrate the pioneering ultra distance exploits of the legendary Scot who passed away last year and on Sunday were presented by Isobel Ritchie, Don’s wife.

(N.B. Pauline Walker (Carnegie Harriers) ran ultras for Scotland six times.)

 

ANGLO-CELTIC PLATE 2021  REPORT

The Mondello motor race track, in Co Kildare just west of Dublin, was the venue for the Anglo-Celtic Plate, the annual Home Countries 100k International on Saturday 22 August 2021.

And it was to become a field of dreams for our Scottish ultra-runners – and a very special venue in the history of Metro Aberdeen Running Club in particular.

The event was preceded with a short tribute and a moment’s silence and spontaneous applause in memory of Norman Wilson, a key figure in the Anglo-Celtic Plate organisation and in ultra-running in Great Britain over many years.

Chris Richardson, Jason Kelly and Kyle Greig all members of Metro Aberdeen took a clean sweep of the medals and with it the men’s Anglo-Celtic Plate for Scotland.

The three North East based runners along with Rob Turner (Musselburgh) held back off the early pace sticking to their own schedules.

When the early leaders eventually faded it was Kelly who took the lead at 70km with Richardson moving into second. Greig was well placed in seventh at that stage.

From 80-90 km the two Aberdeen runners traded the lead until 95 km when Kelly, suffering from cramps, fell behind. Richardson went on to take the win in 7:00:49, with Kelly hanging on for 2nd in 7:05:15.

Both were running their first 100 km races and their times take them to 7th and 9th respectively in the Men’s Scottish all-time lists.

The more experienced Kyle Greig had a really strong last 20k to move up the field and clinch third in 7:07:07.

Even with the absence of teams from England, who earlier in the summer, made the decision not to send any teams outside the UK for the summer, it was a memorable and worthy Scotland 1-2-3 securing them the Men’s Plate comfortably from Ireland.

Chris said: ‘All four of us had plans to aim for sub seven hours. It was very humid though, and the thunderstorm around five hours in made things interesting for a while.

‘Jason and I really helped push each other the last couple of hours. Although I really faded those last few laps just missing the seven hours, I was really happy to take the win and also help us land the Plate for Scotland.’

In the women’s race Irish Marathon International Catriona Jennings, led from the start with England’s experienced Sam Amend in pursuit. Amend had made the trip as an individual, to compete in the open race.

Jo Murphy, currently without a club, and who always seems to have a smile on her face, ran her own race some way back.

When Amend faded slightly around 40-45 miles, the Fife-based athlete moved up to second and with a sub eight-hour performance now looking likely, powered on, even making inroads into Jennings lead.

Jennings held her own form well though to record an excellent 7:43:01. Her time bettering Helen Crossan’s 7:52:45 from 2007.

Murphy, improving her time from Perth in 2019 by over 30 minutes, recorded an excellent 7:50:58.

This moves her to fourth in the women’s Scottish all-time list with only World 100k championship medallists Ellie Greenwood, Jo Zakrzewski and Trudi Thompson ahead of her.

She was backed up by debutantes Nikki Gibson (EAC) 8:44:46, now 13th female on the Scottish all-time list and Alison McGill (Fife AC) who despite having a challenging race, hung in well to help finish a team in 9:33:35.

The Ireland ladies team won the women’s Anglo Celtic Plate for the first time in a close contest, with Scotland second.

Murphy said: ‘I can’t believe how well that went. It was certainly tough at times but everything fell into place for this one and wearing that Scotland vest just keeps you smiling.

‘The support and camaraderie from the whole team was awesome.’

The race also doubled as the Scottish 100k championships and the Don Ritchie trophies, which honour Scotland’s greatest ultra-runner. These are now awarded annually to the Scottish Champions and were won by Murphy and Richardson.

With thanks to Adrian Stott and Debbie Martin-Consani

 

Note that Adrian Stott’s ‘History and all-time results for Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km Event’, is available to download online. Many Scottish ultra-marathoners, male and female, ran very well in this annual Home Countries International contest.

(N.B, Adrian Tarit Stott (Sri Chinmoy AC) is based in Edinburgh, and has competed for Great Britain in World and European 24 hour Championships, has done an incredible amount for Scottish and British Ultra-Distance Running. He has run the West Highland Way race 15 times, which equals the record. (Do go to West Highland Way Race History to discover a great website, featuring many top Scottish ultra trail racers). In 2018, Adrian was presented with the Tom Stillie Award, which is given to the person who has contributed the most to Scottish Athletics each year.)

 

 

When, in late November 1991, Kay Dodson was elected as President of the Scottish Veteran Harriers Club, she wrote the following:

“I am very proud to have been elected President of the Club this year and I’m sure that we shall go on from strength to strength. I look forward to meeting many clubmates, old and new, at our events. Good luck and best wishes to everyone.”

As will become clear from her well-written self-profile below, Kay is a talented person and a runner who has experienced fully and successfully so many aspects of our sport. Her love of exercising in the outdoors shines through!

QUESTIONNAIRE (for SVHC Newsletter)

NAME                        Kay Dodson

CLUBs                                   Law and District AAC, SVHC, RRC, Carnethy Hill Runners

DATE OF BIRTH      23/12/1946

OCCUPATION                     Biochemistry Lecturer, latterly College Vice Principal, Retired 2006

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE SPORT?  I started from a background of playing various sports including lacrosse (played lacrosse for St Andrew’s University, 1965 to 1969), tennis, squash and a love of hill walking from school days, through university to the present day. I started running in 1983 in order to keep fit for the hills as I wasn’t getting out much at this time as we had a young family. Brian and I started running in April 1983 and ran the Glasgow Marathon together in September, 1983 in 3 hours 46 mins. I was soon hooked on running for its own sake and never looked back.

HAS ANY INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP HAD A MARKED INFLUENCE ON YOUR ATTITUDE OR INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE?  Joining SVHC early in my running career had a huge influence. Walter Ross was very supportive as were David Morrison, Tom O’Reilly and others too numerous to mention. One member, whose name I can’t actually remember, used to phone me nearly every day with training tips and to ask how my training was going. I was inspired by Dale Greig who overcame prejudice and discrimination to put Scottish women’s distance running on the athletics map. She was an amazing woman. 

WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU GET OUT OF THE SPORT?  When I was training and running regularly, I loved to feel fit and to feel that distance was no object. It was rewarding to win races and brought a feeling of confidence to so many aspect of my life. Also, it was a great way of relaxing after a sometimes stressful day at work, and I must admit to being one of those people who became addicted (in a positive way) to the runners ‘high’. Incidentally, at 73, I am still addicted.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST EVER PERFORMANCE OR PERFORMANCES?

At shorter distances my best times were:

10k                              Glasgow, March 1986, 38min 36sec

10 miles                     Tom Scott, April 1986, 61min 58sec

1/2 Marathon            Irvine Valley, May 1987, 1 hr 24 min 14 sec

Marathon                   Glasgow, September 1986, 3hr 3 min 28 sec.

However, three ‘ultra’ races stand out as my really best performances and it’s difficult to decide which I feel was my best:

The West Highland Way Race (95 miles) in 1989. I finished 1st woman, 13^th overall in 21 hours 24 mins.

The South Downs Way Race (World Trail Championship, 80 miles) in 1992. I finished first W45 in 16 hours 03 mins.

Brechin 24 hour Race 1991. I ran 117 miles 1080 yds, was 1st woman, 3^rd overall, setting a Scottish Women’s All Comers Record for 24 hours on the road (it was strictly speaking a road race as it was round a park, not on a track.)

If I had to choose one, it would be my run at Brechin.

YOUR WORST?      Manx Mountain Marathon (30 miles), April 1990 I was very ill equipped for what turned out to be a dreadful day with a bitterly cold blizzard and very strong winds blowing from the Irish Sea. I should have known better and worn more clothing. I have never been so cold and wet and I dropped out after about 15 miles. I was very annoyed with myself for being so ill prepared.

WHAT UNFULFILLED AMBITIONS DO YOU HAVE?

I now wish that I had continued to train to try to run a sub 3 hr marathon. I probably should have modified my training to include more speed work. 

I also wish that I had carried on with 24 hour racing as I feel that I could have run well over 120 miles on a good day. Unfortunately, in the late 1990s, faced with a dreaded College restructuring, I took on a stressful job in senior management rather than face redundancy and I let the job become too big a part of my life. From then on, I just ran purely for pleasure and fitness without the extra stress of keeping up with training and racing. In fact I really enjoyed, and still do enjoy, the freedom of running purely for fun with no pressure of races.

OTHER LEISURE ACTIVITIES?  Brian and I have cross country skied for many years, having completed the Grand Traverse of the Jura (France and Switzerland) and skied in Norway Finland and Austria. We also have done quite a bit of kayaking in Scotland.  Hill walking has always been very important in our lives. We have done many long walks in the Alps and the Pyrenees, have climbed Kilimanjaro ( 5895m) and  Kinabalu (4095), and trekked to Everest base camp (5300m). However, for me nowhere in the world compares to the Scottish hills.  We have climbed all the Donalds and Donald tops, virtually all the Munros, most of the Corbetts and are now working our way through the Grahams (less descent for arthritic knees). We have visited some of the most remote corners of Scotland and I feel very lucky to have spent most of my life in such a beautiful country. Since we retired, we have enjoyed travel and have visited many parts of the world from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from Australasia to Canada and to many other countries in between. When we are at home, we both love gardening and grow a lot of our own vegetables and soft fruit. We are lucky that we both have the same interests to share and both remain fit and healthy.

WHAT DOES RUNNING BRING YOU THAT YOU WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO MISS?     Fitness that has lasted me into my eighth decade, meeting some amazing ‘real’ and like-minded people,  a sense of achievement that I don’t think I would have got from any other sport, wonderful memories and experiences, but perhaps importantly, getting to know myself and pushing back the boundaries of what my body and mind is capable of. Also, I wouldn’t want to miss turning up for the SVHC Christmas handicap each year and meeting up with old friends.

CAN YOU GIVE SOME DETAILS OF YOUR TRAINING? When I first started running, I was soon training to improve my marathon time.  I followed Bruce Tulloh’s training schedules building up to 70 miles a week and tapering off for races. My weekly schedule included a long run up to about 20 miles, a medium long run of about 13 miles, an interval session or less structured fartlek session, hill reps, a short fast run of about 5 miles and a couple of recovery days of short, untimed runs. I possibly did too much too soon, though I have never had any injuries other that the occasional niggle. My mentors at the ‘vets’ used to tell me that I probably left my best runs in training.  I think they were right but I just loved running.

When I started running ultras, my training changed completely.  I did very little real training during the week other than a few easy runs but I made up for this at the weekends.  We would make a quick getaway when we finished work on Friday afternoons (we both worked at the same college) and set off up north for a weekend’s running. We frequently did ‘back to back’ 40 milers on Saturday and Sunday often in the Cairngorms and also in the Western Highlands.  I look back on these runs as some of the most enjoyable times I have ever had. Some notable examples were running the Lairig an Laoigh and the Lairig Ghru (35 miles) in a day and on another day, running a circuit of all the 4000 footers in the Cairngorms. We also had some great long runs in Glen Affric and the Great Wilderness. and in the far North. How good it felt to be fit!

                                                                                         Kay on the way to winning the 1985 Motherwell Marathon

A brief running history – Kay Dodson

A friend had run the Glasgow marathon in 1982 and when Brian and I started running, he suggested we should try the 1983 Glasgow marathon. After I finished this first marathon comfortably, I began to train seriously with a view to improving my marathon time. After a good winter’s training in 1983/84, I ran the Dundee marathon in April 1984 in 3 hours 26 mins and three weeks later, ran the Motherwell marathon in 3 hours 25 mins and was very surprised to win the women’s race. By then I had joined the SVHC and was turning up regularly for the numerous races on the ‘vets’ calendar.  In August 1984, I ran 3 hrs 18 mins at the Inverclyde marathon, taking 2^nd place in the women’s race. In September, I ran 3hrs 16 mins in Glasgow so it began to look as if my training seemed to be working. Then I embarked on a serious winter training schedule and, in April 1985, I ran the Lochaber marathon in 3 hrs 8 mins, winning the women’s race. As well as taking the 1^st woman prize, two other things still stick in my memory about that day: someone wiping the snow off the 20 mile marker; and meeting the legendary Eddie Campbell running in his ‘Green Flash’ plimsoles. ‘Why would anyone want to buy expensive running shoes?’  Eddie asked me ‘when they can run in their plimsoles!’ I followed my win at Lochaber by winning the women’s race for a second time in the 1985 Motherwell marathon in 3 hrs 11 min. It was becoming a habit and beginning to look as if improvement just required consistent training.  In August, I ran the 1985 Inverclyde marathon which that year was the Scottish vets championship.  I finished in 3 hrs 8 mins, placing 2^nd in the women’s race and winning the vets championship.  In September, I ran the Glasgow marathon in 3hrs 4 mins and began to feel that sub 3 hours was within my grasp.

I ran a number of half marathons during the autumn of 1985, and was placed either 1st woman or first vet at most races. I ran my first hill race, the Tinto race, in November, finishing 1^st woman. However, hill running never became my favourite event. Over the years, I ran the Ben Lomond race, The Carnethy Five several times, the Greenmantle Dash and although I was usually well up in the pack at the top of the hill, I was never brave enough to fly downhill. My best race on the hills came in 1988 when I won the vets championship at the Campsie Hill race.

I return now to the winter of 1985/86 winning the West District women’s vets cross country championship at Lanark racecourse and the National women’s vets cross country championship at Irvine. Having got an entry for the 1986 London Marathon in the elite women’s start, I began a serious winter training programme with a view to breaking 3 hours in London. As part of my build up, I ran a 10k in Glasgow in 38 min 36 sec, placing 2nd woman vet and four weeks later, ran the Tom Scott (10 miles) in 61min 58 secs placing 1^st woman vet. Then came the 1986 London marathon for which I felt well prepared. However, being in the elite start turned out to be a very bad thing. The start went off far too fast for me and as the veteran men started right behind the women, I found it impossible to keep to my own planned even pace. I really struggled towards the end and was very disappointed with my 3 hr 4 min finish. Four weeks later my spirits were lifted a little as I took my third consecutive win at the Motherwell marathon finishing in 3 hrs, 9 mins. So it was back to the drawing board in my quest for a sub 3 hour marathon.

Over the next 6 months, I continued to train hard and ran some good races. Notable events were placing first woman vet at the Dumfries half marathon in June and placing 3^rd in my age group at the Commonwealth vets 10k in Edinburgh in July. I had several other good runs in half marathons in the run up to the 1986 Glasgow Marathon in September. I felt well prepared, ran an even paced race but finished in a disappointing 3 hrs 3 mins to place 10th in the women’s race. I just didn’t seem to be able to run that few seconds a mile faster which was needed to break 3 hours.  I felt that I could run further but not faster. Three weeks later I ran the Dumfries marathon just for fun, surprising myself by winning the women’ s race in 3 hrs 11 mins in a spectacular sprint finish.  Now was the time to review my running career and perhaps to think of running distances beyond the marathon as I seemed to be suited to endurance rather than speed.

Over the next year or so, I took the pressure off my quest for a sub 3 hour marathon and enjoyed some good races across a range of distances from 10k to marathons. There are too many races to mention them all but I will just mention another Glasgow marathon in 1987, placing 8^th woman in 3hrs 7 mins, the challenging Snowdonia marathon in November 1987 and placing 1^st vet at the Lochaber marathon in April 1988.  I also ran SVHC championships where I had success winning the vets 10k championship in August 1987, the vets cross country championship in January 1988, the vets 10 mile championship at the Tom Scott in April 1988.

Some time in 1987, I had read an article in a Sunday newspaper about Bobby Shields and Duncan Watson running the West Highland Way and deciding to organise an annual race. The idea of running from the outskirts of the largest city in Scotland, by the shores of the largest loch to the foot of the highest mountain was a very attractive prospect so for better or worse, I entered the 1988 race. I had lots of miles in my legs and races under my belt so what could go wrong? I trained over the route and also much closer to home on the Southern Upland Way. It would just be a very long day in the hills and so it was. I very much enjoyed the experience and was pleased to finish in 23 hrs 9mins, placing third in the women’s race. My first taste of ultra-running was a success so I then began to think of the following year’s race and how I could get the time down.  I put in a lot of miles in preparation for the 1989 race running a number of half marathons, the 1998 Lochaber marathon, the White Peak marathon, where I finished 1^st vet. Other notable races in 1988/9 were taking part in the first BVAF cross country international held in Wales in November 1988 and even venturing onto the track at the SVHC indoor track championships at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, in February 1989. I would never have thought myself a track runner, and only entered to support the event but managed to finish 1^st in my age group in both the 1500m and 3000m!

By June 1989 I was ready for my second running of the West Highland Way race. I had decided that the best way to reduce my time was not to stop. In 1988, I had had some brief stops and realised that stopping wasted a lot of time and was unnecessary. Brian was my backup and we had a good system of Brian coming out to meet me at each checkpoint with food and drink. I then walked a little way whilst I ate and drank and then ran on, never stopping for the whole 95 miles. It worked well and I had a great run, finishing in 21 hrs 24 mins, 13^th overall, and winning the women’s race. I regard this as one of my best running performances. So what other ultra events could I tackle? The answer soon became clear when I found out about 24 hour racing from articles in the RRC magazine.  I learnt that there were several 24 hour races a year in the UK so I decided to aim for the Blackpool 24 hour race to be held in October 1990.

I decided on a gradual build up for the race and over the next year embarked on a schedule including the Two Bridges (36 miles) in August 1989, finishing 2^nd vet in 5 hrs 19min, the Bolton 40, finishing in 5hrs 57min and winning the women’s race, the London to Brighton (53 miles), finishing in 8 hrs 15min, 5^th woman. I also ran the Snowdonia marathon again in October 1989, the Lochaber marathon in April 1990, the Fellsman (60 miles and 11000’ over the Yorkshire fells) in May 1990, and the first Scottish 100k on the track at Livingstone in June 1990, finishing 10^th and first woman in 9hrs 51 mins.  It was at this race that I first met Don Ritchie having watched with amazement as he circled the track like a train to set a world age group (over 45) best. I now felt ready for my first 24 hour race and I was delighted to achieve 104 miles at Blackpool in 1990.

Twenty Four Hour races can become addictive and I ran several more over the next couple of years, my best performance being at Brechin in May 1991 when I ran 117 miles 1080 yds, finishing 3^rd overall, 1st woman, and setting a Scottish Women’s All Comers record for 24 hours on the road, probably my best ever performance. After Brechin, I ran the Bury 24 hour race in September1991 hoping to improve my distance a little but only managed 111 miles, finishing 5^th overall and winning the women’s race. More 24 hr races followed at Doncaster and Hull. There is little to interest the spectator at a 24 hour race but for the runner there is excitement every 6 hours when it is time to change direction! I am greatly indebted to Brian for being my very patient, efficient and sometimes persuasive back-up for all my ultra races. By September 1991, I had clocked up 20,000 miles in training and racing. Then I stopped counting.

So what is there to do after 24 hour racing? There are a great variety of other long runs and races all great fun and giving massive feelings of achievement.  I ran the South Downs Way race (80 miles), in June 1992 which was the World Trail Championship that year, in 16 hrs and 3 mins, winning the W 45 category.  I ran across Scotland from Bowling on the Clyde to Edinburgh, on the Forth and Clyde and Union Canal tow paths (63 miles in 10 hrs, 30 mins) with friends from the Carnethy Hill Running club and in 1996, I was a member of the Carnethy women’s relay team of five who set a record for running the 212 miles of the Southern Upland Way, East to West, in 35 hrs 51 mins. Another notable run with Carnethy friends was from Dalwhinnie to Fort William (45 miles) through the hills. For a number of years Brian and I ran the Darlington Dash, part of the Northern triangle race series, held in November. It was a different route every year, always about 40 miles and using ‘Wainwright style’ maps which were given out at the start. It was not always the fastest runners who won but those with the best map reading and navigation skills. Over the years, Brian and I have run many, many miles over and through the hills, and on long distance paths, in all parts of Scotland – a great life of running which still continues today, albeit in a more leisurely way.

When Kay was editor of the SVHC Newsletter, she contributed several interesting articles. Here are four.

October 1986

                                                                                   The Dumfries Marathon, 1986 – a Sprint Finish!

It was a fine, breezy day on Sunday, October 12th, 1986, when several of us, members of Law and District AC, travelled south to run in the Dumfries 800 Marathon, a celebration event to mark the Octocentenary of the town. It would perhaps be the only ever Dumfries Marathon so I wanted to take part even though I had run the Glasgow marathon 3 weeks previously, finishing 10th woman in 3.03, and just failing yet again to break the 3 hour barrier.

I was still disappointed with my Glasgow run and had no great expectations in Dumfries, my 13th marathon, other than to enjoy a run around the pleasant Dumfriesshire countryside. I knew that there were another couple of women running who would be strong competitors, Carolyn Brown of Dumfries Running Club and Kate Todd of Loudoun Road Runners but I decided just to run my own race. It was all going quite smoothly until the 25 mile mark when someone in the crowd shouted to me that the first lady was only a short distance ahead. So that was it. I had to make a bit of an effort. I suppose the adrenaline must have kicked in and I put on a bit of a spurt but not too much too soon as I couldn’t risk cramp at this stage.  And then, with just a few hundred yards to go, I saw her. It was Carolyn, just 50 yds ahead. Then it all came back to me – the good advice given to me by the legendary David Morrison who mentored me when I first joined the ‘vets’ – how to pass rivals effectively – “get up to them, collect yourself, then GO and never look back and once you have gone you can’t slow down just KEEP GOING no matter how bad you feel”. So, with David’s words ringing in my ears, I did go and I didn’t look back and I did feel bad. There was doubt in my mind. Did David really think I could do this in the last few hundred yards of a marathon? Well, I would soon find out and I wouldn’t let him down. I hung on and there was the finish line. I had won the women’s race. It was a slow 3 h 11 mins, well outside my PB, with Carolyn finishing just seconds behind me and, unbeknown to me, Kate Todd was finishing strongly less than a minute behind Carolyn, 70 seconds separating the first three women according to the official record. I never expected to have to finish a marathon with a sprint finish but I had done it! It was my fifth marathon win.

I was delighted to find that David Fairweather had placed second in the race, and first vet, clocking 2 h 28 min, after an equally dramatic battle with eventual winner, Dave Wilson of Wallasey.  The next surprise was that our team from Law and District AC were awarded the team prize, with David Fairweather, Ian Donnelly who finished 24th in 2 h 55 min and myself counting for the team. However, that was not the end of the drama. A complaint was made to the organisers by a well-known Central Belt club which shall remain nameless. The complaint was that a team containing a WOMAN wasn’t allowed to win the team prize! I thought that this was a bit silly as surely if a team of 3 men couldn’t beat a team of two men and a woman they didn’t really deserve to win the prize. I think the organisers must also have thought that it was a bit silly as, after some discussion, the complaint was dismissed and we retained our team prize. I suspect that the organisers had actually broken some SAAA rule in awarding us the prize but rules are made to be broken. I have always remembered the words of Walter Ross, one of our SVHC founding fathers, who once said to me “with running as with everything in life, let’s not take ourselves too seriously. Running is for fun and, at the end of the day, we are all fun runners.”

Kay Dodson

March 1988

November1988

July 1989

 

 

What it says: some more results – sent to us by John MacKay – for comparison with those on the main Nigel Barge Race page.

1959

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1962

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1984

This page started as a birthday card for the club on their 90th anniversary on 4th April 2020 and has been slightly altered and added to as an addition to the club page on the website.     

NEW GLASGOW CLUB FORMED

At a meeting in the Unionist Rooms, Partick, a new club was formed under the title Victoria Park AAC.   A constitution and rules were adopted, and the following office-bearers appointed:-   Hon President  Jas K Crawford;   President: Peter Morrison;   Vice-president; R Johnstone;   Treasurer:  Jas Totten;   Secretary: D McKenzie;   Captain: DK Thomson;   Vice-captain: KA Smith;   Application is to be made to the SAAA for membership.

Glasgow Herald, 7th April, 1930

Scotstoun as most of us remember it.   It was a very attractive venue altogether with a good track, well maintained and, almost as important, the outer perimeter that was used for training sessions, for warm ups and, in the very beginning, as part of the annual cross-country race trail.   

SS Beattie: The club’s first SAAA Champion and record holder

Sam Beattie was  Victoria Park’s most successful track athlete of the 1930’s winning his first track title, the 100 yards, in 1939.   He also won the club’s first field events titles too with gold in the long jump in 1936, ’37 and ’38, and also in the Triple Jump in 1937  and ’38.   There were also silvers in the 100 yards, Broad Jump and Triple Jump.    Read about him here

This photograph, taken in April 1950 at Mountblow Recreation Ground in Dalmuir, was sent by Craig Rayment whose father Albert Charles Rayment is on the right in the front row.   Label from the back is below.

He was not the last sprinter to be produced by the club: the squad from the 1950’s was quite outstanding and was as good as, if not better than any similar squad in the land at any time.   Some pictures below.

Willie Jack

Bobby Quinn

Mike Hildrey

You can read all about these sprinters and several others from Willie McFarlane’s groups that totally dominated Scottish sprinting in the 1950’s and early 60’s at   this link .   The championships and trophies won by this group has probably never been equalled by any club in s similar time span.    If you are interested in Victoria Park, or just Scottish sprinting, you really should look at this.

The 50’s were not just a period when the club dominated the sprints – their middle distance and particularly long distance runners were quite outstanding.   Their top man joined the club and ran with some success in the 1930’s but really came good after the war – I’m talking about Andy Forbes, pictured below.

An inspiration to many all over Scotland he went on to be a very good runner as a veteran: read about his wonderful career  at  this link .

Victoria Park  became the first club outside England to win the team title after a close race the Scottish team came out on top with some good packing. Silver medals went to Bolton United Harriers and bronze to Manchester A. and C.C.   The names above are all Victoria Park legends and some are national legends – Names like Ian Binnie, John McLaren, Andy Forbes, Alex Breckenridge are all known outside Scotland.   For individual profiles, click on the name of your chosen athlete.

The sprinters won many a medley and 4 x 440 yards title because of the quality of the club’s top middle distance runners.    

Hugh Barrow leading the great Gaston Roelants

The top middle distance runner in the club in the 60’s was the talented Hugh Barrow – the only Scottish miler ever to hold a world record.   Some of Hugh’s honours:

* Scotland and SAAA teams in many forms from 1962 to 1971

* Rest of Britain v England Indoors 1963   * Rest of Britain v Olympic Team 1964

* GB 1967   World Mile Record Holder at 16 – the only Scot ever to hold a world mile record.

His complete profile can be read  here .  Pictured below with the VPAAC record breaking medley relay team.

 

In case you think that the club distance running tradition had ended with the 1950’s, their road runners in the 1950’s and 60’s, you had better think again.   We’ll finish this quick look at the club’s record with two superb distance and marathon runners.  

  

Pat Maclagan was a quiet but concentrated and determined athlete who, because of his unassuming personality never quite received the attention he deserved.   It probably didn’t worry him.  His record as an athlete was superb and his profile can be found at  this link.   He won his first ever marathon (at Shettleston) and went on to win the Scottish title.   

One of the best races on the calendar was the McAndrew Relay run every year on the first Saturday in October.   With some effort, the original trail for the race is seen on this photograph.

Alastair Johnston  (53) leading the field at the start of the 14 mile road race at Babcock’s Sports

Alastair Johnston was another of the same vintage who was a top class athlete and popular with other runners.   Alastair was a top class performer on all surfaces and a sub 2:20 marathon man whose career was effectively ruined by a tragic accident at Meadowbank.   You can read about him by clicking on his name above.

Clubs do not live by competitors alone – they need administrators and officials.   One of the best of these came to Victoria Park from Edinburgh and has been a pillar of other athletics groups such as the Scottish Athletics League for decades as well as of the club itself.   I speak of Hugh Stevenson – Hugo – and his profile can be found by clicking on  this link. 

Finally, club president Gordon Innes combined the old and the new showing club HQ (Scotstoun) as it is and as it was: an excellent idea, beautifully executed.

And finally a quest for information: can anyone name these three runners doing their best for the club?