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The Scottish Scene

After the 1939/45 War the clubs started up but clothing coupons for athletics gear was in short supply, facilities were in most cases non-existent and clubs, after six years of war, had in many instances small numbers of enthusiasts.   One thing that was needed despite these drawbacks was informed or experienced athletes or coaches.   Those clubs that had coaches advertised them in the new “Scots Athlete” magazine which had a page or so with small club notices.   The importance of coaches was recognised and all clubs were desperate for their own.   eg In Volume 1, issue number 2 of the magazine there appeared this:   “If a member of Edinburgh Harriers passes you with a terrific burst down the home straight you will know the reason.   Dick Littlejohn, the former SAAA half mile champion has retired competitively but is coaching his clubmates.”     

There were several similar items but what they had in common was a lack  – a lack of what could be defined as a coach!   In June 1946 in  issue number 3, Shettleston Harriers offered this:   “Endeavouring to foster field events, the able coach David Morrison is co-operating with Archie Dudgeon, champion heavyweight wrestler and Empire Games representative, on instruction in physical culture in order to build up the necessary physical condition for field events.”    Further down the same column Victoria Park AAC said:  “… coaching from G Munro, WS Paterson and ex-heavyweight AC Nicolson.”   Nicolson had won several SAAA Championships in the 1920’s as a shot putter and as a Hammer Thrower (Scots Style).   Garscube Harriers notice pointed out that “Coaches John McFadden and Sam Small were very well known athletes in their day.”   They all wanted coaches who could help build their clubs.  Former athletes often filled the bill, weight lifters were often recruited to help field eventers build their condition.   

Then in January 1947 the following appeared in Emmet Farrell’s  “Running Commentary” column.   

   In March 1947, TM Anderson had a two page article called  “Learn to Analyse” emphasising the need to develop technical efficiency in competitive events and outlining the aims of the Coaching Association.   The Association had not been mentioned before this and it is not clear from the article whether it existed in a practical form but it was another example of the known need for technical input to the development of athletics if the country were to succeed in the sport.   The SAAA realised the importance of coaching to the sport and it was discussed at meetings – eg  in May 1947 an Olympic Games Coaching Committee was set up under the chairmanship of ER Walker (Shettleston Harriers) with Dunky Wright (Scottish Marathon Club) as Secretary.   A scheme setting up of coaching panels in each of the main areas of Scotland was submitted and approved.   

At club level, Allan Scally was coaching at Shettleston and several very good athletes emerged from his stable, runners such as Allan Watt.   Unusually for the time, there was co-operation between coaches as far as Watt was concerned. We are told that he worked on his style over the winter with Tom Anderson on the theoretical side and Allan Scally on the practical side.    Garscube Harriers were advertising that they had a Trainer and Masseur in Bob Scott as well as coaches Johnny Cuthbert and Johnny McFadden who had “practical and successful experience of American, Canadian and Scottish athletics.”   It was however down to the individual clubs as far as organising coaching was concerned.   

 The SAAA Notes for July contained the following:

The SAAA was indeed getting seriously involved in coaching.   Having organised a coaching course and minuting its benefits so enthusiastically, it would be a matter of time before they had a programme of their own up and running.   Clubs were spending money helping their athletes, and the same issue of the “Scots Athlete” reported that Rangers FC had donated “£250 to the Olympic Coaching Fund.  At the end of August, Roy M Smith had attended a new venture being held at Loughborough.   Smith was SAAA Long Jump champion and was a lecturer in PE at Aberdeen Emergency Physical Training college.   His report starts as follows:

The complete article can be read in the magazine at     SA Vol 2,7-8.pdf (salroadrunningandcrosscountrymedalists.co.uk) 

On 15th October , 1947, at their monthly meeting, the SAAA Notes included the following:

“Mr D McL Wright set out the Coaching Scheme now in operation in the Western District, and referred to the arrangements being made for a similar scheme to be set in operation in the East.   In view of the limits imposed by the relatively small response to the Appeal Fund, the appointment of a full time coach was considered to be not feasible, but the Secretary was empowered to make tentative enquiries for obtaining the services of Mr Dyson, the AAA Official Coach,  for a short period during the winter.”     

A full time coach had been mooted, discussed and steps had been taken towards funding the post.   Meanwhile, Emmet Farrell commented in December 1947 on training being provided for Olympic possibles at Ibrox Park under the training of coaches “Messrs Cromar, Hodge, McFadden, Bone, Paterson (senior) and Georg Kordas, the Hungarian heavy events expert while, at Helenvale Park, we have marathon and cross-country  enthusiasts training steadily under the watchful supervision of Messrs Scally and Craig.” 

Work towards developing a national coaching system continued and then the information that everyone had been hoping for, for some time, appeared in the Press on 15th December 1948:

How had it finally come about?   The SAAA had approached the Scottish Education Department for the setting up of a National Coaching Scheme and a National Coach.   The aim was to provide clubs, schools and youth organisations with a facility that would have a national coach for athletics and that all athletes in the country would have access to a national panel of specialist coaches.   

Scottish Team, Officials and coaches before match v Ireland, 1957.   Tony Chapman is on the left in the back row.

The Wider British Scene

In fact Scotland was a bit behind the curve in the appointment of coaches.   We should look at the context of coaching in Britain if we want to understand the progress of our own coaching over the next two or three decades.   We should maybe go as far back as the inter-war years when the CCPR was set up in the 1930s as a body set up to co-ordinate recreation and the ever more popular sporting landscape in Britain. However, the hiatus of the 1939-1945 war took over. By now training and analysis of athletics was taking hold and the Loughborough Summer Schools at Loughborough had been set up through FAM Webster who was an extremely influential figure within the AAAs set up. Even at this distance, if anyone is interested in the development of athletics coaching, it is a book worth seeking out.    However after 1945 the influence of Webster was clear and evident and with the awarding of the Games to London in 1948, the appointment of an overall presence regarding preparation was made and this was the dynamic Geoff Dyson. Dyson’s impact was incredibly influential and although mainly in England, the ripples were felt quite literally world wide. It was at this time that Britain started to emerge as a world leader in coach education, coach leadership and coaching structures as well as analysis of events to the extent that we conducted courses overseas for other national governing bodies.

Hugh Barrow, leading (above) in 1962, is a weel kent figure in Scotland’s sporting circles and is known in athletics as Scotland’s only world record holder for the Mile.   Actually it was a world best time he set in 1961 as a 16 year old but it lasted until a chap from East Wichita called Jim Ryun beat it.   Marvellous run and it was celebrated by a presentation at the World Sports magazine’s annual dinner.   Nowadays there are two things that stand out for me.   The first is that the detail of the race is not known by most of the country and it should be; and how it felt to be the best in the world.   I have seen many big moments in Scottish athletics but never a world’s best mile by a Scot.   The second is in the fact that he was faster than Herb Elliott had been at the same age.   Nobody seems to know that – it would be a great question for an athletics quiz.    

The Stadium.

The race was part of a big athletics meeting.   Billy Morton and Santry Stadium were legendary.   Billy Morton was a life long member of Clonliffe Harriers and in the 1950’s started a series of meetings to bring the world’s best to Dublin.   The club’s history, written by Dominic Branigan, describes him as “Ireland’s first, and finest, sports impressario and the first promoter to hold a press conference before his meetings where he would announce to the public that records would be broken and patrons would get great value for money.”    

But even in the era of amateur athletics it was an expensive business.    The stadium is known these days as Morton Stadium but .everybody at the time referred to it as Santry.   The stadium was opened in 1958 with a cinder track. An inaugural series of meetings was held, and on 6 August 1958, Australian Herb Elliott shattered the world record for the mile run with a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds. This was the first race in which five athletes had run a four-minute mile.   The IAAF certification of the world record (as reproduced by Branigan) is below.   The first five in the race were:

1.   Elliott  3:55.4;   2.   Merv Lincoln   3:55.9;   3.   Ron Delany   3:57.5;   4.   Murray Halberg   3:57.5;   5.   Albie Thomas   3:58.6   

The track became legendary at that moment – never before had five men been below four minutes in the same race, within two years three would be Olympic Champions and the other two Olympic silver medallists.  It was a moment that Billy Morton cultivated and developed.   To be invited to run there was an honour and just stepping on to the track was an awe-inspiring, great experience for any aspiring middle distance.   The crowds were big and they were knowledgeable.   For a 16 year old it must have been just a bit daunting – or maybe inspiring to run on the track where your hero Elliott had set the record.    

The Background

Like all Billy Morton promotions it would be a big night with many household names taking part.   So how did a 16 year old Glasgow Schoolboy get in there?

The summer of 1961 proved to be a very good one for Hugh Barrow.  School exams were in March back then, much earlier than today when late May and June tend to be the dates, so once they were over it meant that sport took centre stage for the Summer term.   Inspired by the exploits of his schoolboy hero Herb Elliott he got his championship season off to a good start winning the Glasgow Schools 880 yards title at Scotstoun in 1m 55.8 which was the fastest time in UK by a 16 year old by the end of that season and third on the UK all time list behind Roger Givan and Derek Fernee who had fought out a torrid duel in London two years earlier.    

This was followed by a win in the Scottish Schools Mile on grass at Goldenacre in 4m 24.1 which was a Championship record   This was followed by taking the SAAA Youths 880 yards on cinders at Meadowbank in 1m 57.5 another Championship record.   The Scottish Schools win led to selection for the Scottish Schools Team to face England and Wales at Maindy Stadium, Cardiff.

Travelling in very good company with the likes of Sandy Sutherland and future Lisbon Lion Jim Craig, whose son James would later represent Scotland at rugby, it was a daunting task to face the All England Schools team.    In a tactical race Hugh beat Mark Gillespie and Dave Wilkinson  of England in 4m 21, again a Championship record

The Meeting

What followed was an invitation from Dunky Wright to represent Scotland at a two day meeting at Santry Stadium Dublin in early August, on the very track that, three years earlier, Herb Elliott had destroyed the World Mile record by recording  3m 54.5.   The small Scottish team flew to Dublin and stayed in Mrs Doyle’s Guest House opposite  the stadium.   Also in the Scottish team were  sprinter Mike Hildrey, the ‘Balfron Bullet’, Willie Morrison and steeplechaser John Linaker.   Also accommodated in the same guest house was the great Gordon Pirie.   The Santry meetings back then really were justifiably famous for attracting top athletes from around the world.   

The meeting was held over two nights, Hugh was in action on both of them – half mile on the Wednesday, Mile on Thursday.   It was a genuine quality meeting.   The ‘Belfast Telegraph’ on Wednesday, 9th August was looking forward to George Kerr of Jamaica having a crack at Tom Courtney’s world record on Thursday. Kerr was also going to break the Irish All-Comers record for 440 yards which was held by Milka Singh (India). The Mile would have men like Ken Wood, Mike Berisford, Graham Everett, Ron Delany and Colin Shillington, while Gordon Pirie and Derek Ibbotson would compete in the Three Miles. 

The Race

On  the first night Hugh ran in a Junior 880 yds where he headed off future Ulster star Derek Graham in 1m 56.5  and, although  this was not remarked on in the Scottish Press, it was picked up by the Belfast Telegraph which said that Derek Graham (9th Old Boys) was beaten by three yards by the Scot WH Barrow in 1 min 56.5 in the 880 yards Junior.”      This set up the return race over 1 mile the following day.    Hugh says when asked,  “Strangely I don’t recall very much. I had spent most of the day just relaxing with fellow Victoria Park athlete Mike Hildrey and, as the guest house was just next to the stadium, we changed there and walked over.  Wearing my Scottish Schools vest, I took the early pace in the race but Derek took over pretty quickly and I just sat in.   The conditions were good with no wind at all.   Have to say I didn’t realise it was that fast and it felt relatively comfortable. I wasn’t aware of laps times.” 

It had been basically a two horse race, Hugh  recorded 4m 10.9 which was a World best for a 16 year old, taking 6 seconds from the previous best held by Martin Heath of  Waterloo Harriers of whom more later The press latched on to the fact that Herb Elliott’s best at the same age was 4m 20 and this led to lots of headlines and speculation.   

Afterwards

This best performance stood as the best in the world for the age group for two years  and was broken by a schoolboy from Witchita East High School, Jim Ryun, who ran 4 m 07.8    Jim later went on to set a World Mile record of 3 m 51.1  at Bakersfield California in 1967 and in later life become a USA Senator.   

There were two Scots milers in action that night – Graham Everett ran in the Senior invitation mile which was won by Ron Delany in 4:04.3 from Ken Wood (4:04.9), with Everett third in 4:05.0 and Colin Shillington fourth in 4:05.6.   The Belfast Telegraph described the attempt on the world 880 yards record as ‘farcical’ with the field of eleven runners being too big and a lot of jostling taking place at the start.   Kerr’s time was only 1:49.3.   The paper said of Hugh’s race “Derek Graham won the Junior mile in a sound 4:10.4, beating 16-year-old schoolboy W Barrow (Scotland).   Barrow’s time of 4:10.9 broke the British schoolboy record by 6 seconds and bettered his previous best by 10 seconds.   A real prospect for the future.”

It was a very good race on a track where his hero Herb Elliott had set a world record, and in a great atmosphere, but Hugh had handled the pressure well and produced a superb performance.   Note too that Graham was almost exactly 3 years older than Hugh (Derek’s Date of Birth was 3rd September 1941, Hugh’s 12 September 1944).

There were of course awards and presentations later in the season and one of the biggest was at  the World Sports presentation in London.   There was a World Sports plaque (above) and a wonderful tribute in the magazine.   Ir was a very good multi sports magazine in full colour and it covered Hugh’s career in some detail.   You can read the report   at this link.   A short extract reads: “Glaswegian Hugh Barrow bears the burden of being one of the fastest-ever 16 year old school milers with typical Scots equanimity.   When one remembers that at the same age Elliott ran 4:20.8 and Burleson 4:33.4, Barrow’s astonishing 1961 time takes on even greater significance.”   It is a very good article and well worth reading.

Subsequently, in a strange twist, Martin Heath and Herb Elliott arrived at Cambridge University at the  same time and met in a Freshers Mile where Martin so nearly beat Herb, who had lost of fitness since his triumph at the Rome Olympics, but Herb held on – only just – to win in a time of 4m 16s.   Although he continued to compete on track and cross country for Cambridge, he never again raced over the Mile.    

Hugh went on to set two more UK under 19 records for the Mile in 4m 8.9 and 4m 7.7 both at Witton Park Blackburn.   He never achieved his ambition to be the first Scot to break the 4min Mile getting down to 4m 1.0 at Stretford Manchester in 1968.   He did have a very good career as a senior athlete though, running on all surfaces – road, track and country – in the Mile, Two Miles, Three Miles, Six Miles, 5000m, 10,000m and distances on the road up to the marathon after 1979.   A talented athlete and a real credit to the sport.   

Incidentally – we spoke of the cost of running a meeting like those at Santry and Hugh’s prize that night is shown in the picture below

Are they spoons or forks???    These were the days of amateurism when no one was allowed any money as a prize and, when money was in short supply, as it usually was in athletics, the prizes were priced accordingly.    The Clonliffe Harriers history referred to above tells of an international match in Ireland where Ireland put up £4000, being half the running costs of the event.   The prizes for this 7-nations meeting were noted in the book.

Who were the winners?  Harrison Dillard who had 4 Olympic golds to his credit won the 120 yards hurdles, John Joe Barry won the Three Miles from Curtis Stone and Fred Wilt.      Every one an amateur!

World Sports listing of all the 1961 winners many of whom are well known athletes – Stuart Storey, Janet Simpson, Trevor Burton and Alan Carter maybe the best known – but only two were Scots.   Hugh of course and Sheena Lofts from Aldershot and the Anglo-Scots team, who ran for Scotland on the track and over the country.

The picture above shows Ronnie Macdonald of Maryhill Harriers on the left with Graham Everett of Shettleston Harriers on the right training together at Balgray in the West End of Glasgow in 1960.   Graham would go on to win the SAAA Mile title eight times from 1959 and represent Scotland on the track and over the country.   Ronnie would have a good career as a runner but not quite as illustrious as Graham’s although both men would go on to serve their clubs and Scottish athletics for decades.   

Ronnie joined Maryhill Harriers in 1947 and stayed with the club all his life.   He was an honorary club member, an honour only given in recognition of service to the club.   Ronnie did serve the club well – as a runner, as an administrator, as an official, as a coach and, like all club men of his generation,  in ways that do not fit into any of these categories.   

As a runner, he performed well right from the start.   In season 1948/49 he won the Mitchell Shield which was presented for the club’s Youth (Under 17) championship.   Two years later he won the Rangoon Trophy which went to the first club Junior athlete to finish in the National Championship.  He is however better known as a cross-country man and his best years as a runner were the 1950’s.   If we look at his performances over that period in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay and the National Cross-Country Championships we see this.

                                 Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay                                        National Cross-Country Championship             

You can see that over the period he ran in 9 Edinburgh – Glasgow Relay Races at a time when the standard was very high – Victoria Park, Shettleston and Bellahouston Harriers all had very strong teams for instance – only twice did he drop a place but over 7 races he picked up no fewer than 10 places.  He ran in two after the 50’s – in 1961 he he ran on the 5th stage and in 1962 on the 8th stage.   Over the country, he was a scoring runner for the club in the national in every race during this period and was in the first three home for the team four times.    

Ronnie winning the handicap mile race at Singer’s Sports in Clydebank

On the track, Ronnie ran in almost all of the Sports meetings: Highland Games, championships at club,  local, district & national levels as well as club events.   There was a fair degree of success too as the medals on this page show and, at a time when money never changed hands and prizes were in kind rather than cash, one of his trophies was a Westminster chiming clock.   He ran in the Glasgow Police Sports as well as in the Rangers Sports at Ibrox, two of the biggest meetings in Britain never mind Scotland.   One of the best supported meetings in Glasgow at the time was the Transport Sports at Helenvale track and he was there too.   He did of course run in the Maryhill Harriers club championships and some of the medals won are shown on this page.

The photograph from Singers Sports above is very interesting.   The runner in the Bellahouston Harriers vest with the St Andrews cross is a chap called Henry Kennedy who emigrated to Canada soon after this and ran for that country in the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver.   He ran in the three miles and finished 11th out of the 20 entries, one place behind Al Lawrence of Australia, in 14 minutes 20 seconds.   He was four places behind Scotland’s Ian Binnie.  The summer season does not only cover track & field; there is also a comprehensive hill running programme.   Ronnie was involved there too: he tackled Ben Nevis no less.   He ran in 1968 finishing in a time of 3:04:04 and in 1969 he finished  in 3:16:43.   

Club Two Miles Championship, 1954

By 1970 he had  been running since 1947 – 23 years – on all surfaces using shoes that for many years were simply plimsolls with no padding or cushioning at all. Ronnie was a big man and consequently he was starting to have trouble with his knees.  They would eventually stop him running seriously  although he could still be seen out training with Maryhill team mate Tommy Harrison.   When the Scottish Veteran Harriers appeared on the scene in 1970, Ronnie embraced the concept of age-related competition and joined in as enthusiastically as he could.   John Emmet Farrell spoke of the ‘approximately twelve apostles who were in at the start of the movement’ and Ronnie was one of them. The first Scottish Veteran Harriers race at Pollok Estate on 20th March 1971 was held over 5 Miles.   Approximately 30 runners from an entry of 42 took part, which included eight teams.   There were age categories for Over 40, Over 50 and Over 60.    The races were a terrific success – at one point a 39 year old runner was allowed to run for a year as a “pre-vet”!    Ronnie ran as many as he could – eg in 1977 the SVHC published race results which included Ronnie in the following results::  in a 10 miles at Grangemouth on 9th April, he was timed at 76 minutes exactly; in a  5000 metres run at Bellahouston on 15th June where there were two races (an A and a B), he ran in the A race and was clocked at 19:43,  and in a 10,000 metres on the track at Bellahouston on 7th December, he ran 43:45.

He ran in open and veteran races at home in Scotland and abroad too.  For instance, further afield,

• there was a world veterans 25K race in the Isle of Man on 20th May, 1973, where he finished 242nd of 500 finishers in 1;50:31.   There were athletes from 23 countries taking part.  In addition to the home countries of Scotland, England, Wales and Isle of Man, there were teams from Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Holland, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Canada, USA, Japan, Korea and Australia.   The teams are mentioned because veteran championships would keep growing – by 1979 in Bolton there were all these countries plus.   The vets movement was worldwide and Ronnie embraced the whole concept while not abandoning the domestic scene.   Indeed his club had many members who enthusiastically supported Veterans (or Masters) athletics – names like Emmet Farrell, Gordon Porteous and Tommy Harrison were top class competitors in this form of athletics.   
• he took part in the first World Masters Championships in Toronto in 1975, and in the World Masters 25K Road Race in Glasgow in the 1980’s.   He also competed in the Shot Putt in the Scottish Veteran Harriers Championships.    
• in Bolton in 1979, there were World Vets 10K and 25 K races.   He ran in both.   In the former he was 349th of 791 finishers in 41:39, and in the latter he was 432nd of 632 who completed the course, his time being 1:56:26.   By now there were athletes from Guyana, Venezuela, New Zealand, South Africa, Lebanon and Romania in addition to those who had competed at Isle of Man in 1973.

Club 1 Mile Championship Medal, 1953

At home, The SVHC Magazine in 1977 had the following results :  In a  10 miles at Grangemouth on 9th April he was timed at 76 minutes exactly; in a  5000 metres run at Bellahouston on 15th June where there were two races (an A and a B). he ran in the A race and was clocked at 19:43;  and in a 10,000 metres on the track at Bellahouston on 7th December, he ran 43:45.   On the country he ran in almost every vets championship and in 1978 he he was 58th at Irvine Moor – four places and 11 seconds ahead of his training partner Tommy Harrison.

He was also operating in the wider sphere of athletics administration at this time.  Although Ronnie was a runner, there was more to his contribution to the sport than that.   The 1950’s was a time when most members followed the belief that “you did what your club needed you to do”.   It was also usual for club members to attend the club’s Annual General meetings and for there to be nominations “from the floor” for the various committee positions.   Ronnie followed this pattern and, he was elected club Secretary for season 1957/58 – a mere ten years after joining the club as an Under 17.   For some reason he missed the following season but was elected again in 1959/60 and 1960/61 as Club Captain.   He stepped back a bit for a year and was a General Committee member in 1962/63.   He went on to hold every post of any significance in the club and was President in 1968, the year of the club’s 80th birthday celebrations.     The page from the club handbook below indicates the quality of committee members at the time – George Dallas. George Barber, Gordon Porteous, Tommy Harrison, David Bruce, Freddie Graham were all significant contributors to Scottish athletics. 

Ronnie worked his way up through the stages on club, County, West District, and National Cross-Country Union Committees.    These led to him officiating at Cross-Country races from club events to national championships.    In the District and National Championships he worked all through the 70’s and 80’s, usually as one of a team of recorders or with the Area Control Stewards.    The other major event of the winter season was the Edinburgh to Glasgow eight stage Relay and there he also officiated, usually as a recorder on two stages of the race.  Of course as an experienced  and established member of the SCCU, he was also one of the selectors for National teams, and travelled with them to the race.   Within the club, he was one of the principal organisers of the Nigel Barge Road Race,  the second longest running event on the winter calendar with only the Beith New Years Day race being of an older vintage.   

 Ronnie had several qualities that are sadly lacking in many officials in most sports: first, he was a very good organiser; second, had a sense of proportion; third, he had common sense; fourth, he was always clear in what he had to say – no obfuscation, deliberate or otherwise.  And of course having been a runner he understood the sport from the competitors point of view.  A wee story: 

At the 1985 National Cross-Country Championship at the Jack Kane Sports Centre in Edinburgh, one of our club members arrived early and declared the team for the Senior Race.   There was a good athlete there who unfortunately was not in the programme but the chap collecting the team numbers gave him the number of another athlete who was not going to be there.   The chap ran in the other athlete’s place.   The chap ran well.   This was spotted and a complaint raised.   Two of us from our club were summoned to meet a disciplinary panel in Glasgow the following Tuesday where we met a three man panel, one of whom was Ronnie.   Two of them were very picky and sticky, telling us that we shouldn’t have done it.   In vain we told them that it was an unauthorised alteration to the club team and then Ronnie spoke in his usual good mannered, good humoured fashion and said something like:  “Every team manager, if he is being honest, will tell you that at some time or other he runs an athlete under someone else’s name.   But if you are going to do it, make sure that you don’t use the name of someone who has run several times for Scotland, and make sure he doesn’t interfere with the race!”   And that was it. After minimal discussion, we promised to discipline the errant club member who declared the team, were warned not to do it again, and that was it.   That was Ronnie dealing with the matter in a good, common-sense fashion.   There was no lecture, he just listened to what was being said, and then cut through the waffle and that was issue dealt with, and did it in a manner that offended neither the panel members nor the club representatives.

But it should be noted that he could be a tough negotiator when he had to be.   For instance, in season 1971/2 when the SCCU granted a permit to Springburn Harriers for their Springburn Cup race to be  held on the first Saturday in the New Year – traditionally the date for the Nigel Barge – there was what the politicians would call a ‘frank exchange of views’ between the club and the governing body.   Some of the correspondence was carried out by Ronnie.   This was not his usual or preferred method of working however.   eg at a time when the ‘amateur code’ ruled and prizes had to be ‘to the value of’ rather than simply money being awarded, Ronnie waited until the January Sales began, then went round the local shops  to buy the prizes for the Nigel Barge Road Race (and often talked them into giving him an extra discount because it was for a good local cause).   His ‘people skills’ were of the highest order!

He was also imaginative coming up with ideas for races like the Christmas handicap race round Postie’s Park in Dumbarton for Council employees (he worked in the Council Offices there) with extra awards – such as for the runner who most accurately forecast his time round the course.    

When the International Cross Country Union held their World Cross-Country Championships in 1978, Ronnie was asked to take charge of the production of the programmes which he did with his usual efficiency and the printer’s blocks are shown below.

Busy all the way through the 60’s and 70’s he was also listed in the 1977 SAAA Handbook as: 

• Grade 1 official for Track, for Throws, and for Jumps.   These were three different qualifications, each having a different pathway to Grade 1.
• Club Coach for Middle Distance, Sprints and Relays.   (There were three grades of coach – Assistant Club Coach, Club Coach and Senior Coach.   Club Coach was approximately equivalent to the current Level 3 qualification.)

Ronnie was always a person who would encourage and help athletes as much as he could and in any way that he could.   Peter McGregor of Victoria Park tells me that at an inter-club fixture, early in Peter’s career in the sport he was told by Ronnie “stay with me and you’ll be OK.”   Valuable encouragement at the start of a career that would lead to many excellent races and several sub 2:30 marathons.

Although he did not coach a squad of his own as a squad, he would help others to develop their skills and to enjoy their sport.   But, being Ronnie, it was not a case of uttering well-sounding homilies, or well-worn cliches: he went to the courses, learned a bit about the events and helped in a practical way.   His coaching continued until at least 1990 when he appeared in that year’s AAA Handbook as a club coach for both Sprints and Middle Distance running.   His long time friend and sparring partner Des Yuill tells us that Ronnie had a camper van that he used to ‘take runners to races, near and far’.

Club Two Miles Championship, 1953

As a track official he obviously worked at meetings large and small – highland games, local sports, championships and track leagues.   As a grade 1 official he was often asked to officiate as a referee – mainly on the track.     One of the requirements for a club in any of the track leagues is that they provide a quota of officials as well as cover as many of the events taking place as possible.   Ronnie filled in in both categories – qualified officials are worth their weight in gold to a team manager at these meetings, and to have a Grade 1 on the books is possibly worth his weight in platinum.   When officiating at a highland games, Ronnie could often be seen working at the high jump: after all he had a Grade 1 for field events too!

He also officiated at international fixtures on all surfaces – below is his official’s pass for the 1970 Commonwealth Games at Meadowbank, and he also worked at the 1986 Games at the same venue.  In 1986 he was one of the recorders for the marathon.  And, of course, as a long-standing member of the SCCU, he officiated at cross-country international and representative meetings. 

 The 1990 SAAA Handbook tells us that he was still listed as a Grade 1 Official-  but by now it was only for Track events, he had dropped the Throws and Jumps.   At that time it was possible to keep yourself listed as an official but with an asterisk added which was marked ‘inactive’.  Many took that decision but  Ronnie was still active though – 53 years after joining the club.   He was certainly still officiating at cross-country and road races and an active member of the Scottish Cross-Country Union. 

As a member of Maryhill Harriers for his entire time in the sport, he  contributed his share – and more – to the sport locally in Glasgow and across the nation’s athletics communities.   At the time of the club’s centenary celebrations Ronnie displayed another talent – he designed special mugs for the celebration.   They came in red and blue; there is one illustrated below.   

We said at the start that Ronnie was justifiably made an Honorary Life Member of the club.   He was a man who enjoyed his time in the sport, and  really did make a difference on many levels.   

Tommy Murray, winner of the senior men’s race

The National Cross-Country Championships of 1989 had many talking points or points of interest.   For instance

•  Steve Ovett, Olympian, former world record holder for 1500m , English cross-country international, was running for Annan.   He had moved to Kinmount House in 1988 and joined Annan AAC racing in District Relays (eg Twechar), District Championships (Kilmarnock) and now in the National at Hawick.   There had been all sorts of stories about him in the Press – the SAAA were going to change the residency rules so that he could run for Scotland after three months, the finish at Kilmarnock had been changed to a stony, rutted lane to negate a finishing sprint by him and so on.  He was a big draw for the 1989 National.  ( See the picture below)   The press had come to watch Ovett and all went to him after he had finished.   His reaction?   “You shouldn’t be taking to me you should be talking to that guy over there who has just won the race, ” pointing to to Tommy Murray
• Paul Evans the very good endurance runner from England, temporary Scotsman, was also running – for Springburn Harriers.   A member of Belgrave Harriers, he joined Springburn saying that his mother’s family had come from Glasgow and he wanted to run for Scotland.   He ran extremely sparingly for the club, ran well in a couple of races in Scotland before deciding that he was English and racing for GB in the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics. Never actually represented Scotland.
• Clark Murphy, the first Scotland based runner to represent GB in the World Cross Country Championships, after Scotland was dropped in favour of a British team.
• Malcolm Campbell, the Winchester runner, and almost an echo of Paul Evans, in that he ran for Scotland before changing his mind.  He won the Youths championship running for Clydebank AC.    Campbell also won the English Youths cross-country championship from Jon Brown over 4 miles on 20th February 1988

These factors were all important to the day’s racing – almost as important as who won the actual races.   But the weather that day was dire.   Doug Gillon in the “Herald” described the Hawick national as having  “The worst conditions in living memory,”   before going on to give this instance of these conditions: “The mud on one hill, 150 yards long and with a gradient of one in nine, was pouring like a lava flow by the time the runners were on their third circuit.   Elsewhere there was a foot of slushy water and some runners finished barefoot. ”  Colin Shields reported in his excellent centenary  history of the SCCU “(Runs will take place) Whatever the Weather” that 5 inches of snow had fallen overnight “in the worst weather experienced during the entire winter, and that snow had continued to fall throughout the day leaving a covering of slippery snow over an underfoot morass of mud.”

The map of the course,  above, is an interesting one, and  Wilton Park in Hawick is very pleasant and normally the start of a good day out.   Have a look at the map, and then try to retrace the runners’ footsteps next time you’re there.   You’ll find that the hill referred to is indeed steep – maybe contour lines should have been added!    The following  article from “Runner’s World” had some more detail on the trail and on the weather conditions.

After all that, how did the actual racing go?  For this one, we can’t better Doug Gillon’s report for the “Glasgow Herald” and we’ll print it along with the results.

.

“Livingston was a new venue for the Scottish cross-country championships on Saturday.   It provided a tough but rutted trail exposed to near-Arctic temperatures.   But later on there was some splendid broth – Scotch of course – in the community centre, and through it all a worthy senior champion emerged.   A few days before the championships Nat Muir, the 1978 junior champion, told me how confident he was feeling about running in his first senior championship.   His mileage was up to the mark, his speed and stamina work impressive, all he needed was some reasonably firm ground and the title was his.   Firm ground he was given – so hard in fact that a few gave up in pain after having gone over on ankles whose ligaments were unable to resist the terrible pounding.”   That was the accurate description of the course and conditions faced by the runners in February 1979 in Livingston.

The ‘tough but rutted’ description was a good one.   It was a genuine cross country trail with varied surfaces, varied gradients and obstacles but with the added difficulties of ground frozen hard, rocks – not just big stones – sticking up and immoveable at places.   The bitingly cold weather did not help either.   The map of the course, drawn up by noted orienteer Martin Hyman, included contour lines.   Had the runners known what they were, their plans for the afternoon might not have included a cross country race.   Have a look at this and try to estimate the gradients and general topography.

Colin Shields in his “Whatever the Weather” described the situation thus.   “The races were held in bitter, arctic conditions over a tough course made difficult by ice hard, rutted underfoot conditions.”   The pictures on the page so far illustrate how cold it was – runners in a national championship wearing long sleeved tops under their vests, hats, gloves and a couple with old socks on their hands (the story is that unlike gloves, they keep all your fingers together and so warmer than if they were separated!)

The race almost didn’t go ahead because of a dispute involving the local school janitors.   Shields again: “The Union was given a special dispensation by the National Union of Public Employees, which allowed the janitor at Deans Community High School to waive the overtime ban and open up the school on the Saturday for changing facilities for the 1800 entrants in the five championship races.”

So after all that how did the race go?   

The story of the race was simply told.   Ron Marshall in the “Glasgow Herald” gave the facts as follows.

“Muir’s performance in bitter conditions was quite astounding.   As each of the four big laps unwound he became faster each time – 8 min 32 sec, 8:27, 8:21 and finally 8:17.   By that time Lawrie Spence, his most dogged companion in the early stages, had been left nearly half a minute behind, himself ultimately 23 seconds clear of the third man, Jim Brown.”

The first 30 of the 255 to finish the course were: 

The complete result – place, number, name, club and time – for them all can be found at 

http://www.salroadrunningandcrosscountrymedalists.co.uk/Archive/Cross%20Country/National%20XC/National%20XC%20Results/1970s/National%20XC%20Results%201978-9%20Men.pdf

Colin Youngson ran for Edinburgh Southern Harriers that day. His club won the team championship (and retained it in 1980). In a diary, he wrote: Scottish Senior National at Livingston. ESH: Ian Elliot 9^th, Dave Logue 10^th, Ian Orton 15^th, Allister Hutton 19^th, Me 29^th, Martin Craven 30^th. (Evan Cameron 36^th). Winning total 112 points (from EAC 172). Terrible icy rutted conditions. Hilly. Sore legs and feet. Very cold wind – almost blind in one eye. Bumpy. Lost eight places in the last lap. Disappointing personally but just adequate. Won the team at last, though! (after contributing to three team silver medals).”

But infairness to Colin, it was a real high quality field – check the website address above – with quality international athletes being placed outside the first 50 of the 255 finishers.

Alex Jackson also shared some memories of the day: 

1.  Seeing an unhappy Alastair Hutton going up the funnel, he had won at Bellahouston in 1978 and was 19th at Livingston.   However he was fourth counter for the winning ESH team.
2.  Other facts:   Robert Hawkins won the U15 boys race, his one and only National win.
3. The Community school was demolished around 10 years ago, a new school built close by.

.

The National held in Glenrothes was the fourth to be won by Andrew McKean (Edinburgh AC – above), the third in a row, and there was a second place between the first and second.   He won in 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977 with second place in 1974.   A strong first-rate athlete who had both strength, speed and intelligence.   Nor was he short of courage and confidence, being prepared to take the race on from quite early if he felt it was the thing to do.   

It was one of the most memorable nationals in terms of the snow and the cold – and the quality was not half bad either!   It was another dreadful week for the weather across most of Scotland:  “Widespread torrential rain, gales, sleet and snow brought havoc and flooding to many areas of Scotland yesterday.   Road and rail services were severely disrupted by flooding, schools had to close, and one Fife village – Pitscottie near Cupar – was marooned.”

The race, held on 12th February, came during a spell of very cold weather – several athletes missed the race because of illness or injury sustained training on icy roads or, in at least one instance, on an icy track.   The “Glasgow Herald” reported as follows.   “McKean is a runner who is at home whatever the conditions underfoot.   Glenrothes Golf Course resembled more an alpine ski area on Saturday, coated with six inches of snow, and yet the job got done by McKean, after touring fairways and boundaries in a way which almost made skis redundant.   Not that he claimed the race had been simple.   As the snorting, spitting and wheezing from some of the less able of his 400 opponents rasped around us, just after the finish he spoke most respectfully of the trail.   “It’s the toughest for a national championship that I’ve run in,” he observed.   “The hill really stretched you, whether you were going up or coming down”

Nor was he wrong!   The snow was actually covering the ground except where the younger age groups had beaten it down into a mushy mess and there were several spots on the course where the ground sloped in two directions at the same time.   On a good day it would have been a tough course and a challenge to all the competitors: on 12th February 1977 the challenge was multiplied by three or four.   The fact that he won the race, and the way in which he won it, proved that at that point McKean was the best runner Scotland had on a rugged course.  Look at the results:-

Every man there was a quality athlete.   Look at some of the names – note how many were Scottish champions Hutton, Logue, Blamire, Spence, Gilmour,  McMeekin, Macgregor, Macfarlane, Barrow, Johnston, Clyne, Craven, Edwards, Youngson; Lachie Stewart down in twentieth after a bout of ‘flu and maybe shouldn’t have been running, Jim Dingwall in twenty-third; more Scottish international runners in Phil Dolan, Stuart Easton, Willie Day, Alan Partridge …   every one a class act and every one treated the course with respect and every one tried hard.   But on an afternoon such as that, all finishers deserved credit.

Again the trail on a bad day was a multi-lapper: four laps, three opportunities to drop out.  There were again five races and the senior men’s race had 422 entries but only 270 finishers.   There was fortunately nothing actually falling on the day of the race, but the changing accommodation was a short walk away from the course, crossing what seemed like a busy road.   

The officials at events like this do not often get the credit that they deserve and, at Glenrothes in 1977, there was a very large number of officials known to most of the athletes by their Christian names – Alex Johnston, David Morrison, Neil Donnachie, Bob Greenoak, Des Yuill, Ronnie McDonald and many more.   Look at the list below.

It’s a good picture shown above – but it doesn’t show the weather conditions that the competitors had to endure.   Held on 22nd February 1969, the race was run over 5 laps on the Duddingston Golf Course in Edinburgh.   The five laps tell a tale – I have seldom run a senior cross-country race over 5 laps, and to pass your warm tracksuit at each of the first four laps here was a great temptation to drop out.   Many took the chance but it is a tribute to all the finishers – in all the age groups – that they did master the difficulties.   

The race was organised by the SCCU with its usual efficiency and all the experienced and qualified officials were in place for the afternoon.   They had to stand for all the races – and there was a total of five races to keep them occupied in the cold and sleet.   There were 1237 entries on the programme (422 senior men) and 605 finishers (196 senior men).   Although the number of entries does not equal the number of starters in any race, the fact that less than half those entered finished does tell a tale.   It had been a week of really bad weather – the front page of the Friday “Herald” had a picture of the Duke of Edinburgh striding through a blizzard when he visited the site for the Commonwealth Games the following year.   We are told that he was greeted by “driving snow”.   The overnight weather in Edinburgh was freezing cold.   How did the race go then?

The basics were reported in the “Glasgow Herald” on the following Monday, reprinted in its entirety below.

WEDLOCK’S SCOTTISH TITLE VICTORY BY 45 YARDS

Dick Wedlock (Shettleston) won the Scottish senior cross-country title at Duddingston Park, Edinburgh, on Saturday when he covered the seven and a half miles in 32 min. 59 sec.   AF Murray (Edinburgh Southern) was second, 45 yards back behind, and W Mullett, an Anglo-Scot running in Shettleston’s colours, was a further 20 yards away in third place.   

“Wedlock shared the lead with JN Alder (Edinburgh AC) after three laps of the five lap race, five yards ahead of J Wright (Edinburgh AC).   They were followed by Mullett and Murray.   With one lap left Wedlock was out in front, and the holder, JL Stewart (Shettleston) looked tired in eighth position.   Stewart, however, had not completely recovered from a bout of influenza, and did well to finish in 10th position.”

Which is fine as far as it went.

What made it different? 

First it was the dire weather.   Colin Shields described the course as “icy, rutted and rock hard after a bad spell of weather.”   Colin was being polite because he is a gentleman.   Athletics Weekly gives a more detailed description: The Scottish 7 Miles cross-country championship was run over a park that closely resembled a half-frozen lake as a result of a quick thaw earlier the same day.   In conditions that were atrocious for athletes, officials and spectators alike, Ian McCafferty was a non-starter and Alistair Blamire had only recently resumed training after illness.”   And note the comment below the photograph above:” They raced in bitterly cold, sleet laden wind with snow underfoot.”    

So the weather was bad, although the other word above,  “appalling”, might be better.   Runners were wearing jerseys, even track suit or wet suit tops under their club vests, many wore gloves and some wore woolly hats.

Then there was the course itself.   Cross-country does not often find itself run over five laps.   Runners don’t like running in small circles, and in the Duddingston instance with awful weather, it was cruelty to make the athletes pass their warm tracksuits and wetsuits four times in the course of the race.   There were not a few who succumbed to the temptation.

It was also basically flat but in the absence of natural cross-country obstacles, there were pairs of steeplechase barriers placed side-by-side to be leapt, clambered over or ducked under.   No runner liked them – in one English national in the 1960s there was a similar arrangement and Jim Hogan slipped through between the two barriers only to be disqualified.   His defence was that in a cross-country race you can negotiate any obstacle as you please.  However that may be, the rush at the start in Edinburgh pushed over one of the two barriers, and the competitors then went through that side.   An official, I believe it was Harry Quinn, was sent to tell the runners to ignore the barrier that had been knocked over and instead cross the one that remained upright.   It was a losing battle – after all, he was outnumbered.

After all that, what was the result of the race?   

It was not a day for the faint hearted, but spare a thought for the officials who had to stand for all five races: at least the runners only had to run the one race before heading for the changing room and a warm drink.   It was one of the most uncomfortable days for the national that most of us had ever experienced.   Well done to all who took part.

It was originally the case that harrier and athletic clubs – like other clubs or societies had their own club crest and slogan or motto.   This was for several reasons but all had to do with club identity, not only on the field of competition but in day to day living when club members showed solidarity each other and pride in the club by wearing the club tie or lapel pin.   This is, maybe unfortunately, no longer true of the majority of clubs.   We should however at least acknowledge the fact that they were used and are still used although not to quite the same extent.   We will look at some of them here, noted in chronological order. 

When I joined Clydesdale Harriers in April, 1957, I was given a blue club handbook and encouraged to buy a metal lapel badge.   The badge had the club’s insignia of hunting horn and whip with the club name above and the motto ‘Excelsior’ (meaning ‘the best’) below – exactly as in the picture above but without the dates .   The hunting horn and whip refer back to the origins of the harrier clubs. 

Q: Why was a cross-country runner called a Harrier?   

A: The Harrier was a small dog used by huntsmen to flush out the quarry   

A quote: 

“ The history of the word dates back to the 1800s when British schoolboys started playing a game called “hares and hounds.” Like hide and seek, the hares would leave from a common spot before the hounds chased in pursuit. Outside of the schoolyard game, the type of hound that was bred to chase hares is called a “harrier.” These dogs are incredibly skilled in chasing and hunting–much like a runner in pursuit of the competition in a race..” 

 Clydesdale Harriers was the first Scottish open athletic and harrier club in Scotland and was largely modelled on the gentleman’s clubs prevalent at the time.   The clubs that followed also had their crest (‘logo’ in newspeak) and a Latin tag.   These tags usually had to do with courage, or hard work, or similar manly attribute.   Whether the club was born before 1914 or after 1945 the club badge was important to the members.  But to begin at the beginning –

The representation above comes from the club handbook of 1890-91.   Name at the top, hunting horn and whip which were harking back to the origins of the harrier movement and the club motto of ‘Excelsior’ which is |Latin for ‘the best’.   There is no date because the club was first open club. The badge was on the left breast of the club top (like the modern T shirt) and the cross-country runners and teams had a five-barred gate on the back.   As the Rules in the club handbook state:

Club championship medals were of gold, silver and bronze and in addition gold medals were awarded by the club to any athlete setting a Scottish record.   The one below was to John Blane for setting a Scottish mile record.

When the club lapel badge was produced, it had the shield with crest and motto with the addition of the gate at the top.  Modelled on the gentleman’s club of the day, the harriers had a constitution which followed the pattern set by them   Other clubs followed the example set in various ways.

We’ve no picture of it, but the Edinburgh Harriers crest was a simple, red, five barred gate on the front of a dark blue vest but there was, to our knowledge, no motto at all.   

West of Scotland Harriers, formed in 1886, had a series of vests/singlets as follows:

•  1886 – Chocolate with blue dog on back and gold dog on front;
•  then in 1887 – Black with pale blue trim, Sky Blue and Black Harrier, with dog and a five bar gate.
•  Subsequently changed again to sky blue vest with black band and dog over a five bar gate centre front. 

The crest below was the last one described above and depicts the hunting hound clearing a fence at speed and the struts on the fence happened to spell out the letters W, S and H in gold lettering.

The crest of dog and fence appeared on race awards too:-

eg Tom Cruden’s medal for being 2nd in the club championships

 Medal given by the club to AG Rennie to commemorate Shrubb’s world records 1904 at Ibrox. It is engraved reverse side (below). Rennie was chief timekeeper.  It’s printed a bit larger so that the inscription can be read.

Gates were generally popular and also appeared on

• the Perthshire Harriers vest of 1887 in white on a blue background, and
• in the same year Dunfermline Harriers had a blue gate on a white vest, and
• Kirriemuir Harriers had a white gate on a maroon vest and
• Ayr Harriers, 1888, had a three barred hurdle with the slogan  “Gang Forrit” on it.  

GANG FORRIT

Maryhill Harriers appeared on the scene in 1888.

The Maryhill Harriers vest was blue with the yellow badge above showing a deer leaping over a five-barred-gate.       The club motto was Fortis, again the Latin tag, meaning ‘Strong’.   Note the presence of the motto on the lapel pin below which dates from the 1930’s-50’s.

Craig Perrie at Maryhill has an excellent page on the Maryhill Harriers insignia and its development on the club website and we urge you to read it at 

Club-Crest-History-and-Evolution-latest-Apr-2022-blue-banner.pdf (maryhillharriers.com)

“It is believed that the original crests were embroidered directly onto vests. The original vest badge colour scheme was a yellow background with red stitching. Later versions were screen printed onto a sheet to then be cut-out and sewn onto vests. The vest badge crest design and colour scheme remained largely unchanged from its inception until the mid-1990s. The badge/crest position was (and still is) always positioned over the left breast on a Royal blue coloured vest.”

The club crest was held in great esteem by the club and club members and appeared on the running vest, on stationery, on lapel badges, blazer badges and also on race medals.   The one below dates from 1897 and is from Maryhill Harriers.   The reverse is on the next page.   Note the lion rampant but not deer or fence.

Club insignia was shown on a wide variety of objects, not just badges.   Including programmes, menus and order of proceedings.

Fortis

The sport was spreading all over the country and in 1889 Teviotdale Harriers was formed with the white vest and broad maroon band as their racing outfit.   The club history tells us that in 1896 – It was in this year that a GATE was adopted for club stationery, with the paper to have maroon lettering.    The Teviotdale gate looks like this –

The Teviotdale Harriers Gate – taken from the cover of their centenary history.

Greenock Wellpark Harriers were established in 1891 and their white vest with broad black band had the club crest in the middle: a simple roundel with the image of the Well from Wellpark in Greenock and the club name round the inside of the circle.   Initially in blue, the crest was later changed to gold.    As with several other clubs, they had a metal lapel badge which is shown below.

The actual well in the park is still there as the photograph below indicates.   

The club eventually merged with Spango Valley to become Inverclyde AAC but to that time the badge with the well was worn with pride by many really top class athletes.   Note the crest on the vest of the great Wellpark team on the 1950’s and early 60’s including the Stevenson brothers, George King and Bill Stoddart.

The pattern emerging is club name, club motto and club crest, but Bellahouston Harriers changed the pattern a bit.

The club vest was dark blue with a light blue cross of St Andrew.   The badge was a simple circle with the club initials entwined in the centre and the motto Nil Desperandum.   Founded in 1892 they had every reason to have the date of inception included but chose not to.   The meaning of the Latin motto was ‘Never despair’  or ‘never give up’.    Incidentally, the Irish club Clonliffe Harriers has the same slogan.

Nil Desperandum

In 1895 the Clydesdale Harriers Greenock Section became an independent club in their own right and chose the name of Greenock Glenpark Harriers and broke the Latin stranglehold on mottos when the decided on a speeding hare with the motto in French en avent.   Worn and easily seen on team members in the following photograph.

En Avant

Springburn Harriers  brought their own neighbourhood into it.

The Springburn badge as shown above is front, top, centre of the vest, the diamond represents the North British Loco Works that was the main employer in the area when the club was founded.   The year of the club’s birth is there and the Latin motto means ‘Bravery Overcomes All Things’.   

But why the diamond?   The club website tells us that the badge and crest (above) was taken from the railway locomotive factories based in the area, and their motto means ‘courage conquers all’.    Ian Young tells us that “the Diamond on the Springburn vest is a copy of the trademark of the North British Locomotive Company in Springburn which was owned by Sir Hugh Reid” .    Reid was the first chairman of the North British Locomotive Works – the largest builder of steam locomotives anywhere in the world.   From its headquarters in Springburn over 18,000 locomotives were exported to all points of the compass.   The diamond therefore has a real significance for the area and for the country.   The diamond on the club vest is however turned through 90 degrees from the firm crest, see below.

Note the vests worn by Jim Cooper and Alex McIndoe in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay below.

Fortitudo Omnia Vincit

Garscube Harriers appeared on the scene in 1898 and there were several interesting features attached to it.   The shield had a thistle in the top third, the club’s initialls in the middle and the club name below.  The motto was in French and not in Latin – en avant means one of two things – Forward   or   In Front, and certainly the club was successful from the very first.  It was placed right at the top of the shield and across the thistle.   

En avant

THE VEST IS THE CREST

In many clubs, certainly the great preponderance of more modern clubs, ‘the vest is the crest’; in other words there is no club insignia other than what is worn on race day, and there is no motto, slogan or even battle cry which helps the club identity.   Some of these from other 19th century  vests and crests are noted here.   I particularly like the footwear for the Scottish Pelicans 

Swift Harriers (Aberdeen) 1889 – White with dark blue star

Thistle Harriers (Dundee) 1890 – Blue Cap with thistle, white semmit with blue borders, blue and white belt, white knickers, royal blue socks. Emblem – Thistle

If we come forward into the 20th century, Falkirk Victoria Harriers were founded in August 1901 and their crest deviated from thits predecessors in having a good Scots slogan.

Touch Ane, Touch A’

Shettleston Harriers club was founded in 1904 and the original club uniform was a white singlet and white shorts.   It was two years before they switched to the now well-known blue and gold.   Their club badge favoured a torch.

All the traditional features were there.   The club name of course, the date of establishment and the motto in Latin meaning ‘Nothing without  Work’   

Nihil Sine Labore

Dumbarton Amateur Athletic Club was formed in 1919 and the club colours were of black with a broad red band.  The actual badge decided upon was a bit more complicated than most.  Described by Alistair Lawson below and then shown in a photograph from Allan Adams: 

“”The shield motif on the DAAC tie is made up as follows:-
–  Across the top, in gothic-style letters, is D.A.A.C. in white, on a
dark blue background.
–  In the centre, an athlete in discus-throwing pose, arm back,
starting the wind-up.
–  The background is red, with what look like rugby goalposts, i.e. a
large H shape, double-lined.”

There was no motto or slogan attached to it.

Beith Harriers were founded in 1923 in Ayrshire and their badge is an interesting one.   It has the winged foot logo favoured by many athletics among them many more modern clubs.   eg The New York Athletic Club adopted the ‘winged foot of Mercury’ in 1876.   Club colours being black and white the club adopted a shield diagonally divided into black and white sections with the winged foot and the club slogan of ‘per aspera ad astra’ which is another Latin phrase meaning ‘through hardship to the stars’.   The club’s name was top and bottom of the shield.   This logo appeared on vests, lapel pins and track suits.

Per Aspera Ad Astra

Dundee Hawkhill Harriers were founded in November, 1924, and the badge of a hawk above comes from a booklet on the club’s activities published in 1945 by A Mudie.   The slogan or motto means “Neither Tarry Nor Rest” – a good one for a harrier!

Victoria Park AAC was formed seven years after Beith Harriers, in 1930, and had an interesting variation in mottoes.   The club crest was a shield with the club’s initials entwined at the top above wings in front of a golden rising sun.   The club slogan is encapsulated at the bottom and reads Nitor in Adversum.   Latin again, meaning ‘ I strive against opposition’.   The badge can be worn on track suit or on the competition vest.   The club vest was well-known in its own right and not all athletes had the badge sewn on – eg only one in the photograph below.

Victoria Park AAC was another club known immediately by their vest – the blue and white hoops were recognised everywhere.   They had their badge, they had their Latin motto, but the blue and white hoops were one of the most recognised – and respected – outfits in the country.   It is not surprising therefor that their lapel badge was simply the club name and blue and white stripes.   

Nitor in Adversum

Monkland Harriers were, like Greenock Glenpark Harriers, an offshoot of Clydesdale Harriers and many top class athletes (such as Olympian Sam Stevenson) were from the area.  Like other clubs from the 1930’s their crest was their vest’.   In other words, the only unique identifier was the competition vest.   Note the club shield in the picture below.   The boy in the centre of the front row is holding it.   

As after the 1914-18 war, many new clubs appeared on the scene after the 1939-45 hostilities.   One of these was Inverness Harriers who were established in 1947 and celebrate their 75th anniversary in 2022.  The current club logo is this one.

After the 1939-45 War several clubs sprung up across the country and Inverness Harriers was one of the most successful of these.   Their vest has undergone several changes since their first appearance in 1947 but two things have remained constant – club colours (maroon and gold) and the club crest. 

The vest was originally maroon with a gold band and the stag’s head in the centre, as in the illustration below.   The suggestion on the club website is that the choice of the stag’s head is because one of the club’s founders was Tom McKenzie and the clan McKenzie crest is just that – a stag’s head.

Another of the post-war clubs is the very successful Pitreavie AAC   Their original crest from the club’s inception in 1956 was blue with the Olympic style laurel round the athlete. At that time the club vest was royal blue. The badge was changed when the club colours were changed.

The club logo at present is a simple double roundel with the club name and a stylised sprinter in the centre.   

They celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2006 and the club produced a good quality polo shirt.    It was designed as a one off for the 50th and all Club members purchased their own.   They were given to visiting Officials who came to officiate at the Inter Club meeting which was held to replicate the type of meetings which were held when the club was formed.

Perth Strathtay have been a part of Scottish athletics since the 1940’s and they too have simple roundel badge

The lack of a classical education which enabled a primary school janitor to come up with a latin motto for the club vest is a  good reason for not having the motto in that language, but Greenock Glenpark Harriers had the French  ‘en avant’ as their slogan.   But why not have a Scottish rallying cry?   Something from Burns (Now’s the Day and Now’s the Hour’) , John McLaren’s (Guid Aul’ Scotland’), Kirkintilloch’s  ‘Ca Canny but Ca awa”   or there is a whole back catalogue of clan slogans eg    Latio, French, Gaelic and English are all available:  Some examples

Anderson Stand Sure         Armstrong Invictus maneo / I remain unvanquished         Johnstone Nunquam non paratus / Never unprepared         MacDougall  Buaidh no bas / To conquer or die         MacNeil To Conquer Or Die          Lindsay Endure fort / Endure with strength