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A very special athlete, a special person.

Scotland has produced many very good distance and ultra distance runners who are known all over the world for their skills and fortitude.   Given the nature of the country this is maybe not surprising but names such as  Colin Donnelly, Helene Diamantides and Angela Mudge have learned their trade  and developed their skills (for hill running demands particularly wide ranging skills) and then shown them further afield in the various hill and mountain championships, international matches and races.    Finlay Wild, who has done so well in the past 12 years is ‘the fully fledged package’ I am told by hill runners, but the only question is will he stand the test of time?   He does not have the breadth of racing experience that those already mentioned have.  One would hope that he had another ten years at least at the top but only time will tell.

  Angela is one of the very finest: she has run on all five continents,  in all temperatures, on all sorts of surfaces and over distances from the local Cathkin Braes to an eight day trans Alpine and in events using bicycles as well as running (eg the Highland Duathlon of 20 miles running plus 30 miles cycling).   This has been in addition to the more conventional domestic races such as the district and national cross-country championships, her own club’s Carnethy races , and others.   

The survey of her career below is by Colin Youngson, himself a noted endurance athlete with three Scottish marathon victories to his credit and a total of 10 Scottish marathon championship medals in his cabinet at home.  This is followed by pages on 

Angela’s Career in the Hills  by Denis Bell,  Angela’s own 0verview on some of her  Adventures in the Hills, 

Her travels and racing career  over 5 pagesand then

some pages of her own photographs. starting on that page.  

Angela Mudge in the Carnethy colours at the Ben Nevis Hill Race in 2008.

 One of the best hill runners we have had in Britain is an English born woman who has run her entire career for Scotland – Angela Mudge is world famous.   We just had to include her here.

Doug Gillon at his best is a superb journalist who passes on a lot of information in every piece he writes but mixes it in with illuminating comment and a degree of insight which is all too often missing from our sports pages.   In an article in ‘The Herald’ of Friday, 23rd September 2005 he wrote an excellent article about one of our greatest endurance athletes – Angela Mudge – which I will reproduce in its entirety here.    He wrote:

A mountain to climb?   Mudge now at her peak.   Leading endurance athlete tells Doug Gillon she is now ready for the ultimate challenge.

In some sports Angela Mudge would travel business class with a retinue of managers and medics, living in five-star luxury, her future assured by whacking endorsement income and prize money.   Her recent winnings were a Swiss cheese and a voucher for a bunch of flowers.   She declined.   Vases, when you live in a tent, are excess baggage.

Hill-running is an under-estimated discipline.   As befits its rigours, competitors take life and hazards in their stride.   Mudge has spent two months during the past year on crutches after radical surgery to correct a serious knee problem that already had her considering alternative sports.   “I’d worn away all my knee cartilage – more to do with my running style than with the sport itself,” she said.   “I was running on the bare bone of my femur, so the surgeon drilled a lot of holes, which stimulates scar tissue and I could run again.   My knee was more painful afterwards than before, I was prepared for that, but was allowed to run for only 10 minutes even months after the operation.   I deliberately did not ask about the success or failure rate in order to keep a positive frame of mind.   It was only six months later that a physiotherapist told me that there were lots of people for whom the operation did not work.   Taking rehab slowly has been the key to success, although I had plantar fasciitis which put me out of action again from the end of May to the beginning of July this year.”   Since then she has recovered dramatically training for five weeks and racing four times in Switzerland.

“I won three races and was second in the Swiss Championships on the Matterhorn.   There was a raclette cheese for winning one race and a 50 franc voucher from a flower shop for another which I gave back.   There was nothing for the third but it’s not about the prizes.”   Mudge reckons she is short of the form required to reclaim the individual crown at the world mountain running trophy, but still believes the Scottish women’s team can be on the podium.   In her final race before her departure for Wellington, where she leads the Scots on Mount Victoria, Mudge won the world masters title in the Lake District by nearly three and a half minutes.   “It was the first time I’d raced downhill since the operation,” said the 35 year old Carnethy runner.

In the 2000 World Mountain Running Championships, Mudge won the world title, while in 2003 she won silver and led the Scottish team to gold in the only athletics discipline in which Scotland now competes at world level.

Overtaking on some descents can be more hazardous than on a Formula One racetrack.   Mudge is a former winner of the world climbathon on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo where there were sheer drops.   She had to sign a disclaimer absolving organisers from liability.   Little wonder.   This was the mountain on which ten British squaddies got lost for several weeks yet it was all in the day’s run to Mudge.   She has raced in New Zealand before having speent six months there with a boyfriend.   Laureus tried to tempt her home when she was short listed for the world extreme sportswoman of the year title but she declined the all-expenses trip.

The only other British nominees were in other categories.   Steve Redgrave, David Beckham, Jonathan Edwards and Lennox Lewis among 75 luminaries boasting 316 Olympic and World titles at a glittering gala dinner in London’s Albert Hall.   Mudge preferred a meal cooked in the open “and camping in a tent high up in the Southern Alps”.   She added that she did not possess a little black dress and would only have wandered around collecting autographs.

A Stirling University chemistry graduate with a PhD and MSc, she worked temporarily as a research assistant with a recycling agency for six months over the winter while in rehab but quit for the competitive season.   She cycled and camped the length of Switzerland to cut costs.   “Sometimes I meet up with other runners and I’m happy to join them but I am just as happy to do everything myself, preparing meals on my little gas cooker.”

Mudge overcame being born with her feet facing the wrong way and the boredom of track running as a teenager – she has never done it since – to become Britain’s greatest hill racer.   She has collected the UK cross-country title and contested the world championships in that discipline along the way, but the hills are where her heart lies.

“Before this latest operation I was unsure whether I would be able to carry on running.   I would just have picked another sport, like cycling, which is compatible.   It was always in the back of my mind.   I’ve set no goals for New Zealand.   It’s more of a trail race than open mountain so it will be quick and I’m not as sharp as I’d wish.   It would be stupid to focus on the top fve when I could finish fifteenth and still have an excellent run, but I think we can medal if all the girls run well.”    The Standard Life Scottish team includes Tracy Brindley, the 2003 individual world bronze meallist, and British champion Jill Mykura and runner-up Sula Young, but is minus Lyn Wilson, Mudge’s clubmate and former world gold medal team-mate who tackles the Berlin Marathon tomorrow.

“I did not go out too early to New Zealand,” adds Mudge, “because it would be just another week with disturbed sleep.   I don’t do time change well.   I like to see the course, but too much of it beforehand is not good for me.   If you’re having a bad run, you know what is coming up.”

Whatever the outcome, there is no end in sight.   “I can’t see myself doing world and European championships for many years more”, she says, “but I’ve missed a lot of races through doing championships.   I’ll continue until my body falls apart.   With any luck I’ll still be doing women’s 65+ races in 30 years.”

That’s the end of Doug’s article and she did indeed run in the World Mountain Running Championships that year – and won the W35 age group race while finishing 20th overall.

When researching this article we were advised to look at the Wikipedia article on Angela Mudge – and it was all there!   Her entire career up to and including 2008 when she won the Ben Nevis race and the Sky Race in Switzerland with three seconds in Switzerland, Italy and the WMRA Championships.   They have done a very good job and those interested in Angela Mudge as an outstanding hill-runner should look it up at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Mudge    That will give the whole story of the wonderful career of Angela Mudge so far.    You will already have noted a lot about her character, her integrity and her competitive nature from Doug’s writing.   Angela has been inducted into the Scottish Athletics Hall of Fame.

What more to add here?   Well   we have already noted that an ambition was to run the Lakeland Classics in her ‘50th year’ (V50.) but like many an aim, a bit interrupted due to Covid. We shall see what develops  on that front..??!!

And of course, she has shown herself a dedicated sportswoman giving back to the sport  (‘shedloads’ says DB) she loves her work with Scottish Athletics..  She can relate to athletes’ needs and aspirations, has great friends in the sport, and finds it so good to be able to communicate with and on behalf of kindred spirits.   

Last word to Denis: “It cannot be said often enough that this wonderful adopted daughter of Scotland is a treasure.. so highly respected and so admired as a brilliant athlete, and person of such upstanding credibility.   The Star burns brightly.”

1995 – 2010

Going into this phase of Angela’s career, and bearing in mind that very few Scots have experience of such extreme hill running as she has, or have competed in races as far afield as she did almost as a matter of course, we should note with reference to some of the following events: 

1.   Back in ‘97, at the 4th Euro Champs., she got 4th behind the Italian Ladies,1,2 and 3… but beating Carol Greenwood (the brilliant English lady) into 5th..
2. At Bergen, there’s interesting informational detail like she had trained 6 weeks at altitude (St Moritz, and Davos) and was cycling and camping – in the Rhone Valley and went for the Susa race which was poor, but then at Bergen it was like ‘effortless’ .. beating Birgit Sonntag, Germany (who had been winning everything)
3.  Sierre Zinal.. when Angela got the record, 2001, none other than Veronique Marot  held it for at least 10 years previously.  Angela took 5 minutes from it and she became the first woman under 3 hours.   
4. For the Alaska WMRT, Angela had spent Summer in Colorado.  In the race she was second and won first team along with Tracey and Lynne.
5. In Shilthorn, Alps, the race has an ending called ‘the infernal 1/2 mile’ which is uphill for 2,500 metres and then the last 400 is desperately steep (Angela’s absolute ‘cup of tea’!!) and she felt very strong having been at altitude.
6. There are several Sky-Running events and from those she recalls in particular the Dolomites,  Piz Boe,   over a distance of 24kms, 1 climb, I descent and again doing superbly well and hard for it.
7. Going onto KIMMS (Karrimor International Mountain Marathon which became the OMS) which involves mountain marathons over 2 days  and bivvying out overnight,  Angela recalls the event at ‘Manor Water’ (Dumfries and Galloway) in ’95 and says the weather was shocking.   With Nicola Davis she got First Elites; then same in South Wales in ‘96 again with Nicola. … 

These are a few of the many quite outstanding feats which she has to her credit and they should be borne in mind while studying the following tables – ‘endurance events’ is not an accurate description of most of them, they are more than that.

Angela’s comments on the Mountain Marathons are – 

“KIMM in 1995 was manor water in the Borders and gorgeous weather.

1996 it was Dumfries & Galloway and shocking weather!

2003 I was 2nd overall with Brendan Bolland in the elite, def our best result. Cheviot.”

KIMM – Karrimor Mountain Marathon.   Run in teams of two, read more about it at  Original Mountain Marathon – Wikipedia

LAMM – Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon

WMRT – World Mountain Running Trophy                           0/a   Overall

***  First Mixed Team

The Early Years  Cross-Country   Hard Running Years  2    Injury Troubled Years

perhaps the most exciting new talent to emerge north of the Border since Bobby Quinn.

Clark Murphy (12th April 1969) of Pitreavie AAC has one major claim to fame: he was the first home born Scot to be chosen for the GB cross-country team after Scotland, along with Wales and Northern Ireland, as a competing country was merged with its larger neighbour.   ‘Home born’ because Chris Robison who also ran that year was born in Derby in England and had actually represented England before coming north of the Border.   He was to become Scottish international runner for many years and served on the Sports Council after settling here.   Clark who had been born in Dunfermline lived in Manchester from the age of seven until he was sixteen when he returned to Dunfermline, joined Pitreavie AAC where he was trained by John Wands.

Although most of Clark’s best performances were over the country he was also a very good track runner indeed and he still holds several club track records

He didn’t compete as much as one might have expected but he did have an almost chronic chest complaint which made his achievements at club, Scottish and GB level all the more remarkable.   

He first appeared in the East District League Results on 12th October at Hawick where as a Senior Boy he was second to Stuart Rankin of Falkirk Victoria Harriers  by four seconds and only one second ahead of third placed P Fettes of Lasswade.   He did not compete further in the League that year, nor did he run in the District Championship, but he did run in the National Championships in February where he finished eighth of 78 runners to be first Pitreavie athlete to finish.   That summer (1986) he was competing as in the Youths (U17) age group and on 24th May, Clark won the East District Youths 1500m title at West Lothian in 4:05 by two seconds from Terry Reid, who would be one of hiss most ferocious rivals in the years to come.   He followed this championship by taking the SAAA national Under 19 Championships on 7th June,1986, at Crown Point in Glasgow in 4:04.9.   Later in the month on Wednesday, 25th June, at  Meadowbank in an Open Graded meeting, he ran in the second heat of the 800m and recorded the time of 1:58.04 .

Clearly in good form, he went into the winter season in October and was one of the Pitreavie Young Athletes team along with Matthew Kelso and Jason Hemmings which won the event from 35 other teams on 18th October.   The Young Athletes Championships requires one Junior Boy, one Senior Boy and one Youth, running in that order.   Kelso had been third fastest of the day on the first stage, followed by Hemmings who was fastest in his segment of the race by one second, and Murphy was also fastest on his leg, 17 seconds quicker than the second best.  Missing all League matches, as well as the East District Championships in January,  he ran in the National Youths Cross-Country Championships at Callendar Park on 21st January when he finished second to the much under-rated Terry Reid of Dundee Hawkhill Harriers, beaten by 10 seconds.   

Into Summer 1987 and it would be a quite outstanding one for the youngster from Pitreavie.   He won the Scottish Under 20 Championship in 15:09.8 and followed it up in style when on Saturday, 18th July he travelled to England and won the AAA Junior 5000m in 14:39.19, with David Donnet of Springburn Harriers second.   He went on competing into August and on 3rd August, 1987: he set a club 1500m record of  3:53.95 when winning the event in the GRE Cup at Gateshead.    He came down a distance or two on 15 August, in Birmingham, when he ran 50.2 seconds for 400m when representing the club in the BAL organised Gold Cup.   This superb running over 400m, 1500m, 5000m, the winning of both national titles (Scottish and British) gained Clark selection for Great Britain and on 21st August he flew to West Germany to compete for GB over 5000m v West Germany and Switzerland.    The race was at Lage in West Germany and the result of the 5000m was

 1 Arndt FRG 15:03.58, 2 Kevin Holmes 15:11.44, 3 Richter FRG 15:32.38, 4 Clark Murphy 15:44.30, 5 Weisskopf SUI 15:55.30, 6 Marvell SUI 16:07.80. 

Although Pitreavie had four teams out in the Eastern District Cross-Country Relay championships in October 1987, Clark did not run.   He did run in the National Relays however at the end of the month and was 13th on the first stage.   The next major championships were in January but first, also in January was a representative appearance.

10th January, 1988 was the date of the Celtic Countries International held that year at the Beach Park in Irvine.   Clark was running for Scotland in the Junior race where he was first in 25:21 leading a Scots clean sweep in which Ian Tierney (East Kilbride) was second (25:23) and Terry Reid third (25:26).   He followed this a week later, 16th, in the East District Championships at Hawick where he was again victorious in 36:00 for the Six Miles course with Terry Reid second in 36:03.   The trial for the GB team to run in the World  championships was held in Gateshead on 30th January, on a muddy course, on a wet day and Clark ran well enough to finish sixth, one place of Winchester (and Clydebank) runner Malcolm Campbell who had chosen that morning to defect from Scotland to England.   This ensured him of selection for the GB team to compete in the World Championships in Auckland at the end of March.   Another consequence of the run was that he was selected to run as part of a three man Scottish junior team to run in Lograno, Spain, on Sunday 21st February.   

It all looked good for the National, held again at Beach Park.   The result was never in doubt with Clark winning by a clear margin from his conqueror of the previous year, Terry Reid.   The result: 

1988, Juniors:  1.   Clark Murphy (Pitreavie)  26:21;   2.  Terry Reid  (Dundee Hawkhill Harriers)  27:05;   3.  Mark Wallace (VPAAC)  27:17

The following report is from “Scotland’s Runner” of April, 1988:   “Clark Murphy, the only home Scot to feature in Britain’s World Cross-Country team (Chris Robison was born in Derby) , is perhaps the most exciting new talent to emerge north of the Border since Bobby Quinn.   He scraped into the UK team for New Zealand by finishing sixth in the mud of the McVitie’s trial at Gateshead.   ‘I don’t like the mud,’ said the 18-year-old athlete from Fife.   But perhaps of more significant impact on his final place was the fact that just six weeks before the race he could not jog the three miles from his home to the Pitreavie club where he trains.   ‘I had to stop and walk,’ he said.   A chest infection, not for the first time, had struck him down, but the difference a few weeks could make was dramatically demonstrated when he scored a runaway success in the national junior cross-country championships at Irvine, winning by 44 seconds from Terry Reid of Dundee Hawkhill.   A year earlier he had finished glazed and almost blacking out, runner-up behind Reid.   ‘I had collapsed with a lung infection at the East District event, and probably should not have run at all,’ he said.     But what was a heroic silver medal was of no interest to Clark.   ‘It’s on the mantelpiece at home – my mother dusts it, but I’ve not even looked at it.   I lost after all.’

Coached by John Wands of Rosyth, the teenager had dramatic success when he captured the AAA junior 5000 metres title in only his third attempt at the distance.   ‘It was a tactical race – the time was 14 min 39 sec – and I certainly can run a lot faster than that,’ insisted Clark.   That claim is borne out by his 3000m personal best of 8-17, and his shorter distance bests reveal that he has nothing to fear in a sprint finish.   He clocked 50-2 for 400m in the GRE Plate, and has run 1:53.3 for 800m, and 3-53-9 for 1500m.   His principal target this year is the world junior championships in Sudbury, but before making it to Canada, he hopes to defend that AAA title.   He is also eager to pursue some form of sponsorship,   He has recently finished a one-year YTS electronics course  with Marconi.   ‘Now I would like to get full-time employment, hopefully something sympathetic to my running,’ he says.”

The IAAF World Cross-Country Championships were held at Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland in New Zealand on 26th March, 1988.   With 96 running, Clark was 51st and second British runner to finish in  a team which was 11th of 14 complete finishing teams.   Chris Robison was 109th out of 204 starters in the Senior men’s race, and Laura Wight (nee Adam), the London based athlete running for the GB women’s team, completed the Scots trio when she was last British counter in the women’s race.    

Going into the summer 1988 season, Clark was obviously fit and ready for even better things.   On 1st May, in the Scottish Men’s League, Clark was third in the 1500m at Crown Point in 3:56.2, and then on 18th May, 1988 he ran in the 1500m for the SAAA against the League Select.   The SAAA Junior Championships  were held on 23 and 24 June and Clark won the 1500m title, won the previous year by his clubmate David Arnot, in 4:03.12.   He had not forgotten about the 5000m however and he won that one too in 15:23.2.   He won the 1500m on 3rd July, 1988 at Cupar Highland Games before receiving some good news.   On 8 July, the ‘Courier’ reported that he had been awarded a training grant of £250 from the George Dallas Memorial Trust.  After his comments in the Scotland’s Runner quoted above, it was a most welcome addition to his funds.  A rib injury from work had disastrous consequences caused him to pull up when defending his AAA Junior 5000m title, which must have been serious disappointment.   

He again missed the first relay championship of the winter when the East District championship was held on 18th October at Musselburgh, but he also missed the National Relays a week later.   In January, 23rd, 1989 he ran in the East District Junior Cross-Country Championships where he was secoind to his long-time rival Terry Reid who won by eleven seconds.   The National at Hawick on 25th February was againd won by Clark who defeated Ian Tierney by 18 seconds with Terry back in fifth position.   Clark competed the following summer and on 29 April 1989 in the Men’s League Match at Aberdeen  he won the 800m in 1:56.1 .   

Clark had three years as a junior cross-country runner and in 1889-90 he started by missing the relay championships, but in the East District championships he finished second to Ian Falconer at Galashiels Academy on 20th January.    We hear very little after that – basically Clark’s career as a top class distance runner in Scotland was over.   That he had talent is not, never has been, in doubt.   He achieved a lot on the track (AAA’s and SAAA’s titles) and ran for Great Britain on both track and cross-country.  Unfortunately his career was blighted by illness and injury and he is said to have emigrated to New Zealand, hence the sudden cessation of his running.   That this was a loss for Scottish running is not in doubt.   Note his best time and note that the 3000m is also a Senior record.

What follows is Joe McGhee’s own account of his time in Shettleston Harriers as enclosed in a letter to Frank Scally in 2002.which can be seen by clicking on the link.   There is more about Joe’s career at  this link , and of the Vancouver race  here.     For now, read what he himself had to say: it illuminates the other two articles and his friendship with Allan Scally. 

SHETTLESTON HARRIERS

DISTANCE RUNNING: 1052 – 1962

PART ONE

My period of active running with the Club was as a senior from 1952 to 1962.   As a youth however with St Modan’s AAC and Glasgow University H & H I remember watching and admiring Shettleston stalwarts such as Harry Howard, Charlie McLennan, George Craig, Jimmy Stuart and JC Flockhart in the late fprties.   Though I joined Shettleston Harriers in 1952, I was not allowed to compete in team races for my first two years after moving from St Modan’s AAC and missed another couple of years through injury.   I was extremely fortunate however that these eleven years were the Club’s most successful in distance running.   Other eras of course had magnificent individual performances – notably Jim Flockhart’s five National Crosscountry wins and his international championship victory in the thirties and Nat Muir’s eight National Crosscountry Championship wins in the seventyies and eighties.   Though our era had its individual National Crosscountry Championship winners too, notably Eddie Bannon (four times), Alistair Wood and Graham Everett, the latter better known perhaps for his magnificent wins in the British and Scottish Mile Championships, the fifties and early sixties saw an unrivalled strength in depth in our team victories.   In addition to many wins in Midland and Lanarkshire crosscountry and road relays, our team strength was shown in two major events in the calendar – the National Crosscountry Championship (six wins, a second and three third places) and the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay (four wins, five runners-up and a third place). 

The best National Crosscountry team performance in the history of the Club was in 1959 when we scored our lowest ever pointage, 56 (A Wood 1, G Everett 4, J McGhee 5, G Govan 10, I Donald 15 and C Wallace  21).   In my opinion, however, our greatest and most exciting team victory was in the 1959 Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay – not the fastest of our wins but the most memorable fight against adversity.   The team found itself sadly depleted by the absence of our three National Crosscountry champions, Eddie Bannon, Graham Everett and Alistair Wood, and top runners like Ian Cloudsley , our 1954 Scottish Youths Crosscountry champion but the reserves rose magnificently to the occasion.   On the first leg Clark Wallace ran very well to finish in the leading bunch and I then managed to take the lead with my best-ever six miles to Broxburn to establish a new lap record of 29 minutes 39 seconds.   From then on, Hughie Mitchell, George Govan, Henry Summerhill, Hugo Fox, R Wotherspoon and W Gorman all ran magnificently to hang on grimly to win.   Other members of our successful teams on the road and over the country during this period were Harry Howard, John Eadie, Ben Bickerton, Tommy Malone, Willie Gallacher, Walter McFarlane, T Kelly, J Turnbull, T Walters, J Burton, J McNeil, J Campbell, J More, A Orr, D Bridges and J Hendry.

So strong were we as a club, both seniors and youths, that we could afford to call our selves  “Lanarkshire”  and compete effectively against County teams.   Two memorable and lavishly hospitable trips were to Fort William in September, 1954, against Lochaber, and at Elgin the following summer against Morayshire.   At Fort William in one of my first competitions after the Empire Games marathon the previous month, I won the seven miles race (combining road and six laps of heavy grass track) in 34 minutes 36 seconds against a strong field including Ben Nevis winners Brian Kearney and Eddie Campbell, and Walter McFarlane was runner-up.   At the Elgin meeting, I again ran against Eddie Campbell to set a record for the twenty-four miles Elgin to Forres and back.

PART TWO

Clark Wallace to Eddie Bannon in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay

The outstanding crosscountry personality in this era was undoubtedly Eddie Bannon.   His early promise in finishing fourth as a Junior in the Semior International in Paris was to see him develop into one of Scotland’s finest-ever crosscountry runners and captain of the national team.   He had a natural grace and balance that enabled him to skim over the roughest country.   He would lead our fast pack in a training regime that certainly toughened everyone up, involving an informal Fartlek style with unexpected and apparently random bursts that left the rest of us trailing and, by the time we caught him up again, he was ready for another spurt.   Eventually I developed an eye for the type opf terrain on which his spurts occurred (usually up hills) and I would hang on blindly until he slackened and then try to continue past him for a few more yards.   In crosscountry races however it was a different story and I usually saw his back all the time, only once beating him when I finished third in the 1955 National Championship at Hamilton.   

I had the edge over Eddie on the road however my marathon training sharpening me up remarkably over much shorter distances. (for example, my wins in the Nigel Barge five miles road race in 1955 and 1956, on the latter occasion setting a new record of 22 minutes 40 seconds).   He was also a fine track runner.   However in my one and only track race against him, the six miles at Barrachnie on 17th December, 1955, I managed to beat him in 30 minutes 31 seconds with George Govan in third place.

A comparatively rare crosscountry event was the Inter-District Championship and International Trial organised by Shettleston on 9th January, 1954.   It was easily won by the |Midland team with Eddie the leading man home and myself in second place, but the going was extremely heavy with ploughs and two burns to cross and I found that my crosscountry rubber studded shoes were of little help.   Allan Scally however advised me to run always in spikes even when short stretches of road had to be negotiated.   This advice was to prove invaluable a month later when Shettleston Harriers finished first and second in the RAF Northern Area Championship at Dishforth in Yorkshire, despite the presence of English internationalists in the field.   The conditions were so appalling (six inches of snow) that the event was about to be postponed for a second time.   Meeting the organisers in the Officers Mess however, I suggested putting a bulldozer round the airfield perimeter track and holding the race over two laps.   Frank Scally and I then decided to follow his Dad’s advice and wear spikes in the resulting hard-packed snow and ice covered road.   Though the going was extremely slippery, I won by about three hundred yards and Frank ran his best ever race to finish second, ahead of Pat Ranger, the RAF champion and English internationalist who was to finish third in the International Crosscountry Championship the following month.

In the medium length road races (13 to 15 miles) the vetrean Harry Howard and I had quite a number of victories at Highland Games all over the country during this period.   Though small in stature Harry was exceedingly tough and rugged individual but, being rather prone to injury as he grew older, he believed firmly in the cuative powers of running in the sea on the Ayrshire beaches near his Kilmarnock home.   A very strong starter, his finish was rather suspect however and indeed in my own very first road race victory in the Kilsyth 13 miles in the early fifties I caught him at the entrance to the track.   My next victory, at Kilmarnock, was due to Harry’s help as he appeared on a motor cycly advising me that the leader, the redoubtable Emmet Farrell of Maryhill, was tiring.   No one could write Harry off however and in his last few seasons before emigrating to Australia he made a habit of suddenly appearing in the last races of the Highland Games circuit and shocking the somewhat jaded opposition.   

Ben Bickerton to Harry Howard in the Edinburght to Glasgow Relay

My own happiest hunting grounds over these years were at Games in the east in places like Dundee, Aberfeldy, Anstruther and Dunblane with perhaps my most memorable victory being at the Coronation Cup 15 miles at Dundee when I was booed by small boys round the Dens Park track as it was my first win over the local favourite, the then Scottish marathon champion, Charlie Robertson of Dundee Thistle.   My best performances (excluding the full marathon) were at longer distances than the Highland Games afforded.   For example in an attempt to gain publicity for selection for the Empire Games, I ran the 23.25 miles from North Berwick GPO to the Edinburgh GPO on 8th December, 1953, in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 19 seconds, breaking the record set in 1930 by almost 33 minutes and, in 1955, I won the Scottish Marathon Club’s 20 miles championship at Cambuslang in atorrential downpour in 1 hour 45 minutes and 9 seconds.

In the ultra-long road races, the Club had a notable performer in Tommy Malone.   As a boy, he approached me after I had appeared in a Sports Panel at Coatbridge Town Hall in late 1954 and I recommended him to contact Allan Scally at Shettleston Harriers at St Bridget’s Youth Club, Baillieston.   Thin, indeed slight in appearance, he developed rapidly, was third counting man in our winning National Crosscountry teams in 1961 and 1962, and played a vital role in our Edinburgh to Glasgow road relay successes.   His greatest achievement however occurred after he emigrated to South Africa when he won the renowned Comrades Marathon, 54.25 miles over the very hilly road from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. 

PART THREE

It was at the full marathon distance however that the Club recorded its greatest success, I myself winning three Scottish Marathon Championships in a row, 1954, 1955 and 1956 (a feat that was to stand for almost the next forty years) and Hugo Fox, till then a steady reliable team member, running his best ever race to win the 1958 title.   The marathon performance however that is still frequently recalled nearly fifty years later is my victory in the Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouiver in 1954, in recognition of which the SAAA awarded me the Coronation Cup as the Scottish Athlete of the Year, Shettleston Harriers gave me a reception, a silver salver and honorary life membership, the Scottish Marathon Club made me their first honorary life member and Falkirk Town Council gave me a civic reception and presentation.

My best time for the marathon however was in 1955 when I broke my own Scottish record by almost ten minutes.   My time of 2 hours, 25 minutes and 50 seconds won me the Crabbie Trophy for the Best Performance in the SAAA Championships.  This same year too I won all the races to become the Scottish Marathon Club Champion.   For four years running at this time (1953, 54, 55 and 56) the SAAA also awarded me the D McNab Robertson Memorial Trophy as the best Scottish runner in the world.   The one race however that nearly fifty years later is regularly recalled in the media, is the Vancouver Marathon.   The British Empire and Commonwealth Marathon, 1954, has been labelled one of the ten greatest races of all time.   The awful collapse of England’s world record holder, Jim Peters, is featured again and again.   Certainly I have never known a race so packed with extraordinary incidents – from pre-race disputes about the length of the hilly course and the bizarre methods by individual runners to combat the torrid noon-day heat and sustain themselves throughout, to the ‘madman’ who tried to gatecrash the start.

Unfortunately many myths have grown up round this race and most of them concern my own part in it.   Even an authority like Norris McWhirter wrote  “Joe McGhee, an RAF officer, having fallen five times, signalled for an ambulance.   While sitting in the ditch waiting for it, he heard that Peters and Cox were out of the race, so up got the bold Scot and finished the course to win.”   The only true items in that statement are that I was a Scot, an RAF officer and that I won the race!   The truth was that Peters, the world record holder, was so hot a favourite that the reporters were concentrated in the stadium watching the ‘Miracle Mile’ between Landy and Bannister.   At no time did I ‘collapse’.   Indeed, I was engaged in a very active race for what I thought was second place, pulling away from the two South Africans, Jackie Mekler and Johan Barnard over the last four miles and never knew that I was first until just outside the stadium.   My first reaction at this news was one of complete panic.   I risked a glance back and there was no runner in sight.   Knowing that I couldn’t be beaten, I never felt better in any race and finished very strongly in the sheer pandemonium in the stadium.   My time (2 hours 39 minutes and 36 seconds was much slower than my own best time but considering the atrocious conditions, creditable enough and as Emmet Farrell was to write about a different race in 1958, ” A championship victory is superior to a record time.”    

It would take far too long to detail the many incidents of the race.   My race-plan however was simple.   I had promised my Dad and Allan Scally the Club coach, that I would run my own race and, no matter what happened, complete the course.   I was competing after all against the fastest marathon runners in the world, and despite my own Scottish record, I was not reckoned among the top competitors.   Nevertheless I had still a little spark of ambition and privately determined to latch onto the leaders until I judged their pace too hot for me.   I would then concentrate on finishing.   I managed to stay with Peters and Cox until between eight and nine miles when Peters suddenly launched himself into a tremendous spurt up a hill.   He chose the psychological moment to kill off the opposition and was indeed aiming at a new world record – which was obviously out of the question in these conditions/   The pace was clearly suicidal for me and I at once dropped back and ran completely alone at a pace a good half minute slower per mile than I was capable of.   My tactics were in the final outcome to prove successful. 

PART FOUR

.Allan Scally with Graham Everett (left) and Joe McGhee

I cannot end without some words of appreciation for Allan Scally.   To me he epitomised the essential friendliness of Shettleston Harriers.   I first met Allan when he accompanied Shettleston Harriers on their annual inter-club runs with St Modan’s AAC in Stirling.   Then I was the only St Modan’s runner able to take out Shettleston’s fast pack (on one occasion nearly drowning an irate John Eadie in the Bannock Burn in spate).   Later Allan was most helpful and generous with his advice when I used to meet him in his capacity as SAAA starter at Highland Games.   Never once however did he try to persuade me to join Shettleston Harriers.  I did so entirely on my own initiative, approaching him at Bridge of Allan Games in 1952.   

He was a great professional track athlete and successful fell runner, as Scally of Broomhouse’ winning the World 10 Miles Championship in 1927, 28, 29, 31 and 32.   He was an even more successful and inspiring coach, moulding many young novices to championship winners.   Though a professional he was the finest amateur I ever knew.   He really loved the sport and unselfishly gave of the fruits of his experience to young an mature athletes alike.   His work at Shettleston Harriers and St Bridget’s Youth Club, Baillieston, was universally appreciated.   Yet ironically because of his early achievements he was never to my knowledge invited to accompany the International Crosscountry team even when, as in Lisbon in 1959, almost half of the Scottish team were Shettleston Harriers and the other runners he knew well.

I valued Allan not only as a coach however but above all as one of my greatest friends, unassuming yet with an impish sense of fun.   My Dad and I would go home with him for tea after a Saturday run to be welcomed by Lizzie his wife.   I frequently visited them on a Sunday too, and even during the week after meeting him at his work in the Mason’s shop below the Central Station.

Other Club members would frequently drop in especially on the Sunday and Lizzie would busy herself providing meals for us all.   I was proud to be one of her ‘Scallywags’ as she used to call us.   Allan’s untimely death was a great blow to me personally, to all our club members and as evidenced by the packed funeral service to athletes all over the country.

George McNeill setting world 120 yards record at Powderhall

Given the hypnotic effect that footbll has on sportsmen in Scotland, it is no secret and no surprise that many very talented sportsmen who could star as runners, cyclists, swimmers, etc choose to pursue their dreams with the round ball game.  But running is a basic fitness exercis capable of infinite variation, capable of being oursued on any terrain, and suitable for almost every sport.   It is also a real pleasure to do something that you like, meet other sports people and add variety to your fitness routine.   The most famous football/pro athletics connection is probably Bill Struth of the Rangers – over 30 years as a runner on the pro circuit, then trainer at Clyde, Rangers and manager at Rangers for decades after that.  He was never a football player though and there have been many who were players and runners.

 With a fairly long close season it is also obvious that some of these sportsmen will try their hand at their ‘other sport’.   For athletes, such as the late John Freebairn, it was clear that they had to run as professionals on the various Games circuits – the Borders, Fife, the Highlands – and many of them performed well.   Some of these men, who could have starred as athletes and possibly won international honours are noted here to illustrate this.

George McNeill was arguably the best known of all the footballers who ran as a professional sprinter in many Games meetings in this country and in Australia.   He started out as a football player for Hibernian and because of this was never allowed to run subsequently as an amateur and consequently missed out on all the major Games – Olympic, European, Commonewealth – for which his talent would almost certainly have qualified him.   He was however only the best of many football players who ran as pros.   There is the well known story that Bill Struth put off letting Willie Waddell sign professional forms until after the Rangers Sports so that the winger could run in the club sports: unfortunately there is no record of Waddell racing as a pro thereafter.   Some of these players are noted below, and considerable help given by Alastair Macfarlane, Stuart Hogg, Joe Small and Shane Fenton should be acknowledged.   Attention should be drawn to some of them first of all. 

George McNeill played for Hibernian, Morton and Stirling Albion.   He was one of the best sprinters produced by Scotland and, had he been an amateur would have run for Britain.  No doubts about that.   As a sprinter, he won the New Year Sprint in 1970 off 5 1/2 yards in 11.61 seconds, was second in 1971 off scratch, set the professional world record for the 120 yards sprint, and was world professional sprint champion in 1972 after beating American Tommy Smith in three of four races.   After nine attempts to win Australia’s prestigious Stawell Gift race, he won it in 1981.   A marvellous athlete with a great record.   

 David Lowe who played for Forfar FC ran in the New Year Sprint finals twice.   In 1963 when Ricky Dunbar won for the first time, Lowe won his heat of the 120 yards in 11.7 seconds running from the 5 yards mark and went into the cross ties where he won again in 11.7 seconds to qualify for the Final.   He finished third in the Final behind Dunbar and D Campbell from Ballingry in Fife who was off 8 1/2 yards.   An excellent run.   In 1985 he again qualified for the Final, winning the cross-tie in 11.65 from 5 1/2 yards but was unplaced in the Final which was won by I Dickson of Hawick in 11.63 who was running from 6 1/2 yards.   

DJ Bell (Dalston) who played for Carlisle FC was a finalist at the New Year Sprint in 1967 after winning his cross-tie in 11.63 seconds from 8 1/2 yards but was unplaced in the final.   He also won the summer professional 440 yards championship.

The biggest footballing names were Roy Aitken and Murdo McLeod of Celtic, and Sandy Jardine and Willie Johnstone of the Rangers. Aitken played 16 times for Scotland U21 team and 41 times for the Senior team, and McLeod played 20 times for the Scottish Senior football team and at club level played for Dumbarton (90), Celtic (281), Borussia Dortmund (103), Hibernian (78), Dumbarton (66) and Partick Thistle (1).    From the other side of Glasgow, Sandy Jardine played 4 times for the Scottish U23 team and 38 times for the Senior team.   He only played for two teams – Rangers (451) and Hearts (187); and Willie Johnstonplayed for the Scottish U23 team twice and for the Senior team 22 times.   As a player he played all over the world, mainly for Rangers (246 in total) and West Bromwich Albion (207) but he also played for Hakoah Sydney, Vancouver Whitecaps (two spells there), Birmingham City, Heart of Midlothian and in South China.   

Football Players

Roy Aitken (Celtic FC – see above) won the sprint at Loch Lomond Highland Games at Balloch defeating George McNeill in the process

Bill Beaton (Aston Villa and Dunfermline)

Dabber Bell (Carlisle United FC – see above)  New Year Finalist, he also won his Heat in 1968  and Pro 440 yards champion.   When the New Year meeting returned to Powderhall in 1965, he won the half mile.

Alan Blair ( East Fife) Played Goalkeeper and had 124 appearances  fr the club.   He competed on the pro circuit in late 70s and early 80s. He won the 90 metres at Thornton Games in 1980. Reached the final of the New Year Sprint in 1981 won his heat and x tie but was out of first three in the final. He was coached by Stuart Hogg.

Graeme Armstrong (played over 100 games for Stirling Albion , Meadowbank, and Stenhousemuir among others)  In July this year (2021) he won the M65 100 metres at the National Masters Championships.

John Freebairn (Partick Thistle) was a great all-round competitor who would have been an international decathlon competitor, indeed Dunky Wright had seen him as a GB athlete had he not become goalkeeper for Partick Thistle.   John took part in all events at the various meetings on the pro athletics circuit but specialised in the jumping events, with victories in the sprints, hurdles and throws also to his credit.

Johnny Hunter (Motherwell) was a good enough athlete to be a member of the Bradley School who won his way through the first round of the New Year Sprint in 1961 winning his heat of the 120 yards  in 12.71 off 7 1/2 yards but did not progress beyond that.   He won his Heat again in 1966 in 12.31 off 7 1/2 yards by four yards, but did not progress from the cross-tie to the Final.   He ran well at distances up to the quarter mile eg second at Jedburgh in 1972 off the low mark of 4 yards.   

Sandy Jardine, (Rangers FC – see above), member of the team which won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972, frequently ran at the games

Willie Johnston (Rangers FC – see above) member of the team which won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972 was, as fitting for a man from Fife,  also a frequent entrant at the games

Alan Kennedy (Liverpool)[ He competed at a few games in 1976, finished runner up in the 110 metres final at Lanark Pro Games. Famously scored the winning goals in 2 European Cup finals for Liverpool.

David Lowe (Forfar FC – see above) won the 220 yards at Powderhall.   Twice a New Year sprint finalist as noted above.

Steven MacLean was a man of many clubs – Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday, Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle, Yeovil Town, St Johnston, Hearts with loan spells at various other clubs, and played for the Scottish Under 21 team.   He was a very successful striker and you can follow his football career on Wiki at    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_MacLean_(footballer)#St_Johnstone   He is currently assistant manager at St Johnstone.   Born in Edinburgh, He raced and was a familiar figure at most of the Border Games meetings.   

Grant Malcolm (Hibs and Raith Rovers)

Peter Marinello (Hibernian)  In the Scottish Footballers 75m championship at the Meadowbank Pro Games in 1975 Marinello was second to Kenny Thomson and they both competed in several other games that year.

Willie Mathieson, (Rangers) member of the team which won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972 ran at the games 

Malcolm McDonald (Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle United and Arsenal and Djurgarden) competed at a few Games in the mid 70s. Won the 100 metres challenge at the Gateshead Pro Games in 1976.  Running from 5 metres he beat George McNeil (scr.). I n the Footballers 75m McDonald beat Alan Kennedy by half a metre.    As a football player, he was capped 14 times for England scoring 8 goals.

Murdo McLeod (Celtic FC – see above) 

 George McNeill (Hibernians, Morton and Stirling Albion – see above) .

Jimmy Menzies (Raith Rovers)

Rutherford brothers, Harry and Willie,(East Fife) were tough competitors at distances up to the half mile.  They were both coached by  Andy Mitchell of Kelty who also coached Bill McLellan of East Wemyss who won the New Year Sorint in1864.  Harry won the Eric Cumming 100 yards at New Year in January 1965 in 9.88 off 7 1/2 yards. and both were good runners during the summer.   For instance, Willie had a win at Jedburgh in 1967:-

“During the Jedburgh Border Games in 1967, Bill Rutherford of Ballingry raced to his first big win on the sprint track when he won the Jedforest Open Handicap Sprint prize of £150 at Riverside Park. An inside forward with East Fife Football Club, Rutherford flashed through the tape 1½ yards ahead of Stuart Hogg, Kirkcaldy and Derek Anderson, Earlston. The time of 11.20 seconds put the winner in the top bracket as a sound even timer. Sitting off the 8 yards mark, Rutherford came through beautifully to breast the tape a clear winner. It was the kind of win that gives the judges little worry to ponder who really hit the tape first. Up to some 30 yards from the tape, it was the Borders hope Derek Anderson who was challenging top marker Jim Blair of Innerleithen for the lead. Blair, who was off the limit of 16 yards was in receipt of 7 yards from Anderson. Also in the final and running with great power was Stuart Hogg, Kirkcaldy, running from 3½ yards. Hogg, reported to be a training companion of Rutherford, came into the picture at the 100 yards mark. By then, Rutherford was streaking away into the lead. Every stride the runner took was pulling him nearer to his first ever win and a cheque for £150″   Willie won the sprint again in 1968, this time from Archie Affleck    An inside forward with East Fife, he was oof to Australia to play football a month later..    Wikipedia takes up the story:

“Rutherford played youth football for Methil before signing with East Fife where he made 27 league appearances, scoring 11 goals. In the late 1960s he moved to Forfar Athletic where he made only five appearances before emigrating to Australia.  Arriving in Australia in 1969, Rutherford joined Sydney Hakoah, where he played in several stints until the mid-1970s. He also played in Hong Kong during the Australian off-season.   While playing for Hakoah, he represented the state of New South Wales three times. During his time with the club he was noted as a mercurial, unpredictable but undeniably brilliant player, rated by some as Sydney’s most valuable forward.. Rutherford was a very fast runner who took up professional running with some success in the 1970s.”

Ronnie Sharp (Dunfermline and Doncaster) 880 yards.   

George Smith (Partick Thistle) played at outside right and won the Jedburgh sprint.  The official account reads: “at the 1961 Jedburgh Border Games. He carried off the £200 and gold medal first prize in the 120 Yards Open Jedforest Sprint Handicap. Smith, an M.A. (Hons) school teacher from Whitburn, had early established himself as favourite with the fastest heat time, beating local runner Billy Moody who took second prize”

Kenny Thomson (Dunfermline – also played with Alloa, St Johnstone and Cowdenbeath) was a very good runner who also represented Scottish Schools as an  International long jumper.   In the Scottish Footballers 75m championship at the Meadowbank Pro Games in 1975 Kenny Thomson  beat Peter Marinello Hibs,   They both competed at a few other games that year.

Dave Walker (St Mirren, pictured below)  was racing in the 60s and good enough to win two sprints at Jedburgh in 1962  –  27 year old David Walker, an Edinburgh accountant who thrilled the crowd with his great speed as he thrust from the back mark of 4 yards to win the £200 final of The 120 Yards Jedforest Handicap Sprint. Ten minutes later, he did it again to win the British Professional 120 Yards Championship in 11.70 seconds.”    In 1964  he won his Heat of the New Year Sprint from the low mark of 2 yards and finished fourth in the final behind W McLellan (7 yards), S Hogg (6 yards) and N Pentland (13 1/2).  In football, he was a Scottish Cup winner as a goalkeeper with St Mirren in 1959.

J Urquhart (Hearts) won invitation sprint at Jedburgh.

Tommy Walker: (Airdrie, Stirling Albion) Played nearly 300 games for Airdrie in the ‘70s/‘80s, also played for a couple of other clubs. Tommy was a middle and long distance runner, who competed on the road and over the country too.  After he retired he ran to a decent standard for Calderglen Harriers, representing them in the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay in the mid ’80s.   He was probably the only person to have done that and played in a Scottish Cup final. (Celtic v Airdrie 1975.)   He competed in the Long Jump in the Civil Service Championships and also ran a 2:32 marathon.  It seems a bit of an anomaly although he may have had clearance when he retired from the round ball game – a professional football player running in amateur events at that time, including the vets championships.   Read a bit more about him in this article 

  https://www.pressreader.com/uk/airdrie-coatbridge-advertiser/20200826/282106344020352

Noted: Kenny Ashwood: only ran as a junior boy back in the Monkland Harriers days, but good enough to finish second to Nat Muir in the Midland District cross country championships, then seventh in the National Cross Country.   He then went off to concentrate on football, playing for a number of teams including Airdrie, Falkirk, Dumbarton, Ayr Utd., Queen of the South, East Stirling.

Picture from Jedburgh Border Games website

This is the second part of Steven’s profile.   For the first part, go to  Steven Doig – the runner

When he returned to Scotland in 1998 he kept on running but it was not as serious as it had been.   For instance he ran in the Beveridge Park 5K races in 2003 where in May he was second with a time of 16:31 and in June set a record for the course of 16:02.   Good enough running but not of his previous standards.   The problem was of course with his legs – run, start to get fit, get sore legs, stop for a while, repeat.    But as the competitive running tailed away, the coaching career opened up.   It was nt a rushed or hurried decision, nor was he talked into it by a club official.

His next venture in the sport was indeed as a coach.   His experiences as an athlete both north and south of the border, his inquisitive nature and intelligence all indicated that he would be a success in this capacity.   He had been interested in coaching as far back as 1996 when he was in London and got his club coach award.   His actual coaching career started in about 2006 with a small group of 9 and 10 year olds so that his daughter Shona had a group to train with. 

 Because his runners were progressing and performing successfully others joined his group and he  reached the stage where he had to divide them into five or six groups  with assistance from two other adult club members.   The athletes covered three clubs, although the vast majority were Fife members, and covered all age ranges but are mainly U17, U20 and Senior athletes.    Steven, like all good coaches, put in the hours trackside,  with sessions most days at either Kirkcaldy or Pitreavie tracks.   There is also of course the work put in away from the track in organising the year, organising the individual sessions, liaising with physios, medics and other coaches: when we met for lunch on one occasion the first 20 minutes were taken up trying on his mobile to arrange a race for an athlete to get a qualifying time via a whole series of texts.   The time spent and effort put out is appreciated by the athletes and their parents.

Steven as Coach of the Year in 2013

In 2014 one of his athletes, Adam Scott, won the English Under 15 1500m in the championships at Bedford.   The report in the local paper read: “Kirkcaldy athlete Adam Scott finished his season in fine style last Sunday when he won the 1500m title at the England Athletics Under 15 Championships. Adam, who is 14, is a pupil at Balwearie High School and competes for Fife Athletic Club. He is undefeated in his age group over 1500m and prior to his comprehensive victory at Bedford, where he defeated his closest rival by four seconds, he had already won the Scottish Indoor Age Group Championship and the outdoor East District, Scottish Schools and Scottish Age Group Championships. Adam also shattered the Scottish under 15 indoor 1500m record in February taking a whopping 10 seconds off the previous best. 

His victory in the England Athletics Championship is, however, his greatest achievement to date and this win effectively crowns him as British champion as all of the main contenders for this title were present at Bedford. Adam, who is ranked first in Scotland in the under 15 age group over 1500m, had one final outing before hanging up his spikes for the season. At the Pitreavie Trophy meeting on Sunday he won the 800m in 2:02.77 to climb to the top of the rankings in that event too. He will now take a short break before setting his sights on the cross country season where he hopes to win the East District and Scottish titles.

Adam has been coached by Steve Doig as part of the Fife Athletic Club group in Kirkcaldy for seven years and his superb performances this summer will undoubtedly inspire his training partners as they strive to match his achievements.”

 In 2016, 10 years after he had taken up coaching, he was nominated as Coach of the Year by the Kirkcaldy and Central Fife.   The following testimonial was posted on the Fife AC Forum:

Tue May 30, 2016 9:17 am

Adam Scott, U18/U20, has been selected to represent Scotland in the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas in July this year.   

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Adam’s coach Steve Doig for his commitment and support to get Adam to this point. No athlete ever stands alone and Steve has stood with Adam guiding and supporting him through the successes and the failures; always there, always ready to help Adam no matter what – in typical Steve style of course.   Steve has stood in Beveridge park with snow on the ground and has stood track side with the wind and rain belting down all to support Adam and his athletes. As a parent I think that Adam could not have had a better, more dedicated, or more skilled coach than Steve.
Adam has been supported by many others – Gabby Doig, Adam’s training partners in Haraka Kasi, Mark Pollard and Robert Hawkins of the Scottish Athletics National Academy, and Sports Aid Scotland and the Robertson Trust.
Adam is not Steve’s only Commonwealth Youth Games athlete: Bethany McAndrew of Pitreavie AAC has been selected for the 100m hurdles and is part of Steve’s Haraka Kasi training group.

The Team Scotland resume of his career read:

Scottish U17 record holder over 1500m, Adam finished 5th in the 3000m and 9th in the 1500m at the Bahamas 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. A multiple Scottish Age Group champion, with titles stretching back to 2013 as an U15 athlete, 2015 was a breakthrough year for Adam as he took silver at the London Mini Marathon before going on to win gold at both the Celtic Games in the 800m and SIAB Schools International in the 3000m. A Scottish U17 Cross Country title in the winter of 2016 paved the way towards his Scottish record breaking 3.52.07 run over 1500m at a British Milers Club race in Manchester in May. Adam started 2017 in the same vein with gold at the Scottish U20 Championships and Scottish Schools Championships indoors, as well as taking gold at the Scottish Junior Road Race Championships.

Steven with Adam Scott when he was selected for the Commonwealth Youth Games

The bold typeface above is mine just to emphasise further the appreciation expressed.    There is mention of the Haraka Kasi group.  You can follow their athletes progress at https://twitter.com/HarakaKasi .   They describe themselves as an “Athletics training group based round Pitreavie track. Cross club; focused on camaraderie and results – not vests.”   What is it? Like many training squads, his athletes wanted a group identity but Steve resisted one that used his name – ostentation was never his style in any walk of life.   Since the Kenyans are noted distance runners. he came up with the two Swahili words that just mean ‘speed’  or  ‘fast’.    The athletes liked the name and it stuck.   They liked it so much that they all clubbed together, and raised several hundreds of pounds, to buy a personalised car registration plate for him which reads  KA51 RUN for him.   

So far Steven  has had three athletes who have graduated from the elite Scottish athletics National Athletics Academy: Adam is one, graduated in 2018 as did Annabel Simpson (above) who after many very good races in 2017 and 2018, ran in the inaugural Commonwealth Half Marathon in Cardiff in 2018 after running a 76:28 pb.   She was maybe better known as a top class 1500m runner as a glance at her entry in the Power of 10 website shows.   There have also been athletes competing for Scottish international or representative teams.

Most recently there is the running of Owen MIller who graduated in 2016, before either Adam or Annabel.

The covid pandemic in 2020 meant that there was no international racing that year and many athletes had their Olympic dreams put on hold – one of these was Owen Miller who had been aiming for the British Paralympic team.  Coached by Steven, he was one of three Scottish runners to go to the event when it was run in 2021.  Not only did Owen make the team, but he actually won the race with a very good tactical piece of running.   You can see the race on YouTube at Massive Effort Captures Paralympic Glory | Owen Miller | Tokyo 2020 Paralympics – YouTube    .  There were 14 in the race and Owen won by 1.21 seconds.   As anyone can imagine, Steven was delighted at Owen’s race – he has been coaching him since 2016 and the athlete was clearly in good condition physically and mentally properly equipped for the event.   The whole group that he was coaching took a share of the credit for it.   Steven was one of four coaches nominated for the Performance Coach of the Year by Scottish athletics. but despite Owen being the only Scot to win an Olympic 1500m the award went to Laura Muir for her superb run in the  Olympic 1500m where she finished second.

Power of 10 tells us that Steven currently is currently working with a group of athletes, all in the U17, Under 20, Senior and Under 23 age groups, mainly from Fife AC.   Have a look and see the standards being reached.   His success continued to grow and he had a full page in the BMC News dedicated to his and his athletes achievements in 2022/23.   Read it   at this link .

Following on from Owen’s victory and the continued excellence of the athletes with whom he was working, he won the Team Scotland Coach of the Year Award at the end of 2023 winning the trophy shown above.   The award was open to all coaches in whatever sport – the short leet consisted of Steven, who was nominated for the prize alongside Steve Clarke, who has guided the men’s national football side to the 2024 European Championship finals in Germany, and Caledonia Gladiators basketball coach, Gareth Murray, who led them to the British Basketball League (BBL) Trophy in 2022/23.   

Between Owen’s Paralympic victory and the coaching award, the World Para Championships had been held in Paris in July 2023 with the final of the T20 1500 on 17th July.   All three GB representatives were from Steve’s training group: there was Owen Miller who finished seventh in 3:48.22, Steven Bryce, thirteenth in 4:03.8 and there was Ben Sandilands who won the race in 3:52.42.   Into 2024 and the Paris Paralympics saw another very good race from one of Steve’s athletes – Ben won the T20 1500 yo keep the title won by his team mate for the 2020 Paralympics in the training squad with a new world record of 3:45.40   The results above were just the top of the iceberg with Steve’s group competing all over Britain and several of them further afield with very good results.    

Ben after winning the Paralympics

2018 Round the Lakes 10K, Poole, Dorset

“Proving he has what it takes, at 79 years of age, Tom Cochrane completed the race in a solid time of 54:03 to take 4th place in the M70 category and 212th place overall.”

‘Once a runner, always a runner’ might not be true for us all, but it is certainly true for Tommy Cochrane.   Look at the picture above – he’s on the inside of the bend and look at the running action – it’s not somebody just making his way round as a means of getting some exercise.   Of course he appears in the club race reports such as this one from Boscomb Pier 5K, in December, 2014, “1st 75-79 was Tom Cochrane in 24.38. Yes, Tom really is over 75 years of age, hard to believe! ”   

On an earlier page he listed his best times at age 40+, 50+, 60+, 70+ and even 80+.   If we look at his performances as noted on the power of ten website, there is a note of his recent and fairly recent best times.   These include

His entry on the RunBritain website shows a series of 21 events between 2014 (when he was 74) and 2018 (when he was 78).   Races are mainly 5K in distance but include 10K and half marathon.   If we are looking at rankings, then he was ranked in Britain (not just in the club, or County, or Region, or England – in Britain) at number 4 for his parkrun as a Vet 80 in 2018, at number 8 as a Vet 75 in 2017 over 800m and again at 8 as a Vet75 over 5K in 2014.   

Many of his age would find the half marathon distance a difficult walk but it’s just a way of life for Tom.

Coach Cochrane

Tommy was for 37 years a middle distance coach at Bournemouth Athletic Club where he was able to coach athletes to represent England, and Great Britain and also had a lifestyle influence on the many young Middle Distance athletes who passed through the group over the years.  He says,   “In addition [well past my sell by date] being approached by Bournemouth AC committee at 72 Yrs. to come out of retirement and become President. As president I could see a number of areas that required attention, Coaching Secretary. Junior Development Co-ordinator and Middle Distant Coaching. The Junior Development Group [Young athletes 8 – 14yrs] co-ordinator gave me a lot of satisfaction recruiting and organising the coaching education of assistants and coaches [all volunteers and a great bunch of people] to meet EA coaching requirements and the growing number of young athletes.”   

Prior to Covid we had 120 young athletes and 16 coaches attending the Development Group on a Wednesday throughout the year.   For the work that he was doing over this period he was awarded the England Athletics Regional Award for Services to Athletics in 2014,    This is pictured below. 

The coaching did not come out of the blue – coaches don’t just appear, no matter how good a runner they are, they have to learn the trade.   

Tommy took his Assistant Club  Coach qualification when he was just 20 under John Anderson who was the Scottish National Coach at that time. The coaching structure at the time was in three stages – Assistant Club Coach, then Club Coach and finally Senior Coach.   One of the sessions with John was at the Dirrans Sports in Kilwinning.    He didn’t return to coaching for some years after his National Service due to some more serious concerns like getting married, developing his career, etc. He progressed his Coach Education under Frank Dick at Inverclyde in Largs which went from Friday night to Sunday evening on two or three weekends in the year.     He moved south to Bournemouth in August 1984 due to work and joined Bournemouth Athletic Club [BAC] in August. He didn’t start coaching at Bournemouth until almost Christmas 1984 as he had to wait until his coaching qualification [Level 3] was transferred from Scotland to England Athletics.    And that’s how it started.   He started out as a coach when he was 20 years old and the picture below was taken of his development group on his 80th birthday.

They say that if you want a job doing, ask a busy man, they also say that a good club member ‘does what his club needs him to do’.   Whichever of these you believe, or even if you believe both, Tommy’s your man.   Runner and coach, he is also a qualified official.   When asked about that – he didn’t offer the information to start with – he said,  “Yes, I am a level 2 UKA  track official but only started doing in my 70’s due the club being short of officials for League, County and District Championships.”     A track judge does not get the position unless he is experienced and reliable – and he only started doing it in his 70’s.    

We’re still not finished.   Many in athletics don’t seem to recognise the difference between officials and administrators.   They are two different sorts of person.   

*The officials are the people at the long jump pit, on the high jump fan, at the hammer cage, beside the track in all weathers making the event run on the day and dealing with sometimes anxious and stroppy senior athletes or Under 13’s who have forgotten some item of equipment;

*the administrators are the backroom people who get the permits, organise training nights, sort out the running of the meeting, invite the officials, decide the programme of the meeting and so on.   

Tommy has also done his work on the club committee.  He tells us that he has been a Bournemouth AC  Committee member on a number of occasions over the 37 years, only stepping down when he thought the committee needed new or younger people with fresh ideas on it.   He has in fact held the very top post of club president.   On the club website he is currently noted as Coaches Representative.   The photograph and extract below are from the Bournemouth Echo.

“A DEDICATED volunteer who gives up three nights a week to help run an athletics club was given an 80th birthday surprise on Wednesday.   Tom Cochrane, who is originally from Scotland, started working with Bournemouth Athletic Club 34 years ago, shortly after moving down to the area for his work.   For three days a week ever since, he has helped run the club’s children’s sessions, becoming a valuable member of the entirely voluntary coaching team.   At Wednesday’s session, his close friends and family joined more than 100 youngsters in wishing him a happy birthday and thanking him for his “invaluable” efforts.”

The whole article can be read on the paper’s website.   In addition to all of the above, Tom is also a member of South West Vets AC.   A runner, an official, a coach, an administrator – and a wonderful example and role model to any athlete of any age.

Tom in second place, running in the inter-services in Germany

Tom’s running career was in three inter-linked phases.   First as a good club runner with Beith Harriers, then as a National Servicemen with the Army in Germany, and then back at Beith (he had never left it) as an even better runner after his experiences racing and training with the Army.   Tom’s replies to the questionnaire have given us a lot of information about his career highs and lows so it would be right to look at some of the championship statistics on the Scottish scene, starting in 1959.   Abbreviations:   AHCA is Ayrshire Harrier Clubs Association, here stands for the Ayrshire Championships and SWD stands for the South West District.

That is a small selection of results taken from championships – County, District and National – where they were available.   eg County results were few and far between as far as newspaper reports are concerned.   However we should maybe look a bit more closely  at the two seasons where he gained international selection, 1962/3  and  1963/4.

 The Scottish winter season starts  with the short relays, and on 3rd November, 1962, the South Western District Relays were held at Kilmarnock and Beith were second to Ayr Seaforth and Tommy had the fastest time of the day.   A good start for his campaign.   A week later the club was again defeated by Ayr Seaforth, this time in the County Championships and Tom was beaten for fastest time by Jim McLatchie of Ayr, a Scottish track internationalist over one mile,   He was only four seconds down on McLatchie’s 13:12.   McLatchie also beat him in the match between the SCCU Select and Scottish Universities.   That race was won in a tie between McLatchie and Fergus Murray who crossed the line with arms linked, Tommy was fifth with Martin Craven and Callum Laing separating him from the winners.   He was only 24 seconds behind the joint winners.   On 12th January, 1963, he won the Ayrshire title by over 200 yards leading Beith to a team victory.   A week later he won the South West District title from C Aitken of Wellpark by 67 seconds and was clearly in good form for the upcoming national title race.   On 2nd February, Tommy was representing Ayrshire in the Inter-Counties championship at Paisley and finished third behind  Andy Brown and Lachie Stewart and only 11 seconds behind the winner.  He had been racing frequently and was obviously in great form.  Then came the National Championships, held at Hamilton Park Racecourse over the notoriously heavy trail with the big hill incorporated into every lap, Tommy ran well and finished ninth.   The selectors picked the first six runners (Linaker, Wood, Brown, McKay, Craven and Taylor) with the next three (Kerr, Laing and Cochrane) as reserves.   As luck would have it, there were a couple of call offs and Tommy was in the team.   It was held at San Sebastian, Spain, on 17th March.   57th of the 94 runners, he was fourth of the six scoring runners for his country – ahead of Callum Laing (63rd) and Bert McKay (68th)

The following summer, Tommy raced well and at the end of the year had a track best of 14:37.3 for Three Miles.. 

The 1963/64 season was also a good one, marked with racing often and well.  On 26th October, Beith turned out a strong team in the District relay championships.   The South West was a hard championship to win with such clubs as Paisley Harriers, The two Greenock clubs (Glenpark and Wellpark) plus all the Ayrshire teams.   Tom ran on the fourth ‘glory’ leg, turned in the fastest individual time of the afternoon by 26 seconds and the club ran out comfortable winners by 48 seconds.   Shortly after that, 9th November at Kilmarnock, Tom again ran the fastest stage of the day in the Ayrshire County Relay championships but the team was not so fortunate, being defeated by Ayr Seaforth AC.   Tom’s first representative outing of the winter was on 14th December at the Glasgow University HQ at Garscadden, when he ran for the Scottish Cross Country Union against Scottish Universities.   He finished 8th in a race which featured runners of the calibre of Mel Edwards, Ian McCafferty, Fergus Murray and Donald Macgregor.   Ian Harris had by now joined the parachute regiment and was running well for them but he was home in January and on the 18th he defeated Tom in the District Championships by half a minute with the club second in the team race.   With the National Championships coming closer the Inter-Counties Championship was held at Cleland Estate in Lanarkshire on 1st February.   The race was won by Ian McCafferty and Tommy was seventh, just behind Andy Brown and Kenny Ballantine and two places up on Lachie Stewart.   A week later and it was the County Championships on his home course of Beith and he duly won the race with the club taking the team championship.   After a few weeks rest the National Cross-Country Championships were held at Hamilton Park and selection of the Scottish team for the world championships followed immediately after  the race.   Tommy was sixth in a very good field indeed.   The first ten were:   1.   Fergus Murray;  2.  Jim Alder;  3.  Alastair Wood;   4.  Andy Brown;   5.  AIC Heron;   6.   T Cochrane;   7.  S Taylor;  8.   Calum Laing;  9.  Jim Johnston;   10.   Graham Everett.    Given that the top eight were automatically chosen for the international, Tommy went to the race which was held at Leopardstown, Dublin, on March 21st.   He finished 57th of the 79 starters and seventh Scottish scoring runner with Lachie Stewart eighth.   

There were other races in which the club was involved but the biggest road race of the winter was the Edinburgh to Glasgow eight-stage relay with only 20 teams selected to contest the race.   Even ‘making the race’ was a target for many clubs in the land, Beith was one of them and they had been in the race in 1958.   The race had four sets of medals awarded – gold, silver and bronze for the first three teams plus an extra set for an award to the team that in the opinion of the judges had put in the ‘most meritorious performance’.   It was often assumed, wrongly that these were for the most improved club.   However in 1958 Beith had started off with Ian Harris finishing ninth on the first stage.   Ian handed over the baton to Tommy who had the very difficult second stage – a long stage of over 6 miles it was the one where all the big stars ran, it was probably the most competitive stage and the one where, because of the quality of the athletes concerned, it was hardest to pull up a place.   Tommy picked up three places to take the club to sixth, then Ken Phillips picked another on the third stage, followed by A Napier who took the club up to fourth place.   Then it happened – the final four places saw the club drop to 6th, then 10th, 11th  and  12th at the finish.   The following year, 1959,  the Beith Harriers team was a good one, Beith Harriers hoped  to win the prize for the most improved team.    They had a real chance to do so and Tom ran on the first stage and finished a very good fifth crossing the change-over line side by side with Springburn’s Eddie Sinclair, to hand over to the star man, Ian Harris.  Ian had unfortunately fallen off his scooter on the outskirts of Edinburgh prior to running the second lap and never recovered properly, finishing 14^th.   Jim Sloss had to drive Ian’s scooter to the next changeover point, with the result that he did not get a proper warm-up and he also had an off day.   All the other runners ran to form or slightly above and managed to finish in 15^th place.   

Beith had many fine runners in the club at that time – Ian Harris would be SAAA marathon champions and cross-country internationalist but joined the Para Regiment and had a superb athletic career subsequently but was not available for club running, Danny McFadzean was another very good runner who finished high up in marathons at Boston and Kosice as well as domestically but joined the Navy and was unavailable for the club teams, Tommy was a consistently good competitor for the club but had two years away on National Service.   The dream at Beith was to have all three able to run together for the club.    

Although the short report above from the ‘Glasgow Herald’ (the source for the headlines above) reports that it was Tom’s fifth consecutive, it was his seventh overall and although a worthy victory in its own right, over two excellent opponents.    

In the centre row 3rd. from left John Wright [Clydesdale] and 4th. Tommy
[Beith]. In the front row 5th. from left Danny MacFadzean [Beith]

In the post-war period, all boys when they reached the age of 18 had to serve in the Armed Forces for two years National Service.   It took the form of ten weeks basic training before a posting to your regiment for the remainder of your time.   There were regiments known for their sporting prowess – it was good for Britain if their teams performed well and sportsmen usually managed to be able to train and compete regularly.   As a class athlete, Tommy was allocated to a regiment with a good athletics squad.   There were some competitions at home with one of the majors being that between the three arms of the forces – the Combined Services competition featuring the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.   The picture above is of the three teams at one such match.   Tommy, in answering the questionnaire said that one of his best performances was finishing  fourth in the Combined Services Championships at Aldershot. 

His spell in Germany covered the home athletics seasons of 1960/61 and 1961/62 where he was competing for the 28th Signals Regiment, BAOR Athletic Association in International Forces Cross-Country and Track.   Like many other sportsmen in the Army at the time, he was also a member of a German Civilian Athletic Club, Bayer Uerdingen,  that I competed for at weekends in Belgium, Holland and Germany.   

Tommy going on to win the 5000m on the Berlin Olympic warm up track 1961

Where it started:  at Beith, Tommy kneeling in front with trophy

Tommy Cochrane from Beith Harriers was a top class runner over the country where he won Scottish international honours and on the track.   After his career as a top level athlete, he became a very good coach, official and administrator.   As a coach I met him several times at the British Endurance weekends organised by Norman Poole which were held in Manchester, Stoke, Stafford and other points in the North of England – a fair hike from Bournemouth.   Whatever role he filled in a club, he was a great club servant as well as a successful one.

The Cochrane talent was not only seen in Britain – he served his two years National Service mainly in Germany and he raced well there in the company of several GB, Scottish and English international athletes.   If we have a look at some basic statistics for his career we see that 

(a) His best track times domestically were as listed below (figures taken from the SATS ranking lists); it should be noted however that many of his best times  were run ‘furth of Scotland’:

1963, 3 Miles , 14.37.8, 25

1964, 2 Miles, 9.16.01, 9

1964, 3 Miles, 14.32.8, 17

1966, 3 Miles, 14.22.8, 22

1966, 3000m S/ch, 9.31.2, 8

Note however that he also ran on the Continent and in England and these statistics were probably not available to the compilers – no internet in those days.

(b) Over the country he ran for Scotland and for the British Army.  Tommy won the South West District senior cross-country championships seven times (five of them consecutively).   This last was a record for the title which had been won by many Scottish internationalists including the Stevenson brothers from Wellpark Harriers, Ian Harris from Beith,   Jim McLatchie of Ayr Seaforth,  Bill Stoddart of Wellpark Harriers and  Lawrie Spence, Glenpark Harriers.   In view of this outstanding record, he was given the championship trophy to keep in perpetuity when the District merged with the Midland District in 1976.   

Tom completed the questionnaire about his career for us and it provides an insight into his career and personality.

Tommy is in white in the centre of the line up at Beith

Name:   Thomas [Tom] Cochrane.
Club:   Beith Harriers & Bournemouth Athletic Club.   Life Member of both.
D.O.B:   9th. May 1938.
Occupation:   From age of 15 yrs through to retiring at 65 yrs Electrician, Work Study Engineer, Dept. Manager, Management Consultant, Company Director, UK Technical Manager for a German Company

In 1961 at 2TAF HQ, Rheindahlen Germany   

How did you get into the sport initially?   By chance – in October 1953. My friend Ian Kerr and I had been asked by the Kilbirnie Church of Scotland Youth Fellowship to purchase a record player for the fellowship. This involved a 20 mile journey by Western bus to Glasgow. Once we had completed our purchase and arriving home my friend Ian asked what I was doing for the rest of the day as he was going to Beith Harriers in the afternoon and would I like to come along. This was the start of my running for 67 yrs with a break of 2 yrs due to illness.

Personal Bests. [NB: Tommy adds, “All questionable due to necessity of moving south and not being able to take all of his records. To which I would add that there are some things serious runners never forget!]
Track/ Road
800m – 2m 01s ? 10mls – 51m42s?
1500m – 4m 01s ?
3000m – 8m 35s ?
3000m S/c. – 9m 06s ?
5,000m – 14m 55s ?

Since starting running again [but not serious] at over 40 yrs.
40 yrs 10k. 35m 53s
50 yrs 10k. 35m 12s
60 yrs 5k. 20m 42s; 5m. 34m 28s; 10k. 39m 46s; 10m. 72m 16s; 20m 2h 42m; 

70 yrs 800m 3m 52s; 5k 24m 23s; 10k. 54m 03s; HM 2h11.14m
80 yrs. Park 5k 25m 38s  [I was fastest in the UK for a short time before dropping back to 4th. later the same year.]

Has any individual or group had a marked effect on either your attitude to the sport or your performance? 

Firstly, my girl friend Morag, now my wife [of almost 60 years], who has supported and encouraged me since we first met at the age of 19 yrs and who still does today.

Secondly, the old members of Beith Harriers –  George Morrison, Jock Calder, Jack Millar, Matt Dunbar, Alex Neilson and George Murdoch – who talked about their past performances, the competitions they took part in, and the many friends they had made along the way.

Then, one senior club member Kenny Phillips who contributed to my running greatly just by being there every Tuesday Thursday and Saturday for training, travelling to races and giving encouragement.

Others such as Harry Maxwell, Hugh Walker and George Lightbody also had a finger in the pie.

Most recent photograph of Morag and myself at our grandaughter’s wedding PIC

What exactly did you get out of the sport?     A discipline which has enabled me to get the best out of the time available in any one day. Respect for others, their possessions and property as you were representing your family, club or country. Misbehaving in any form in the 50’s and 60’s was frowned upon as Athletics at that time was referred to as the Cinderella sport. Making lots of friends some that are no longer with us and many that I still keep in touch with.
Can you describe your general attitude to the sport?   My attitude to the sport has changed over the years as the management of it has changed. Those early days in Scotland 1950’s to 1980’s there were honourable people who did wonders with a very meagre budget  Men such as George Dallas, Duncan McSwein, Alex Neilson, Bill Armour, John McClurg and many others at that time, who organised and ran the sport in Scotland annually on a shoestring compared to what one elite athlete gets in support from UKA annually. My standard answer to this is that we used to have an amateur sport run by professionals now we have a professional sport run by amateurs. Maybe this is a bit unkind but it does make you think as the depth [not the performance] in any one distance event has diminished.
What do you consider your best performances?   Winning the Ayrshire County and The South West District Cross Country Championships six times. Finishing second. to Ian McCafferty in the British YMCA CC Championships at Paisley. Finishing sixth. in the Scottish CC Championships at Hamilton Park Race Course, getting into the Scottish Team on two occasions. Finishing fourth in the British Forces Combined Services [Army Navy & RAF] Champs. at Aldershot.

Going on to finish 6th. in Scottish CC Champs at Hamilton Race
Course.

Worst performances?    Stepping up from a youth to a junior without really knowing that I should have doubled my training quantity. This ignorance resulted in me taking part in the Senior 6 mile South West District Cross Country Championship when I finished last but one. Needless to say you learn by your mistakes. The same year Andy Forbes, a great friend who was in his mid 40’s at the time, came up alongside me at the Beith New Years Day Race and said come on son when I was nearly dying on my feet and ready to give up. 

What goals did you have that remain unachieved?  Running the Glasgow Half Marathon and the London Marathon. Taking part in the Ayrshire Cross Country Championships one more time just to say farewell to Cross Country but in Scotland. 

What has running brought you that you would not have wanted to miss?  Firstly my wife as we were introduced to each other at Beith Harriers by Kenny Phillip’s sister Agnes and husband George. All the friendships that were made, a healthy lifestyle over many years and the experience gained from running before, during and after my National Service in Germany. My 37 years middle distance coaching at Bournemouth Athletic Club where I was able to coach athletes to represent England, and Great Britain but also to have a lifestyle influence on the many young MD athletes who passed through the group over the years.   In addition [well past my sell by date] being approached by Bournemouth AC committee at 72 Year. to come out of retirement and become President. As president I could see a number of areas that required attention, Coaching Secy. Junior Development Co-ordinator and Middle Distance Coaching. The Junior Development Group [Young athletes 8 – 14yrs] co-ordinator gave me a lot of satisfaction recruiting and organising the coaching education of assistants and coaches [all volunteers and a great bunch of people] to meet EA coaching requirements and the growing number of young athletes. Being awarded the England Athletics Regional Award for Services to Athletics in 2014, pictured below.

Prior to Covid we had 120 young athletes and 16 coaches attending the Development Group on a Wednesday throughout the year. 

Can you give some detail of your training?       In the 1960’s when I was in my 20’s I would do the following. 

Summer

Monday. 12 x 400 yds with 200yds recovery
Tuesday 16 x 200 yds with full recovery.
Wednesday 6 Miles steady run on road or grass [ grass preferred]
Thursday 4 x 800yds with 400 yds recovery.[ If racing Saturday do Fridays 400 yds session]
Friday 8 x 400 yds with 200 yds recovery [ Rest if racing Saturday]
Saturday 8 mls over country. If not racing on Saturday
Sunday Rest or go for a 3 – 6 ml. Walk in the hills or on the road.

Winter.

Monday 5 mls hill run at lunchtime.
3mls easy run home from work in the evening.
Tuesday 3 mls easy run in morning.    2 x 2 mls or 1×3 mls threshold run on road with 1 ml jog recovery.
Wednesday 10/11 mls long run 5m40s pace
Thursday 5 mls hill run at lunchtime.   3 mls easy run home from work in the evening.
Friday 3 mls easy run in morning.  4 x 1 ml threshold run on road with half mile jog recovery.
If racing Saturday, do Friday session on Thursday.
Saturday 7/10 ml easy run over country or in a wooded area.
Sunday Rest Go for a 3 – 6 ml. Walk in the hills or on the road.
Note: – All the above changed to metric when I was posted to Germany in 1960 to do my National Service and joining the German athletic club Bayer.   The changes included doing track sessions during the winter and doing a variety of distances from 100 -1200m in training during summer for the track distances of 800m to 5000m.
From the mid to late 60’s the weekly mileage increased from 70 to 110 in winter and 40-50 during summer track just to stay in the top 12 in Scotland.

Picture above the Army Championships at Aldershot 1961 Ben Grubb
leading, Ernie Pomfret 2nd. both GB Internatioals and myself 3rd. at the         
halfway stage

Those are Tom’s replies to the questionnaire and there is lots to pore over in it.   He mentioned Ernie Pomfret as one of his team mates in the Army – Pomfret was an Olympian, having run in the steeplechase in the 1964 Summer Olympics, and then two years later he raced in the 1966 Empire and Commonwealth Games in Jamaica.   Ben Grubb was also a British international athlete.  There is a bit more about them on the next page.   Note too Tom’s account of the training he was doing when he was running at his very best: they are still worth close attention and pondering over.      

Now read about   Tom Cochrane – the runner.       Then read about Tom as a veteran athlete and as an administrator and coach

Katie Skorupska was a very good endurance athlete who excelled on the track and over the country.   Running at a time when the country had many very good women runners – Sheila Fairweather, Hayley Haining, Susan Partridge, Vikki McPherson – she won Scottish and British honours on the track as well as over the country.   Yet very little is known of her – possibly because her career was relatively short but it should be looked at closely.   How good was she?