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George Haskett is third from the left in the back row

The above picture is of a group of Dundee Hawkhill runners in the 1930’s, almost certainly taken at a sports meeting, some of them wearing their Sunday best, some wearing a jacket over a running vest and one showing his running gear.  Unfortunately the emblem in the middle is not clear – but it was a picture of a Hawk.   Quite different to the current club vest.   At the turn of the century there had been no fewer than 12 harrier clubs in Dundee but by the 1930s the two big clubs were Dundee Hawkhill Harriers and Dundee Thistle Harriers which had been founded in the same year.   The Haskett family was always affiliated to the Hawks though.   The family members were all very active – George in particular was a member of the Dundee Thistle Cycling Club winning trials and handicaps and became its secretary at the AGM in 1937.   The Cycling Club had started up in 1929 at a time when the great Clarion Cycling Club, established in 1895, had seen the sport of cycling grow to the point where the Scottish cycling clubs formed a loose association named the Scottish Amateur Racing Association (SARA).   The family were also active in the Boys Brigade movement and all four boys were members of the Dundee 3rd (YMCA) Company and it is in connection with this organisation that they first appeared in the local papers in the 1920’s.

The running and the BB came together in fact in July 1928 when at the annual camp in Monikie, George was second in the 220 yards race at their sports day.  Athletically the Harriers did not take part in the National Cross-Country for most of the 1930’s which was probably due to the fact that they were held mainly in the West of the Central Belt at Hamilton Park Race Course for many years and transport would have been a problem.   Indeed it was a time when almost all men worked on a Saturday morning as a matter of course.   Travelling down, even in a private hire bus after a morning’s work would have been difficult.   The Boys Brigade was still active however and in 1930 on 6th June at the BB Battalion Sports at Dens Park, the finals of all the athletic events were held and J Haskett with L Fairweather was third in the three legged race.   The next Haskett to appear in the Courier as a member of the Brigade was 14 year old L/Cpl Charles Haskett who, in June 1931 was awarded his three years service anchor and a Discharge Certificate    

Then on 12th January 1932 there was the annual Harriers  v  Cyclists Race with a big entry of 19 harriers and 25 cyclists.   There were two laps, one of three and a half miles, one of two and a half, and both included stretches of ploughed fields.   Teams were selected by ballot and consisted of 2 runners and 3 cyclists.   The winning team was C Moncur (cyclist), J Haskett (harrier), R Colville (cyclist), A Imrie (harrier) and W Sloggie (cyclist).   The following winter, 1932-33, saw the Hawkhill Harriers win the East District Championships.   

Into the summer of 1933 and the Hawks ‘carried through a sports meeting’ at Caird Park on 5th June in which the Hasketts had an interest.   George won the 880 yards race and the future Mrs George Haskett, Janet Fransen, running from scratch, was second in the Ladies 100 yards; she also finished the meeting as part of the winning mixed Medley Relay team (2 men and 2 women.)    Two weeks later at the Midmill Sports, George Haskett was second in the half mile and the very next day, 20th July, another of the four boys, James this time, was second in the half mile at the annual Broughty Carnival.   George was the most successful in terms of results at this point.  He ran for the Hawks and was reserve for Dundee selects in contests such as the Carrie Cup inter-city cross-country match against Aberdeen.   Hawkhill were all running well at this time and it was difficult to get into their teams – George had been reserve for the East District Championships the previous winter and was again in 1934.   However when the club road championship was held on 19th March 1934 he was third behind Charles Smith and George Rudd.   Times showed that he was less than a minute behind the winner – 26:06 for first, 26:58 second and 27:05 for third.   

Chick’s silver East District Team Medal

The club’s annual prize giving was held on 3rd May, 1934 with the Ladies Track Champion being Miss J Fransen and no fewer than three awards going George’s way: winner of the 6 mile handicap, second in the Novice Championship and third in the Road Championship.   The track championships started on 20th June with three Mile races and the Senior Mile was won by George who at that point was fourth overall in the championships.   Came July and the BB Camp was held at Monikie and Lance Corporal J Haskett was noted as a member of the cricket team and as finishing third in the 80 yards race.   That winter the club had a runner in the National for the first time that decade – young George Keiller was third in the Youths, which was won by George Craig of Shettleston.   Keiller was an interesting runner – only one year younger than the second of the brothers, Chick, he would be one of his rivals within the club for several years.    Chick’s moment came on 30th December when he won the club’s New Year Race.   An interesting feature of this one was that the handicapper had both Chick and George down to run from the same mark of 2  min 45 sec!   There was an annual track and field match between the Dundee clubs and St Andrews University and on 17 May 1935 it was George who represented the City in the Mile.

In January 1936 Telegraph preview of championships tipped Charles and John Suttie Smith for first and second with Chick Haskett a possible for third place but in the event it was the three Smiths (C, Js and G) who filled the first three places of the 20 runners with Chick in fourth.   Charles was often called Chick but, although the two local papers of the time always referred to him as Charlie, we’ll stick with Chick.   Both brothers represented the club that winter but when the East District Championships came around in February, Chick was in the team but the paper noted that George would not be running as he couldn’t get the time off work.   This was fairly common in the mid 30’s and there was a report of another runner who had good news: he had a job but unfortunately for the club it was of the Saturday kind and he was unavailable for club teams.   George was usually available but on this occasion they had to do without him.   In the championship proper the club was third team with Charlie 21st finisher.     Then came the bad news – on 26th February the club championship preview mentioned that there would be no J Suttie Smith (injured) or C Haskett: “Haskett has been in the hands of the dentist the past fortnight and will be out of action for some time.”  

It was George’s turn to uphold the family honour, and he was fourth in the club Five Mile Championship at Invergowrie as a runner.   Roll the calendar on to April and George won the first handicap in the Dundee Thistle CC road trial as a cyclist.

The annual match with St Andrews University was held in May and, because of the illness of his mother, neither J Suttie Smith nor his brother were available for the team.  So the younger members were enlisted to fill the gap – “Keiller is only 17 years of age, and Haskett is but a year his senior but both have proved their ability in cross-country circles.”    Keiller was selected for the three miles while Chick was picked for both the Mile and Three Miles races.   Chick was placed third in the Three Miles, ahead of Keiller, who was unplaced in the Mile.   

The following month was a fairly active one for the club with another annual meeting – versus the Boys Brigade this time – and Chick represented the Hawks and finished third in the 880 yards.   Not only did he compete on the track, when called on he did other events and on 19th June in the Club Championships he was third in the Novice High Jump with a clearance of 4′ 3″.   When it came to the Novice half mile however “C Haskett had an easy win.”   In the Mile he was third behind C Smith and Keiller.  The events were a week apart.   Then came another interesting event.

On 23^rd July 1936  Arbroath FC Supporters Committee Sports were held at Gayfield  before a crowd of 5000.   The Courier contained this short paragraph: 

And further down the column both results were given.   Chrissie won the half-mile off 30 yards in 2:38.4 from Miss N Fransen (off 50 yards), and AMD won the open one mile handicap off 80 yards from C Haskett who ran from the 160 yards mark in 4:28.2 .   The interesting thing for us here is that Charlie would later marry Chrissie Donnet and his brother George would marry Janet ‘Nettie’ Fransen.    AM Donnet, noted here as a Hawkhill runner was actually a Dundee Thistle runner.    Later in the season, in August, Chick Haskett turned out for the Hawks in Aberdeen at King’s College grounds against Aberdeenshire Harriers, Aberdeen YMCA, Aberdeen University and Gordonians.

While Chick was running so well, George was still a racing member of the Thistle CC and at their Presentation at the end of October, 1936 in front of 300 club members, he was presented with first prize as the Club All-Rounder of the year, the first handicap for the Open ’50’ and second handicap in the Open ’25’.

The team was running well and in 1935 had been second in the East District cross-country championship; in 1936-37  they went one better and won the championship.  The National Cross-Country Championship was held on 5th March at Hamilton and there the team finished ninth.  The Evening Telegraph report is below.

There was no Dundee Thistle team out on the day but brother-in-law Donnet finished ninth.   There was another wedding however and the club made the headlines in the Courier on 10th August.

The winter of 1937-38 started with the sad news conveyed by the Courier on 19^th Nov 1937 that “Charlie Haskett has not yet commenced training and therefore drops out of the Hawks team.”  Less than a  month later, on 10th December 1937, George was elected Secretary of the Dundee Thistle CC but this was followed in the Evening Telegraph round up of the various sports clubs on 31st December where they said that “Ernie Kay, Charlie Haskett and Dave Stibbles are not now running”    

That he was back in action by February was indicated, when the reports in both papers had a look ahead to the East District Championships, which had been won by the Hawks the previous year.   This meant that it would be a seriously weakened squad that contested the event since all of the previous year’s team were now ineligible.   Chick and Dave Taylor were not able to run as they had missed the event last year.    In the event they lost the title but were third with Chick finishing 18th.   After the District came the National and there the team finished sixth.   The Telegraph commented on the club’s ‘many misfortunes both before and during the race.   Charlie Smith had a bad day finishing 17th, his worst yet.   Shoe trouble forced John McIntyre to retire, while George Rennie just couldn’t get going and finished over the 100 mark.    Keiller (35), Haskett (43)  and Bradley (44) were the Hawks who excelled themselves.’   

The headline and a major part of the article was devoted to the non-selection for the International team of Alex Donnet who had finished ninth.  The team selected had included 38 year old RR Sutherland of Birchfield.   It had been Donnet’s third senior national and his progression had been 18th in his first run, 11th in his second and now ninth.   His time had come though because he was first reserve for the team and when there was a call off, he was drafted into the Scottish squad and finished 47th in the event which was held at the Balmoral Showground in Belfast.   

At the end of March the club held its annual 5 miles road race which was won by J Suttie Smith but there was a new trophy for the Junior Champion and that was won by Chick Haskett.   The first three finishers were Suttie Smith, then Haskett with G Keiller in third.   The new trophy – seen above being presented to Chick by Mr PD Henderson – was called the Canada Cup and had been donated by Mr Henderson.      

The cross-country season was well and truly over by then and the first track event was an inter-club match at Dundee on 30^th May.   It was the annual match between the Dundee clubs and St Andrews University which became a quadrangular meeting when the Dundee City Police had a team forward.   St Andrews won the competition comfortably.   Chick was selected for the Mile and the Three Miles.   Unplaced in the former, he was third behind Ewan and Gowans of Thistle in the latter.   He was also listed as part of the possibles for the medley relay.   There were other inter-clubs of course and at the start of June the match between  Hawkhill, Thistle, Robert Gordon’s and the RAF took place at Montrose Aerodrome.    Chick was third in the 3 miles behind Alex Donnet and A Hay of Thistle,  Donnet also won the half mile in 2:12.2.   The result of the 3 miles team race was a win for Thistle while Chick led the Hawkhill team into second place.   

The first appearance in the sports pages for George after his marriage was on 28th July when he was the starter at the 3rd BB (YMCA) Company’s sports at their annual camp in Monikie.   

The cross-country season came along and the newspapers previewed the teams for the East District relay: Chick was only a reserve for the Hawkhill team although Alex Donnet was a sure starter for the Thistle.   He was picked though for the Dundee v Aberdeen match but had to withdraw through injury.   The National Cross-Country Championship was held on 4th March 1939 at Lanark Racecourse but there were few Dundonians on the starting line.   There was no team entered but George Rennie was 18th and George Keiller was 135th.   Dundee Thistle were 5th team with Alex Donnet again placed ninth.    The season finished as had the previous one with the Hawks 5 miles road championship.   GL Strain won the Canada Cup for the first Junior – Chick Haskett who had won the first race for the cup, did not run.

There were articles in both local pagers in the middle of May saying that the season would start the next week.   There were two new trophies to be won for the Hawks championships.    Mr JD Poustie (referred to as the fastest sprinter ever to run for the club) donated one for the club novice championship, the other was presented by Mr WR Rennie, father of George Rennie, for the junior cross-country, and was to be called the Melbourne Cup.  

The Courier also noted that Hawkhill had permission to run a medley relay at the match between the Harp and the Violet  East End Park.   It was not the first time for them – and they had run medley relays at half time at other grounds – the intention being to hold a collection for the club funds at half time.   Chick Haskett was to run the 880 leg for the A team.   This was followed a week later by a similar event at North End Park to raise money for the Infirmary’s funds.   Chick ran for the ‘Royal Blue and White’ team against the ‘Whites’ and the ‘Dark Blues’.   In both cases he was probably running the 880 yards stage. 

Chick was running well but, like many others, he found his running career interrupted by the War which started in September 1939.    Running – cross-country, road and track went on but there were no championships at all: some races were called championships but they were not recognised as such officially.   

Jim Grant (Stage 3) to Tom Callaghan (Stage 4) of the Edinburgh to Glasgow, 1963

There were several amalgamations of clubs in the 1960’s – several Edinburgh clubs came together to form Edinburgh AC, Ayrshire clubs came together to form Ayrshire AAC, there were a couple of failed attempts to merge some of the Renfrewshire clubs but arguably the most successful club from the word go was Clyde Valley AAC.   Several old established clubs such as Motherwell, Airdrie, Monkland Harriers linked up and produced some quite astonishing results.   Two questions arise immediately:  why did established, traditional clubs discard their identity in the first place, and how did the merger come about?   Tom Callaghan of Monkland describes the motivation behind the amalgamations, the setting up of the new club and also lays out the reasons for the ultimate failure of the club to last.   It is a fascinating story of hard work, disillusion, hope, success and disappointment.   This is his account in his words.  Thanks Tommy for setting it out so clearly.   Read what he has to say.

During the ‘50s at both primary & secondary schools I participated in any sports, mainly sports day & the school football team.   Shortly after the start of the new term in 1958 the school received a letter from Monkland Harriers inviting them to take part in a road race in September.   The P.E. teacher at the time, Alex Robertson, was keen for the school to take part. The team was made up of four runners in the 13/15 year age group. A trial was to be held in the West End Park in Coatbridge, with the first four to be selected to represent the school. I was a clear winner.

The  subsequent Monkland Harriers schools race was run over a course of about one & a half miles, close to the club pavilion at Morven Street in Coatbridge. The race was won by Jim Grant of Kildonan High School, he was also a member of Monkland Harriers. Second was a lad called McNaughton, third was George Kay of both St. Patrick’s H.S  and Shettleston Harriers. I finished fourth, about six seconds behind. I thought `not bad for my first road race.’ The club asked me if I would like to join and I agreed.

I ran several races during the ‘58/59 season in the senior boys category, the most successful of which was our second place in the ‘59 National, 3 points behind George Heriot’s School.   I left school in December ‘58 and shortly after started a job with William Bain & Co., Structural Engineers ,as an apprentice.

As a youth there were not too many races for me during the summer. However, there was next season’s cross country to train for & what a season that proved to be for Monkland Harriers.   At some point in 1959, J.T. Finn joined the club.  He came from Mount Ellen (Gartcosh) and was a few months older than me. For the ‘59/60 season we would be competing as youths.   Most of the races in that age group, relay or race, required a team of three, except for the National, which was 4 to count.

Our three for most races was Jim Grant, Jim Finn and myself, with Tommy Gallagher  as fourth choice. During the two seasons we ran as youths we were almost unbeatable in relays. I would run first, Grant second and Finn on the final leg. Our one regret was that we never won the National as a team despite J.T. Finn winning the individual title twice in 1960 and ‘61.  I think it was in ‘61 that Finn was beaten in the Midland District cross country at Renton, after which one of the senior members of the club said to him “What happened today?” Finn replied, “Wait till the National.” In those days the National was held at Hamilton Race Course.  Finn allowed whoever wanted to make the pace do so, until the final hill where he just ran away from the field to score a convincing victory.

Tom Callaghan at the start of the 1964 Edinburgh to Glasgow: second from right, back row, behind Alex Brown

In season ‘62/63 the three of us would be running at junior level, which allowed us to run in certain senior events. I will use the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay to illustrate what happened to the team who were so dominant in the previous two years as youths:

Edinburgh-Glasgow Relay 1962, club finished 14^th

J.T. Finn: Ran stage 1, finished 12^th.

1. Grant: Not in team.
2. Callaghan: Ran stage 8

Edinburgh-Glasgow Relay 1963, club finished 16^th

J.T. Finn: Not in team.

2. Grant: Ran stage 2.
3. Callaghan: Ran stage 4.

Edinburgh-Glasgow Relay 1964, club finished 13^th

J.T. Finn: Not in team.

1. Grant: Not in team.
2. Callaghan: Ran stage 1, finished 11^th.

J.T. Finn was an outstanding talent as a youth who was able to perform to the level he did with a limited amount of training, he seemed to have so much natural ability he should have been a top performer at 5000m on the track. Perhaps the natural ability wasn’t enough and the work ethic was missing.

Jim Grant was a strong forceful runner (John Graham reminds me of him.) I don’t know what happened to him, he just seemed to disappear off the radar.

Tom Callaghan remained with the club, served as secretary, running days were over by 1983.

While the youth team had a successful spell during the ‘60 and ‘61 season, another young runner was making a name for himself, J.R. (Jimmy) Johnstone. He was two years older therefore classed as a junior, able to run in senior events. In the ‘63 E-G Jimmy ran stage 1, finishing first in the time of 27:20, which I believe was a course record at the time. The following year he ran stage 6, recording a time of 33:29, a time only bettered by Ian McCafferty’s fastest leg of 33:15.

Despite Jimmy’s best efforts, the rest of the team was made up of club runners of various standards. We always managed to field eight runners, however the results of 1965 – 15^th and ‘66 – 19^th., said it all.

For me, the problem emanated as a result of no schools races, members doing their own thing and the club secretary being non-existent. 

On the 16^th. July 1966 I at the age of 22, married Sarah, a girl I had met two years earlier. The only club member invited was Jimmy Johnstone, who I had trained with for most of the time I had been a club member and also gone on holiday with on two occasions. At the wedding Jimmy met a friend of Sarah’s, Jane, who he married in February ‘68.   At a night out in early ‘67, while the girls were chatting, Jimmy and I discussed the dire state the club was in and agreed on our strategy to improve matters. The secretary must be removed, not only from his position, but also removed from the club. We were confident we would have enough support, and we did. Willie Drysdale, Willie McBrinn, Davie McKirdy and several others backed the plan.   

A few months later the A.G.M. was held in the club pavilion. The secretary arrived, his usual confident self, not knowing what lay before him. During the early part of the meeting he was asked some pointed questions concerning club membership and the financial position of the club, both of which he had great difficulty dealing with.     You could see he was no longer the confident person who opened the meeting. However worse was to come. 

When we arrived at the point where members were asked to vote for the election of club officials, the first vote was normally for the position of club secretary & treasurer. However, it was proposed that there should be two votes, one for secretary and another for treasurer. This was approved. As a result, Willie Drysdale was appointed secretary and Davie McKirdy as treasurer. The first step on what we knew would be a long road had been taken. A small committee was formed which I was a member of.   Plans were drawn up with a view to being prepared for the ‘67/68 winter season, these included primary as well as secondary schools races, contacting lapsed club members and encouraging parent involvement.

The schools races went well and we managed to recruit quite a few promising runners. The only lapsed member as far as I remember we managed return was Andy Arbuckle, past competing but with a lot of experience of distance running.

At the first parents meeting, one suggested that we should endeavour to obtain support from Coatbridge Town Council and suggested the name of a young councillor, Tom Clarke. (Later to become Provost of Coatbridge and Member of Parliament for the local area for over 20 years.)    A meeting was arranged in the club pavilion to which club members and parents were invited. Tom was pleasantly surprised at the numbers in attendance. He listened to our plans for the future of the club, answered questions from members and parents, after which he gave assurances that he would endeavour to assist the club to achieve its objectives.

We changed the format of the schools races to a league system, two races prior to Christmas, two after the New Year. We also had to move away from using the club pavilion to St. Ambrose school across from Drumpellier Park, which was later to become a major attraction for many road and cross country events.   Within a few years we had built strong teams at youth and junior level, winning National championships, both individual and teams.

The names I can remember, most of whom came through the schools races were: MacDonald, Brown, Devlin, Small, Preston, Agnew, Paterson, Nee, Gribben, Burns and Ashwood.   In 1971 the club were back in the E-G finishing in 9^th place, five of the eight man team had come through the school races.

At some point in the late ’60s, Willie Drysdale married and moved away from Coatbridge to live in Carluke, he still remained a member of Monkland Harriers but resigned as secretary, at which point I was appointed to replace him.

Jimmy Johnstone married Jane on the day of the National Championships in 1968 and moved to Carluke. I should point out that three years earlier his family had left Coatbridge and moved to New Stevenston due to his fathers employment, Jimmy remained a member of Monkland and represented Scotland in the ‘64 & 66 International Cross Country Union Championships.   Before the start of the ‘68/69 season Jimmy resigned from Monkland Harriers and joined Law & District A.A.C.   I was furious at what he had done, it felt like a betrayal. I reminded him of our discussion in early ‘67 when we planned the downfall of the secretary and the way forward for the club. After all the years we had trained together, went on holiday, met his wife at my wedding, to walk away when you are needed is unacceptable.   I could have understood if he had decided around ‘62/63 when Jim Finn and Jim Grant had not fulfilled their earlier potential and he was left as the only class runner. Jimmy could have been a first choice for almost any team in the country at that time.

In the summer of 2015 I met up with him for the first time since he left the club. He explained his reason for leaving was that it was more convenient for him, as it was only just down the road for him, to train with Law & District. Judge for yourself if that was a good enough reason, bearing in mind the circumstances I have explained.

Despite our success at mainly youth and junior level, we couldn’t recruit enough former members to return and give a little of their time to help with the training of the younger boys. Those seniors who were regulars at the club were working, had families and were there to train, youths and juniors just had to join in.

I think it was in the early summer of 1969 I stayed about a mile away from the track at Rawyards Park in Airdrie. One evening I jogged over intent on doing a bit of repetition work, only to find Ronnie MacDonald on his own. He had jogged to the track from his home in Coatbridge to use what at that time was the only 400m track in the Monklands.

I enquired as to what he was doing and if anyone at the club was advising him. The answer was no one. Here we had the best young runner by a long way at the club being left to “do his own thing.” I offered to help him if he wanted and he agreed.

I am not a qualified coach, I worked out my own way of training for middle distance and road running from the mistakes I had made in previous years. When Jimmy Johnstone left Coatbridge to live in New Stevenston I mostly trained on my own. No more running at racing pace on road runs several nights a week, nothing left for Saturdays, no more running to the watch on the track. My view was your body tells you what you can do. In ‘67 Ian McCafferty gave me a piece of advice “Treat your training like eating, do it regular and also be able to do more than you have done.” This advise was given to him from Ron Clarke.

I watched Ronnie in a few races and I knew at his age, 1500m was his distance. I started by explaining my philosophy, training and racing are two separate things. Training is preparation for racing. Racing is about winning.

We would discuss training several times each year, summer and winter were different of course, however the principle remained the same. In April we would decide what were the objectives for the season. The main aim was the championship events. The races that were selected were intended as preparation and would be 800m or 1500m and only one race at any event. These races were not only designed for fitness, but also learning how to win. The best runner in the field does not always win the race and races are not always run the same way, therefore the person on the track has decisions to make. That is why the preparation races are important, they are part of the process of learning how to win. 

One example of getting your tactics right or in this case, wrong. As a junior we decided to run the senior 1500m at the National Championships, followed by the same distance at the junior event a week later. The senior 1500m was run at such a slow pace that with 150m left you could have thrown a blanket over the whole field. At that point Ronnie burst to the front, tied up 10m from the line and was beaten by Craig Douglas. His closest rival for the junior race was Frank Clement, who had won the senior 800m. Up to this point Frank had not beaten Ronnie over 1500m. He would have seen what happened today and I was sure he would change tactics next week. We add to plan for that. One other point I had to consider was that Jim Brown had entered the 1500m. I was of the view that Jim could take third place, therefore the tactics had to be worked out, not just how Ronnie was going to win, but also how Jim will secure third place. The three of us met and I explained my plan.

Frank normally leads from the start, Ronnie follows and out-kicks on the race to the line.

That’s not going to happen this time, here’s what we do:

Jim takes the first lap at a good pace with Ronnie on his shoulder in second, Ronnie takes the second lap, at some point Frank will move onto Ronnie’s shoulder, with Jim in third place. Somewhere between the end of the second lap and the bell, Ronnie was to use whatever ploy he could think of to to ensure that Frank is in the lead, which is what transpired. Ronnie was on Frank’s shoulder, exactly the place I wanted him to be, normal service was resumed. Ronnie pressed him all the way until the finishing straight, out-kicked him near the line to win, Jim finished third, plan perfectly executed.

I asked Ronnie what he had done to get Frank in front of him down the back straight. He replied “I started breathing heavily and slowed slightly to make him think I was struggling, and he just went past me.”

At the finish Frank came over to Ronnie, they shook hands and Frank’s comment was: “You big b*****d, you conned me that time.”

By 1970 in some respects we were moving in the right direction, we had a group of young runners who had won individual and team events and Jim Brown had joined us from Bellshill Y.M.C.A. The following year, Ronnie and Jim finished first and second in the junior National. In third place was a face I didn’t recognise – Ian Gilmour. I thought he must have Scottish connections so I spoke to him and asked if he would like to join our club, pointing out that the first and second finishers were members. The deal was done, Ian agreed he would run for us in the main events and in return we would pay his expenses.

Despite the success the club had achieved, we could not attract sufficient support from members or former members to assist with the training of young runners or events such as the schools races. One example, John Mulvey had won one of our schools races and the rest of his team had finished in high places. We had no one at the finish to find out if they were members of a club. I later discovered that they had all joined Shettleston. When I asked John how that had happened, he told me that Alex Naylor had come to his house on the Sunday after the race, asked if he had joined us – no he hadn’t – and signed him, followed by the rest of his team. John subsequently won three individual National titles at junior and senior boy age groups.

We also had some of the young boys give up running, two in particular I remember, Ian Doole and Kenny Ashwood in the early ‘70s. The schools races never again provided us with the same quality.

The loss of Johnstone, Finn and Grant in the ‘60s in my view denied us the opportunity to challenge the best teams in the E-G and National, if you add MacDonald, Brown and Gilmour.

In the early ‘70s Ronnie and Jim were the only two outstanding performers. There was sufficient quality among the club runners to finish 8^th or 9^th in the E-G, yes this was better than the early’60s, however we did not want to return to those days.

Coatbridge Town Council had become a major sponsor of cross country and road racing. Thanks to them we had four schools races each year, the county road relay and cross country championships, the district and National cross country championships, a women’s international event, highland games and of course the Festival 5 mile road race and by 1975, a new 8 lane all weather track.

Most of these events came to Coatbridge due to my connections with Coatbridge councillors.

The exception was the National cross country championships from 1973 to 1976, the credit for which must go to Bob McSwein who was at that time an employee of the council.

All of this was lost after 1976 due, but not entirely to, the S.C.C.U. not honouring their acceptance of an offer by the council to host the International cross country championship event in 1978.

I have given a full account of the facts leading up to the S.C.C.U. decision previously. However, it did have an affect on Clyde Valley, which I will explain later.

In 1975 local government boundaries were changed, Coatbridge together with Airdrie and several surrounding villages became part of Monklands District Council. A number of new departments were set up, one of which was Leisure and Recreation with Mike Barron as director. You can read my views on this period in an earlier article “Coatbridge cross country and Festival road race.” All I would add is that substantially more money was invested in major track events to the detriment of local events and the community. One example, Airdrie Highland Games, this event had been taking place for around ten years. I found out through the local newspaper that they were not to be held, they were previously organised by Neil Taylor of Airdrie Harriers.

I spoke to Mike Barron and asked why the games were not going ahead, “No one to organise them.” he replied. I offered, having previously organised Coatbridge Highland Games in 1973 and ‘74 and also the opening meeting at the Coatbridge track – “Too late, the decision has already been made.” was the answer.

I only found out a few years ago that Bob McSwein had applied, along with Barron, for the post of Director of Leisure and Recreation. This information was told to me by a senior Coatbridge councillor who had supported Bob. However, Monkland District had been formed, therefore the vote was not restricted to Coatbridge councillors and Bob was not successful in his application.

Had Bob been elected to the position I’m sure things would have worked out differently.

In the early ‘70s the time I was spending organising events for club and council while still working in full time employment left little time for training and family life. The schools races which was our source of recruitment was not providing the same standard as the late ‘60s.

We were a small provincial harriers club, with most of our members resident in the Coatbridge area and had achieved reasonable success, not too far off the big Glasgow and Edinburgh clubs, how long would this continue, could we improve to challenge them or would we slide back into the bad times of the ‘60s? I hadn’t come this far to allow that to happen.

I decided to look at the history of several local clubs from the ‘60s to see how they had performed in distance events.

Tom Callaghan running at Hamilton Park in the national cross-country Championships

Motherwell Y.M.C.A.: Probably the most successful provincial club in the country for most of the ‘60s, until the defection of most of their top performers to Law & District. Their one promising young runner was John Graham.

Airdrie Harriers: No recent history in distance running. They were not members of the S.C.C.U. and in the late ‘60s only had a decent 1500m runner, Jim Graham, who ran in a few road relay events for Monkland Harriers.

Bellshill Y.M.C.A.: Did not have a history in distance running, couldn’t make up a four man senior team, that was the reason Jim Brown joined Monkland Harriers. Ian Moncur was a decent club runner and Roy Baillie a prospect at 800m and 1500m.

Lesmahagow: Track club with little history.

When I evaluated my research the only club similar to ourselves was Motherwell Y.M.C.A. They had an outstanding team in the ‘60s until the split when most joined Law & District. They had shown that they could unearth several young distance runners. If they could replicate that it would be an asset. The other three clubs were much more in the way of athletic clubs. However if they could find the occasional quality distance runner perhaps that would sustain the standard at all levels, boys, youths, junior and senior.

By casting the net wide we could perhaps form a club that would be competitive in all areas of athletics.  

At Monkland Harriers we did not have anyone with knowledge of sprint or field events, we would have offered such athletes membership, allowed them to use our facilities and advise them to contact Tommy Boyle if Bellshill joined.

After several meetings in 1974 five clubs agreed to amalgamate and a club to be known as Clyde Valley A.A.C. was born. Each club would have two committee members, ours would be Eddie Devlin and myself, who was elected as club secretary.

Within a few months the club had won their first national trophy, the inaugural Scottish cross country relay championship held at Bellahouston Park. The team in order of running was Baillie, Brown, Graham and MacDonald, recording a comfortable victory over Edinburgh A.C.

An impressive performance for a new club you may have thought. However it did not appear to please all club officials according to Alan Dunbar’s report on the race.

“The Clyde Valley officials are disturbed that people still refer to them as Monkland Harriers which was one of the five clubs in the merger. Although three of their top runners in Jim Brown, Ronnie MacDonald and Ian Gilmour were members of the old Monkland club, the Clyde Valley supporters are quick to point out that the new club is by no means a monopoly of ex Monkland athletes. In the winning team last Saturday were Roy Baillie ex Bellshill and John Graham ex Motherwell.” 

For club officials of Clyde Valley to make such a statement was quite concerning to me. Had they forgotten why the club was formed? Could they not see that all four wore a red vest, were they not pleased that the club had won a major event so soon after being formed and that the club was in a position to challenge the best clubs in the country? I would not need three guesses to as to who the anti Monkland culprit was, I will reveal that later.                

As far as a monopoly was concerned I should point out that in the ‘74 E-G the Clyde Valley team was made up of Baillie, Graham and six ex Monkland Harriers to finish in third place, the same position was secured the following year with Baillie, Graham, McKay and five ex Monkland Harriers.

The cross country season was always going to be the time when our section could make the best contribution to the club, however in Brown and MacDonald we also had the two best track performers at that time.

It had been decided that at the end of each track season an award would be made to the person considered to have produced the best individual performance. My view was that there were only two to consider, Ronnie MacDonald’s sub 4 minute mile or Jim Brown’s 10000m time of 28:00.6, the words were hardly out of my mouth when Roddy Devon (Motherwell) said “That has to be Jim Brown.” No one made any other suggestion and that was agreed.

It may well be that that was the right decision but the manner in which he said it indicated to me that his preference was for a Bellshill boy rather than one from Coatbridge.

Bob McSwein running in the Central Park 10K, New York

At the 1975 National in Coatbridge, Bob McSwein informed me that at a General Committee meeting a few days earlier it had been decided that the 1978 International cross country was to be held in Glasgow which Bob Dalgleish confirmed.

I have previously given a full account of what happened resulting in an S.G.M. being held in the 14^th February 1976 in Springburn, the same day the National was being held in Coatbridge.

The Clyde Valley representative at S.C.C.U. meetings was Roddy Devon (Motherwell) who in my opinion was the source behind Alan Dunbar’s report on the Nation relay in 1974. That, together with his anti-Monkland attitude at Clyde Valley meetings meant that I could not confident of his support at the forthcoming S.G.M. concerning the 1978 International event.

At a Clyde Valley meeting in January ‘76 I raised the subject of the forthcoming S.G.M, explained the commitment of Coatbridge Town Council to Monkland Harriers and our sport and pointed out that as Monkland Harriers no longer existed, they were a part of Clyde Valley and asked that the committee mandate our representative to support the Coatbridge position.

This was rejected, the view was that it was a Monkland Harriers problem, nothing to do with Clyde Valley and the club delegate should vote as he decided. Those who expressed that view were Tommy Boyle, Bert McKay and also the anti-Monkland member, Roddy Devon.

Perhaps I should have reminded them why Clyde Valley was formed and what were the conditions. To establish a club that could be competitive with those from Edinburgh and Glasgow, each club would continue to operate as at present and would be responsible for their own expenditure. In short, everything remains the same except that when you compete, it’s for Clyde Valley.

Perhaps they were not aware that when Jim Brown ran in the ‘74 National relay he had to fly from London where he was at college. His flight was paid for by Monkland Harriers. When Ian Gilmour travelled from Birmingham on a Friday, required accommodation Friday and Saturday before returning to Birmingham on Sunday, again paid for by Monkland Harriers.

Clyde Valley were never asked to contribute to these costs.

I decided after the January meeting that my position as secretary of Clyde Valley was untenable and that I would resign at the next meeting. How could I continue to work for a club who would not support a member club and a generous sponsor to our sport?

The S.G.M. duly took place on 14/2/76 and the vote was lost 29 to 28, and as I predicted, Devon voted against us. Had he been mandated the numbers would have been reversed.

At the February Clyde Valley meeting I resigned as secretary and gave them a month to consider who would replace me. I decided at that point not to resign from the club.

I had then to consider what what the future was for me and also the club. The first decision was easy, I would never be a member of the Clyde Valley committee again. To think that the club was only 18 months old and in that short time had achieved considerable success, despite a committee who could hardly agree on anything and were hostile toward the Monkland Harriers section beggars belief. 

The next consideration was whether we remained as Clyde Valley or withdrew the Monkland Harriers members and reformed the original club. I decided we should remain as Clyde Valley because I was still of the view that a strong Lanarkshire club was in everyone’s interest. From the list of names I have who made up the four man relay teams and the E-G teams when I was secretary only Monkland Harriers could have fielded a team, the addition of a few top runners from the other clubs made a huge difference and produced a successful team.

I decided we should remain at Clyde Valley as that would be in the best interest of the active members. What I believed when we formed Clyde Valley had not changed. The one problem I could foresee was the problem with the committee. I cannot remember who became secretary, but hoped they could change attitudes. Surely this committee would not last and some fresh blood would be found.

The results that Clyde Valley achieved during their short existence proved to me that the idea of several small clubs merging was the right one.

Best results in team events:

National Cross Country Championships: 2^nd in 1980 & 1982, 3^rd in 1981.

National Cross Country Relay Championships: 1^st in 1974, 1977 and 1979, 2^nd in 1980.

National 6 Stage Road Relay Championships: 2^nd in 1979 & 1980

Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay: 1^st in 1979 & 1980, 2^nd in 1981, 3^rd in 1974, 1975 & 1983.

The results in the later years were achieved with a mixture of experience and youth. Brian McSloy, Peter Fox, Colin Farquharson, Steve Marshall, David Marshall and several others from the Motherwell section together with Neil Agnew, Greg Paterson and Joe Small being the best from the Monkland section.

Five 1^st places, six 2^nd and four 3^rd, a total of fifteen in major events.

Joe Small, Ian Moncur, Neil Agnew

Why did Clyde Valley cease to exist in 1984? I do not know the answer to that as after the events of 1976, detailed earlier, I took no part in the administration of the club, my priorities would change. In August Ronnie MacDonald and I opened a small sports shop appropriately called Monkland Sports. In 1977 I became works manager in the company I had started my working life in as an apprentice in 1959. I was also trying to keep some level of training, added to all that I had a young family. My priorities had to change.

I had spent the last 25 years running cross country, road and track, helping to regenerate Monkland Harriers, organising events for Coatbridge Town Council, setting up Clyde Valley, fighting the injustice perpetrated by the S.C.C.U. in not awarding the 1978 International event to Coatbridge, organising the many events previously mentioned and turning Coatbridge into a popular destination with good facilities and well organised events.

My one regret is that shortly after Clyde Valley’s departure it was followed by Monkland Harriers. I had to let it go, I couldn’t spend the next ten years trying to repeat what I did in the ‘60s and ‘70s. However, I do accept that had I not gone down the Clyde Valley route Monkland Harriers may well have survived.

As far as athletics is concerned since, I had two nights at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and Joe Small and I went to Falkirk for the National cross country on two occasions recently. Ronnie and I retired from the sports shop in 2013 and I now keep myself fit by walking most days.

…

The Scottish Marathon starts from the SAAA Championships in 1981: Colin Youngson leads the runners out of the stadium

The value of any medal, or indeed any prize or award is not in the metal of which it is made (although at times that is considerable) but in what it signifies to the individual – a hard fought race, a victory long sought and finally realised, the esteem which  a particular trophy brings with it.   But these sporting medals often have a significance to the sport itself.   The medals are evidence of what the sport itself values.    Colin Youngson’s medals were amassed over a period of over 50 years.   Some are of more significance than others in his eyes, but the totality is evidence of the nature of endurance running in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st.   

To explain.   We who ran during that period in question thought that it would always be like that – races available all over the country from the Nigel Barge Road Race on the first Saturday of the New Year to the Edinburgh Queen’s Drive races in mid December.   We believed that there would always be road races at distances from 5 miles, via 10, 12, 16, 18 and 20 to the marathon; we believed that there would be a progression in the track season from County to District, to National to British championships and that the winter season would begin with the McAndrew Relay, and then go via County and District relays to the County, District and National Championships on the country.   The marathon would start from the national championships and finish there and the club challenge of the Edinburgh to Glasgow would continue.   The progression was provided by the governing bodies and sports organising bodies with the help of the Scottish Marathon Club and was a genuine stepping stones approach to developing the sport for every athlete in every club.   

Alas, the structure is no more.   The national marathon championship is no longer run as a championship event in its own right and the Edinburgh to Glasgow is no more.   Almost all County track championships have gone, the governing body in its wisdom moved the District Relays back a week to give the runners a breather before the National (at two and a half miles on a Saturday?) and the progression is gone with the County or League match being between the two major relays.   

The history of this period can be seen in many ways but one is to look at the career of an athlete in terms of the medals won and what they signify for the sport at large.   Colin Youngson was one of the most prolific medal winners the sport has produced – this is particularly true of his road running collection.   

For all the runners who have run on the country’s roads or over the country, there are very few, indeed none that I know of, complete collections that are available for inspection, information or education.   They are inevitably broken up and some medals turned into pendants or brooches, scattered among relatives who may display them or keep them in the back of a drawer and,  as I was informed by an auctions aficionado, some are melted down for scrap value.  What we have here is a careful selection from Colin’s collection. It tells us what racing opportunities were there for runners to experience – several will never come again.   Look at the collection, take your time over it, wonder at the length of the career and appreciate his love of the sport.

Seven years ago, when I was sixty-five (new age-group!), I enjoyed doing the 1500m/5000m double at the Scottish ‘Masters’ Track and Field Championships in Grangemouth. My old friend Ron Morrison (well-known professor, coach, official, statistician, social drinker) presented my awards, asking, “What do you do with all your medals, Colin? Put them in a bucket?” Then he laughed, as only Ron can. Fair question, though, especially now that I am decluttering/downsizing/recycling/getting rid of a lot of more than 50 years’ worth of running-related memorabilia.

Much faster runners have had the same problem. Jim Dingwall used to keep a vast collections of medals, still attached to ribbons, hanging from a hook on the back of his kitchen door. Lachie Stewart’s, at one time, were in a red shoe box on the floor of a spare bedroom. He explained, “Naewhere else to put them!” Don Macgregor and I once took part in a Dutch marathon. He finished first Veteran and the trophy was a badly-designed, ornate, rather ridiculous item. As we chatted on the ferry back to Britain, with an entirely serious face, he unscrewed various parts of the tiered monstrosity, then put it back together in the wrong order, upside-down etc. Not to be a Joy Forever, then.

The very first medal I received (and still have) was in 6^th Year at Aberdeen Grammar School – for winning the Mile at the annual Sports. Strangely, it is in fairly good condition, although it dates from 1966! Yet the SAAA championship medals I collected in the 1970s and 1980s seem to have lost any glitter and, down the decades, have been quietly rusting and decomposing (like their owner). The SCCU plaques from that era have, to some extent, fallen to bits. I had to chuck out my only Scottish Cross-Country Relay winning team trophy years ago.

Brian McAusland, Webmaster of Scottish Distance Running History; and also of Anent Scottish Running, suggested that I should photograph every medal before passing several to younger relatives or, as a very last resort, disposing of them permanently.

Well, I have taken more than a few photographs; but the majority of that base metal will have to be recycled.

Then again, what are medals and trophies meant to represent? What ‘value’ might they have? (Certainly not financial.)

I was in two top Scottish Clubs: Edinburgh Southern Harriers in the 1970s and Aberdeen AAC in the 1980s and early 90s. As a useful team member, I was a fortunate contributor to many team triumphs in the aforementioned XC Relay, Senior National, Six-Stage Road Relay and Edinburgh to Glasgow; plus four Scottish Veteran XC Championship team victories. Most of these successes were mainly due to real stars like Allister Hutton, John Robson or Fraser Clyne.

There is no doubt that team wins, rare in the essentially individual sport of middle-distance running, can be great fun at the time and for weeks afterwards. There is real pressure not to let the others down; and satisfaction to be gained, especially if you have given all you can and run well by your own standards. There is also the prospect of a few convivial pints afterwards.

What about individual championship medals? Most of mine are for marathons (or, as a veteran, middle-distance track, half-marathons and cross-country). For the long-distance events, you have to train intelligently for several months, taper, eat appropriately, peak on the day, pace it correctly and then hang on grimly to the finish line. If that complicated process all goes really well, then there is not only the relief of stopping but also, once partially recovered, a real sense of achievement.

My mum left me an old display cabinet, and for years a couple of shelves were covered with selected medals, action photos and trophies. When I did look at those, it was to test my memory. What was that race? Did I run well? How on earth, so long ago, could I be that fast, compared to nowadays?

Therefore, medals, no matter how well-designed are merely mementoes, linking to experiences. I once tried to write a list of my Top Ten race performances, with the very best Number One. Then I had to add a few more which I liked to recall. They may not have been personal bests, but good age-related runs, with marks for tactics or sheer effort. This list I stopped compiling once I reached fifty races! By then I had realised that most training runs or events can provide some degree of pleasure; and the bad ones are to be accepted without (lengthy) sulking. Some are learning experiences.

Nostalgia is fine, now and again. Occasionally, looking back on achievements and activities can be justified. You have not wasted potential; and had ‘tough fun’. However, Living for Today is most important. Appreciating good aspects of existence, even if there are others to be endured. Would I change anything if I could? No, as the cliché states, it is all part of the ‘rich tapestry of experience’!

Now for those photographs.

                                                                        Aberdeen Grammar School, Aberdeen University, Scottish Universities

                                         1971 Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay (with Victoria Park AAC), 1973 Inter-Counties first individual (for Dunbartonshire)

Dunbartonshire plaques (with VPAAC)

From Sweden (1973-4).

                                                           Back: two road race wins and a road relay, organised by my team (Fredrikshofs IF).

                                       Front: my first two marathon wins: Stockholm and District; and Vintermaraton (in minus 5 degrees Centigrade).

The E to G silver is from 1971 (with Victoria Park Amateur Athletic Club); and the gold medals (with Edinburgh Southern Harriers) in 1974; and in 1975 (when the course record was broken).

The 1978 winning trophy (with ESH); plus the two big E to G gold medals (with Aberdeen AAC) from 1986 and 1988.

The tankard was presented unexpectedly by the SCCU in 1991, after I had just completed my 25th E to G since 1966. The years I took part, the clubs represented and the team finishing positions, were very kindly engraved on the back. After my last one in 1999 I had the five with Metro Aberdeen Running Club added underneath, to make 30 in all.

 Scotland international team win; Blazer badge for 1975 Track 10,000m v Iceland; 1975 marathon win (2.16.50 Championship record); 1985 marathon silver – my tenth and last Scottish Marathon medal.

 Donald McNab Robertson Plaque: Best Scottish Road Runner of 1975

 My favourite cat (Fiver). To the left, the Scottish Marathon Quaich. Behind his head, the Robertson Trophy (I think). Could the one on the right be the E to G?

 1980 Senior National XC victory (as ESH captain, I walked up to receive the team trophy); 1981 Six-Stage Road Relay win.

 Scottish City Marathons: Aberdeen and Dundee. The Scottish Marathon was usually in Edinburgh. I also ran Glasgow, London, Boston, Marathon to Athens plus Dutch, Belgian, Finnish, Swedish and French events. The most fun was Lochaber!

Three Marathon victories: Dundee 1986; Lochaber 1992; and International Team, Glasgow 1983 (Scotland beat Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Eire).

 Some Ultra-Marathon ventures: a small but treasured first class standard for the 1980 London to Brighton 54 and a quarter miles; the E to G (from Meadowbank to George Square); and the Speyside Way 50k. The Two Bridges 36 was another great race.

 Centenary medals from the SAAA (1983) and the SCCU (1990)

 Back left: Berchem (Antwerp) Marathon GB two-man team winning award from 1975. Danny McDaid (Irish Olympian) won by 17 seconds from me, with Max Coleby nine seconds behind. We beat the Irish plus many Continental pairings.

On the right, sponsored by Marathon Oil, a trophy from the 1986 ‘Marathon 16 miles’ road race near Aberdeen, which I won in a sprint, from another Olympian, the great Ian Thompson, former Commonwealth and European Marathon Champion. Both were past our peaks, but Ian was ten yards worse than I was that day! My Dad, James Alexander Youngson, (between us) is ‘photo-bombing’ before the word was invented.

 Front: Scottish Vets XC golds: M40, M45, M50, M55

Middle: Morpeth to Newcastle 14 miles first class standard (I won M40, M45 and M50), Scottish Vets Half Marathons, XC team; and (with Metro Aberdeen) two XC Relay golds

The Scottish Vets plaque is my Dad’s (second M60 in 1979 XC); and the other medal is my M70 XC silver from 2018.

 Back: British Veterans 1989 M40 XC silver; British Veterans 1993 M45 Marathon gold.

Middle: Scottish Vets golds for Half Marathon; 1989 M40 Marathon; and another Half.

Front: Scottish Vets 8 Stage Relay; British Vets 1995 M45 XC gold; Brit Vets 10,000 silver.

 My favourite races as a Senior were the E to G and the Scottish Marathon. As a Veteran, it was the annual British and Irish Masters Cross-Country International. Since my birthday is the end of October, and this great event usually takes place in early November, most of my better races were in Northern Ireland (since the Five nations host in turn). In the middle of the front row are two from 1992, when I became the first Scot to win an individual title (M45) in this event; and we won M45 team gold as well. I ran for Scottish Vets/Masters fifteen times; in every five-year age group from M40 to M70.

 Back: British Veterans 10,000m Outdoor Track M50 gold;

Front: British Masters 3000m Indoor Track M55 gold; World Vets Cross-Country, GB team M50 gold; European Vets 25k Road, GB team M45 second.

Colin about to win the 1982 Scottish Marathon at Grangemouth

Doug and Palm were both keen runners but unlike some parents, they never pushed Kim or Neil into the sport.   It was however inevitable that they would become involved.  Kim took part in many fun runs as a young child and enjoyed them all.  It was also on the cards that she would join the Dundee Hawkhill Harriers as a youngster where she was a reliable team member who helped them to gain team prizes in cross country and track where she threw the javelin for them.    

She wasn’t as deep into the sport as Mum and Dad but she has inherited the determination the rest of the family have.   That determination shows in the kind of events that she subsequently tackled as an adult.  In 2002 she ran in the Brittania Asset Management 10kin Glasgow with Palm and she also ran it again with some of her friends.  Some of the other events are:  

Great Scottish Half Marathon   2 October 2016   2:0130 

Glen Clova Half Marathon 12 Nov 2016   2:10:57

 London Marathon 23 April 2017 4:58:31

Templeton Trail 6 Miles  2 June 2017   55:22

Great Scottish 10K  1 October 2017   54:22

That’s quite a lot of serious events and you can add into that the Great North Run in 2002 in which she and Palm both took part.   Of course the London Marathon, back in April, 2017,  is a big test of fitness and one which you only undertake if you really want to.     Her Mum had done it back in 1981 and 1982, her Dad had also run in it several times but her reason for doing it in 2017 was a bit different.   Her 40th birthday was coming up and she wanted to celebrate it with something special.   The Glen Clova and Half Marathon events above were part of the preparation for it.   In fact, the London event was the ‘something special.’    And it was.   2017 was the 37th running of the event and it had the biggest field of any previous version of the event – 253, 930 applied for entry to the race and 40,048 started compared to the previous highest total of 39, 140 runners.   The race was started by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.   Prince Harry was also present.    The women’s race was won in a new world record time making it the biggest, fastest and possibly the most glamorous London Marathon of them all.   None of that takes away from the actual difficulty of running the race.   Any race pictures, like the one above, show Kim running quite comfortably.   A successful day: have a look at the smiles below.

Palm, Kim and Neil after the London Marathon

But Kim has also taken part in other testing events.   Her running is good and she clearly enjoys being active but there is not a fix on any one sport.   The photograph below is of Kim taking part in a triathlon – the picture at the top of the page is also from a triathlon.   There was an article published some time ago that said the three hardest endurance events in the world were the marathon run, the Tour de France cycle race and the cross-channel swim.   Kim’s triathlons had her swimming and cycling – we have already noted some of her running exploits.   But there is more …….

Her Mum had done some cycling back in the 1960’s and even joined the Heatherbell Cycling Club.   Kim has also done some cycling and the photograph below is of her after finishing an Etape   – a serious cycling event.

One striking aspect of the pictures that we have of Kim after an event is that she is always smiling – having clearly enjoyed it.   She seems to enjoy a physical challenge!   One more photograph, from 5 September 2009, – her Dad has been involved with a cancer charity for many, many years and Kim took part in a fund raising event for that charity.  Not a sponsored run, or swim or bike ride – but abseiling from the Clyde Crane!   

But everybody has to have a day job and away from the sport, Kim is a chartered physiotherapist who after qualification worked for the NHS.   This was followed a second degree and she became an animal physiotherapist as well.   She has now set up her own Animal Physiotherapy business.   When she sets her mind to a task she sees it through.

Described on the official Scottish athletics statistical website as

“R Penny Gunstone (15.02.58), Madras College, Edinburgh University;    Dundee Hawkhill Harriers,  Edinburgh AC,  Livingston and District AAC”, Penny had a very good career  as a runner which started when she won the Junior Championship in Edinburgh on February 10th, 1973, by four seconds from Ann Cherry of Fauldhouse.    The following year as a first year Intermediate, she was fourth, in ’75 she was third.   By 1976 Penny was a member of Edinburgh AC and was fifteenth in her first Senior women’s championship.   Progressing to 7th the next year she was selected as a reserve for the Scottish women’s team in the world cross-country championship.   She had come from Junior Girls racing to Senior Women’s racing and shown her mettle at all stages.   When asked how it all came about, she tells us:  

“I started running at the age of 14 having been to see Donald Macgregor running in the Munich Olympics. He taught German at the school I was at in St Andrews and was a good friend of Doug’s.   Fife schools started an under 15’s cross country championship and when PE staff were looking for girls to run Donald suggested my name. I came first equal and had suddenly found a sport I could do. I was small and skinny and not much good at anything else. In 1973 I won the Scottish Junior cross country champs from Ann Cherry.

It was shortly after that I/mum approached Alex Naylor to ask if he would coach me – he agreed and for the next 2 years I continued to improve. I represented Scottish schools at cross country and track. Cross country was my best and most enjoyable discipline.   I went to Edinburgh University in 1975, joined Edinburgh AC and was in Bill Walkers squad.

I did OK when at university although in my last couple of years at university stopped running due to injury and pressure of medical studies. I didn’t race for a number of years but started again in 1985 when I realised women wearing make up were running marathons! (If they could do it surely I could).   The first few years of my working life weren’t conducive to training/racing due to long hours and it wasn’t until I became a trainee GP that I became more competitive.

I was racing on the roads, cross country and track….nothing very outstanding but I was representing Scotland on road and country. At this time I also started hill running (cross country was rather tame and more like cross playing field)

I loved training and racing in the hills and represented Scotland in 4 Hill running World Cups (1988 Keswick, 1991 Zermatt, 1993 Gap and Telfes in 1996). In 1988, the Scottish Team (Tricia Calder, Joyce Salvona, Barbara Murray and me) won Team Bronze medals in the World Mountain Running Championships.

This was a full house – I had represented Scotland on the track-once in 1976, Cross country worlds 1988, hill running world cup 1988 and a number of internationals on the roads between 1985 and 1988 – sorry, I cant remember the details.”

Maybe we can help her a bit with dates.   In 1976, Penny ran a Junior International track 1500m against Belgium and Wales.   In 1975 she ran a Junior International cross-country match – the Billy Morton Trophy race. in which she was fourth Scottish counter and Scotland were second to England, but in front of NI and Wales.  In total between 1976 and 1988, Penny gained 9 Senior vests – two for road; seven for country.   She represented Scotland in the Glasgow Women’s 10k in 1987 and 1988.    In the World Mountain Running Championships, she was 11th and second Scot  in Keswick, 34th and third Scot in Zermatt, in Gap (France) she was 42nd and third Scot  and in Telfes 48th and third Scot.    Marvellous running by any standards.   Her track running was good and we can see the improvement over the years from her appearances in the Scottish ranking lists between 1972 and 1995.