Willie Drysdale

(Willie, who has done a tremendous amount for SVHC, is well known to many Scottish Veteran Harriers Club members and still continues to battle round the annual Scottish Masters Cross Country Championship. While I was at Aberdeen University and he was near his peak, I remember racing him in the 1968 Tom Scott 10 miles – Willie beat me by over 20 seconds and received a treasured first class certificate. His longevity as a runner is amazing – at the end of September 2017 he will have been in Athletics for 70 years, 27 years with Monkland Harriers and 43 with Law & District AAC!

by Colin Youngson)

Willie Drysdale: Keep On Running

Willie is 81 years young, having been born on the 26th November 1935. He joined Monkland Harriers in October 1947.

He enjoyed football and swimming but took to running because he thought he could be good. He got involved in the sport because he saw an advert in a pub window to join Monkland Harriers. Competition began in 1951 when he was a Youth (under 17). This was the youngest age group at the time and very few events were available: only 100 yards handicap and the occasional 880 yards handicap. The minimum age to take part in road and cross country was 16.

Willie’s best times were as follows:

880 yards – 2.02.3 (1967); 1 Mile – 4.29 (1967); 6 Miles – 30.09 (1967); 10 Miles Track – 51.50 (1967).

Willie had a fine record in the Scottish 10 Miles Track Championship. He won a bronze medal in 1966 at Seedhill, Paisley, recorded his personal best a year later, and between 1966 and 1969 was high in the annual Scottish rankings: fourth followed by seventh three times.

In the Scottish Senior National Cross Country he was a very respectable 29th at Hamilton Racecourse in 1966; and 39th in 1967, when ten New Zealand team members were allowed to take part as guests.

In the Scottish Masters Cross Country, he was second M40 behind the great Bill Stoddart in 1978; second M70 in 2010; third M75 in 2011; and third M80 in 2016 and 2017.

Willie was known as a good road runner. He took part in several Edinburgh to Glasgow Relays between 1965 and 1980. For Monkland Harriers he took on the most competitive stages (2 and 6); and was in their best teams when they were ninth in 1971 and tenth in 1972, when his team mates included future SVHC stalwart Bill McBrinn and young stars like Jim Brown, Ron MacDonald and Ian Gilmour, who went on to run for Britain.

Between 1974 and 1980, Willie often ran Stage 8 in the E to G for Law and District. The club’s best position was tenth in 1974, when Willie’s fastest team mate was Scottish XC International XC John Myatt.

In November 1966 Willie won the handicap in the traditional Brampton to Carlisle 10 miler; and on the 1st January 1967 was second in the handicap in the even more famous Morpeth to Newcastle (at least half marathon distance) in a time of 71.51, a personal best by over four minutes. He ran the top Scottish event, the Tom Scott 10 (over the old Law to Motherwell course) in under 51 minutes, finishing 14th.

Willie is a hill walker and also liked hill races and his favourite was the long-established Carnethy event, which he ran twelve times.

Willie Drysdale reckons that his fastest years were between 1967 to 1975, when he was 32 to 40 years old.

Normally he trained once a day, 6 days a week, resting on Friday, since races used to be on Saturday. His weekly training distance, up to age fifty, was about 50 or 60 miles. He also used to do weights at Monklands.

As a Veteran and Masters athlete, since March 1997 he has trained off road, due to back and knee problems. However he can still run for 60 to 80 minutes and goes to the gym three days a week. Occasionally he does speedwork – some strides in the football park!

Willie used to train at Corkerhill Stadium (near Bellahouston Park) on Sundays between the early 1960s to mid 1975. The best thing that happened was that Ken, a Senior Lecturer at Jordanhill College, supervised Willie’s weight training between 1963 and 1965. After that, Willie started running personal bests.

His original work training, as a pre-apprentice engineer, was at Coatbridge Technical College; and then he went on to qualify as a turner and fitter.

National Service. Between 1957 and 1959 he served with the Royal Scots Greys. He had seven weeks of general and fourteen weeks specific training as a Centurion Tank driver, then stayed at Catterick in Yorkshire for one year. In 1958 the Greys were sent to Munster in West Germany, near the Dutch border.

In October 1957 Willie ran a North Yorkshire & South Durham Cross Country League race and finished well up and first home for the Greys. He was asked to run for the league in an inter-league match – but his officer said to the selectors that Willie was not good enough! The officer was proved wrong in February 1958 when the Northern Command XC championships were held at Catterick and Willie ran well to finish third; then he was 28th at the Army XC championships at Aldershot but writes that this was a bad run for him.

Between 1966 and 1979 Willie worked as a technician at Strathclyde University. In 1967, through S.U., he got treatment three times a week for a hamstring injury at Corunna Street physiotherapist. However the injury did not clear up properly until 1980. At lunchtimes he ran five to seven miles along Alexander Parade to the golf course and back.

Between 1979 and 1989 he worked as a technician at Wishaw High School – and trained by running five and a half miles there from his home; and back later on.

From 1989 to 1997 he worked as a technician at Carluke High School. Willie used the gym when at Carluke and, after retiring in 1997, continued to use the gym.

As for diet, Willie writes that he just eats normally. The GP has given him Adcal-D3 vitamin. He also takes Perindopril (blood pressure) Simvastin.

Willie was mostly self coached, although he was supervised at Corkerhill a little. He himself had a coaching qualification from the 1960s onwards. In addition he was Secretary and Treasurer at Monkland Harriers; and, when President, organised the club training.

Since joining Law & District AAC, Willie has been Secretary three times and has been a Life Member since 2009. He helps the club at league matches and compiles the results for the referee. He assists with the organisation of the Tom Scott 10 miles road race at Strathclyde Park.

Willie Drysdale was a member of The Scottish Marathon Club; and continues to belong to the Scottish Hill Runners and the Fell Runners Association.

He was President of the Scottish Veteran Harriers Club from 1999 to 2001; and was Secretary from 2001 to 2012. He still works for the club in a number of ways.

Willie writes that he has always liked to compete in races to find out if he can improve his performance. Nowadays he just wants to keep on running and intends to take part in the BMAF XC championships at Forres in 2018.

Running, he writes, is a great way to meet people and to see other parts of the country. He has competed all over Scotland, in some parts of England, in Spain, Portugal, the USA and Canada. Willie Drysdale has enjoyed it all.

 

Eddie Stewart

Colin Youngson compiled the following profile of Eddie Stewart, a runner for whom all of Scottish athletics have a great respect.   Were there an award for the most consistent high-level runner on a year-round basis, Eddie would have been at the very top, or near the top, over many years.  A Scottish internationalist several times over he was a member of a really great bunch of Cambuslang Harriers runners.   You can read some more about Eddie at this link.

Eddie Stewart in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay in 1985

How did you get involved with the sport?

At the age of fourteen I started running at school, where they had a cross country club. The head music teacher, Bill Wright, was a keen runner and a member of Paisley Harriers. Like most boys I played a lot of football, not very well but I used to run all over the pitch chasing the ball, which annoyed the other lads but I did win my first medal in football when our primary school team won the local school league. So I liked running and, when I realised I would never be much of a football player, it seemed natural to take up running as a sport.

 Has any individual or group had a marked influence on your attitude or individual performance?

Probably the first person was Bill Wright who took the running club at school. We used to train on Tuesday and Thursday after school and on a Saturday morning if we didn’t have a race. We had 5 or 6 different routes of different lengths, ranging from 1mile to nearly 10miles. Most of the runs were like races and were all timed, so we could see how fast or slow we had run compared to the previous run over that route. Looking back, it wasn’t the most sophisticated type of training and probably coaches nowadays wouldn’t train young boys that way, but we enjoyed it, and it gave us plenty incentive to beat our own times or the times of the other lads.       

After I left school I joined West of Scotland Harriers but then I went to work for the Ordnance Survey in Southampton, where I half-heartedly trained and ran a few races for Southampton and Eastleigh. After 3 years I left the OS and came back to Glasgow. In the meantime West of Scotland Harriers had folded and I was thinking of joining Bellahouston when Robert Anderson arrived on the doorstep and asked if I wouldn’t like to join Cambuslang Harriers, since they had a young up-and-coming team.

The bus connection between Mearns and Cambuslang wasn’t very good so Robert, being the enthusiast that he was and still is, used to pick me up on a Tuesday night and take me to the club and then take me back again after training. So I was inaugurated into the Cambuslang Tuesday night ‘Hampden Park’ training run”: 71/2 miles of hell. It always started out at a reasonable tempo with perhaps 20 runners in the group but it was never an easy run, with the likes of Alec Gilmour, Colin Donnelly, Rod Stone and later Jim Orr and Charlie Thompson to name just a few. There was always someone who was feeling good on the night who wanted to push the pace, and if the infamous Jimmy Quinn was there he used to stick the boot in after half a mile. The Tuesday night run was harder than a lot of races although we never admitted it, saying only that it ‘wasn’t bad’ or ‘felt okay’.

So the whole squad of Cambuslang runners and officials had a big impact on my running – Robert, Dave Cooney, Des Yuill and Jim Scarborough who organised the club, along with all the runners who never made the first team, but who always kept the pressure on, waiting on a chance if we didn’t perform. None of us in the club were superstars – we were a bunch of lads with a bit of talent and a lot of hard grind, who made an impact on the cross country and road running scene in the 80’s and 90’s, but I doubt I would have had the same running success if it hadn’t been for the team spirit which the club had.

 What exactly do you get out of the sport?

I think, like most people who run, that the biggest thing is the feeling of being physically fit, of being able to get your training gear on and just run when and where you want, with no rules or regulations telling you that you must do this or that, and then the cameraderie of other runners. There is very little aggression in the sport because most of your energy is needed just to combat your own feelings of fatigue and tiredness and the battle is with your self.

What do you consider to be your best ever performance or performances?

I suppose my best performances were in the Scottish cross country championships in 82 and 84 when I was selected for the Scottish team for the World Cross in Rome and New York – not that I ran very well when I got there, but I gave it a go. Most of my best performances were associated with Cambuslang winning team titles, notably when we won the Scottish cross country relay championships for the first time in Inverness. Clyde Valley AC was the favourite team and, expecting to win again had decorated the cup handles with red and white ribbons, but that didn’t bother us, as Cambuslang also run in red and white. 

Another first was winning the Scottish cross country team title at Irvine and then winning gold in the E to G relay which, although I never felt I ran very  well in it, was always a great event , and it’s a pity it’s no longer in the race calendar.

Worst?       

My worst performance I think was going down to the English Inter-Counties cross country and running like an absolute donkey – the legs didn’t work, the lungs didn’t work, and only the brain was working, telling me to stop. But I carried on and ended up near the rear of the field. Horrible.

What unfulfilled ambitions have you?

I don’t think I’ve any unfullfilled running ambitions – just to keep running and enjoying it.

Other leisure activities?

I like walking, painting and drawing and generally watching nature.

What does running bring you that you would not have wanted to miss?

The main thing running brought me is my wife, who I met at a race in Bolzano in Italy. It was a New Year’s Eve race in 1987, and I was running in the Scottish team with Aidie Callan and Alastair Douglas. My wife-to-be was running for Czechoslovakia as it was then. We wrote letters to each other for about four years before I packed my bags,and I’ve been here in Prague ever since. In addition I’ve always liked the freedom and the feeling of being physically fit that running gives you. Also the friends I’ve made through the sport, both in Scotland and in the Czech Republic.

Can you give some details of your training?

I was never a big mileage man, due to my physical work as a gardener, but I always managed to get by with about 40 miles a week when I was running at my best. I always say that 8 hours gardening work is like steady circuit training – you’re using your whole body and not just your legs. so it gives you good general fitness.

I never had a coach for running. For about 2 years I did train with Brian McAusland’s squad on a Wednesday night at Coatbridge, and Brian gave me a few ideas about how I might improve. Just training with that squad improved my general speed, not that I was ever known for my sprinting ability!

My main running season was always September to March, usually with a break in April, and then some track and road running during the summer, but the cross country season was my main interest.

A typical week’s training for me in the autumn would have been as follows.

Mon. 2mile jog,10 x 200m hills slow jog down recovery, 2mile jog

Tues. Club 71/2 miles road hard

 Wed. Track i.e. 12 x 400 in 69 secs with a diminishing recovery – 45 secs, 30 secs, 15 secs.

Thur. Steady 5 miles run on country

Fri.    Rest

Sat. Race or 7 miles over country

Sun. Longer steady run over the country 10 miles

I wasn’t fanatical about my training. If I felt I was tired I would take 2 or 3 days off to rest before starting again. I tended to do most of my training at a fairly good pace, even my longer runs, since I never felt comfortable running at a slower pace than I felt I had the energy for.

During recent years, as a veteran, I try to get out 2 or 3 times a week, and this would include one longer run of say 9 or 10 miles, one interval session 8 x 500 on an undulating track in the woods, and a shorter 4 or 5 mile run on the country. I think that’s enough for me and it gives me a rest day or 2 in between my runs.

Edd

Eddie leading the field in the 1983 Nigel Barge Road Race

.. among others were   Steven Begen, Al Currie, Georghe Braidwood, Richie Barrie, Dave McShane, Tony Coyne …

 (During a long and distinguished running career, Eddie Stewart, such a strong, consistent athlete, produced track bests of: 800m – 1.59; 1500m – 3.55.4; 3000m – 8.16.5; 5000m – 14.11.7; 10,000m – 29.55. On the road he ran a half marathon in 65.14; and, as an afterthought, a marathon – 2.23.47 (aged 39) and 2.26.59 (aged 40). 

In his favourite Scottish National cross country championships, Eddie was in winning Cambuslang teams an amazing 10 times, between 1988 and 2000.

In the Scottish Masters cross country championships, he won the M40 title in 1998 (leading Cambuslang to team victory); M45 in 2004; M50 in 2007; M55 in 2012, 2015 and 2016; and M60 in 2017. The end for Eddie’s superb running is definitely not in sight!

In addition, his wife Miriam picked up a bronze medal in the W50 1500m in Korea this year at the World Masters Indoors; and both his son and his daughter Moira run well. In fact Moira has run several times for the Czech team in the European XC championships; and recently finished 7th in the 5000m at the European Under 23 championships in Poland.)

 

1958 Empire and Commonwealth Games

1958 Programme cover

The sixth Games, now designated the British Empire & Commonwealth Games, was held in Cardiff, Wales, between 18 – 26 July, 1958.    It was the smallest country to have held the Games and, apart from London in 1934, the first British city to have the honour of hosting them.   It was a very good meeting indeed and the official report on the Games said:

“Never in these lands of Britain had there been a gathering of athlete ability of better class or proven accomplishment to surpass that now assembled.”   The thing is that it was no mere pompous, wing-baggery by a local politician.   It was just the truth.   Look at some of the athletes – Milka Singh, Herb Elliott, Murray Halberg, Dave Power, Gert Potgieter, Marlene Willard, Betty Cuthbert, Val Sloper and Mary Bignal.   The list is by no means complete – there were stars everywhere you looked.    Away from athletics Dick McTaggart won the trophy for the most stylish boxer as well as his gold medal, but he had competition for the country’s top man since Ian Black was doing great things in the swimming pool and Peter Heatly’s diving was always a source of pride.   Phil Caira won gold in weightlifting and two silvers were brought home by the wrestlers.   Scotland had a big team – after the small numbers in 1950 and 1954, it was good to see the efforts of so many Scottish athletes rewarded, even though not a single medal was brought home by any athlete.   The SAAA and SWAAA Championships had been held in June and the team chosen on 23rd June.   Extracts from the programme and the results of the two meetings can be found  at this link .

The meeting started with the Queens Baton Relay baton being delivered by Ken Jones with the message from Mayor of Vancouver to Price Phillip.   This was in itself a first – the relay had never been held before at any Empire Games.   The Scottish athletics team totalled 41 including Coach Tony Chapman plus RAB Foreman and Miss I Mustard.

Ken Jones hands the baton to Prince Philip

The performances were pretty well all that could be expected against the like of Elliott and Lincoln from Australia and all the rest of the top world athletes of the day.   In order of events we find:

100 yards men:   G Carragher  10.0 sec  2nd/ht 2; JG Edgar  10.5    5th/Ht 8;  AB Cockburn  10.2  5th/Ht 9,  A Dunbar  10.0  1st/ Ht 11

                                Second round:  Carragher  10.2  6th/Ht4,   Dunbar  10.0   5th/6

100 yards women:  Moira Campbell  11.3  5th/SF2;  Doris Tyndall  11.4  5th/3;  Mary Symon  11.5  3rd Ht 2; Louise Stevenson 11.5  5th/1

220 yards men:  R Cockburn  22.5   5th/Quarter Final4; 

220 yards women:  D Tyndall  25.2  3rd/2;  M Campbell  25.4   3rd/4;  L Stevenson 26.0  3rd/1

440 yards men:   JV McIsaac  48.9  6th;  JV Paterson  48.6  6th/QF 3; RH Thomson  48.8  4th/QF 1  (Winner Singh 46.6)

440 yards Hurdles men:  A Hannah  53.9   4th/SF 1

880 yards (first two from round 1) :  D McDonald  1:54.6  4th/1; JV Paterson  1:54.4  4th/2; G Everett  1:55.1  3rd/3; L Locke  1:55.0  2nd /4

                                                                   Final:   Locke  1:54.7   7th.   (won by Elliott in 1:49.3)

Mile:  (First 3 from round 1)   G Everett  4:10.8  4th/1; M Beresford 4:04.6  2nd/2; A Gordon  4:10.7  4th/3

                                                                Final:  Beresford 4:07.8  6th (Won by Elliott in 3:59.0)

Three Miles:   Ian Binnie 14th  No time given;  Joe Connolly  16th   ntg.   Alistair Wood  Did not run.

The quality in this reace was quite outstanding – in order of finishing we have Murray Halberg, Albie Thomas, Neville Scott, Gordon Pirie.  Ron Clarke, John Merriman, Dave Power,  plus Ibbotson at tenth, Bullivant at eleven, and Maiyoro at twelve. 21 finishers)

Six Miles:  Joe Connolly seventh  30:20.4.   Alastair Wood did not finish.   

(This was a very good run by Connolly – Barry Magee, Stan Eldon, Hugh Foord and Ray Puckett were all behind him at the finish.   The race was won by Dave Power from John Merriman and Arere Anentia.   13 finishers.)

Marathon:   Alex McDougall  7th  2:29:57.   Harry Fenion and Hugo Fox failed to finish.   

Splits for the Scottish runners : 

                                           McDougall           Fenion                    Fox

Five Miles                           26:57                   26:59  (13th)         28:33  (20th)

Ten Miles                            54:00 (5th)       57:09    (14th)       58:57   (17th)  

Fifteen                              1:20:51  (9th)     1:24:58  (15th)            –

Twenty                             1:50:30  (7th)           –

Twenty Five                    2:21:15   (7th

26+                                  2:29:57

4 x 110 yards relay women   Scotland 5th (Tyndall, Isabel Bond, Symon and Campbell) 48.5 sec

4 x 440 yards men:   Scotland 4th/Ht 1  (McDonald, Paterson, McIsaac, Thomson)   3:17.4

Shot Putt men:   MR Lindsay 6th  50′ 7″

Discus Men:  MR Lindsay  4th  161′ 0″

Discus Women:  Diana Will  8th  125′  4″;  Rosemary Payne  10th  114′ 8″;   Antonia Ireland  11th  108′ 8″

Hammer:  Ewan Douglas  9th 164′ 9″;   Robert Scott 115y   149′ 10″;   AR Valentine  No Mark

High Jump men:  7th  Crawford Fairbrother 6′ 6″   (NB  Cosmos Julien [VPAAC]  competing for Mauritius was 27th with 5′ 10″]

High Jump women:  Louise Stevenson  10th  4′ 10″

Crawford Fairbrother in action in Cardiff

The Games were a huge success.   The Scottish team did well but against the very best of world athletes – even the Americans had no one like Herb Elliott or Dave Power in the marathon for instance – the athletes won no medals at all.     The next Games would mean heading halfway round the world again – iy was to Perth in Western Australia that the team would travel.

A footnote: Security is such a big feature of any event organisation, that it might be instructive to read the Security section of the Games Report for 1958:

“Traffic control, security and entry to the Village were efficiently carried out by RAF police personnel under the command of Flight Lt. AB Morgan, RAF.   They also supervised the Car Parks, checked persons entering the competitors’ dining halls and Women’s section, looked after the flags in Flag Court, and with the RAF band paraded at each team’s flag breaking and Welcoming Committee.

To quote figures, the RAF Police checked over 10,000 vehicles entering the main gates, refused permission to over 3000 persons endeavouring to enter the Village on one pretext or another, checked 204 drivers for unauthorised parking in the Village, and were outwitted and lost three flags from the Flag Court.”

 

1986 Games: Preliminary Problems

Edinburgh was awarded the 1986 Games at a meeting of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation in 1980.   It would the first city to be awarded the Games twice.    The great success of the 1970 Games and the bestowing of the title ‘The Friendly Games’ at that time (which is still being used in the twenty first century) had a part to play in the award, but there were also problems right from day one.

The huge looming problem was the threat of a boycott by the African nations.   There had been two critical meetings resulting in  documents which would be more than just guidelines for the organisation of Sport within the British Commonwealth.   The word British is omitted in the current description of the Commonwealth of Nations, but at this juncture (1986) the role of Britain and its constituent countries, particularly England, in the developments leading up to the 1986 Games was important.   Even today, with the Queen as head of the commonwealth and Patricia Scotland as the Secretary-General, the significance of actions by Britian within the organisation has an influence greater than any other.   The world situation was dominated by the apartheid system operating in South Africa and the sporting boycott of that ountry in order to change the political system.

  1.   The first of the two meetings was at Gleneagles in 1977 resulting in the Gleneagles Declaration.   The 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal had been boycotted by no fewer than 28 African nations.   The problem had been the New Zealand rugby tour of South Africa: the IOC had refused to ban NZ, hence the boycott in 1976.   The Commonwealth countries met at Gleneagles and signed a declaration of their opposition to apartheid in sport.     
  2.    New Zealand rugby were again the source of trouble in 1981 when they allowed the tour of NZ by the South Africans to go ahead.  This was totally against all that the Gleneagles Declaration had stood for.   The meeting after this tour was in London in May 1982.   After many longand heated arguments, Jamaica suggested that a Code of Conduct be drawn up and written into the constitution of the Commonwealth Games Federation.   This was agreed upon and the 1982 Brisbane Games went ahead.   

It was in this atmosphere that the second Edinburgh Games were born.   And it was at this point that the English rugby team decided to tour South Africa in 1984.   This caused the Organising Committee continuing, virtually impossible, problems.   There was a meeting of the Scottish Commonwealth Games Committee on 6th March 1984 in Edinburgh and this was on the Agenda – not for the first time.   The Minute reads: 

“ENGLISH RUGBY TOUR TO SOUTH AFRICA.   There was conisderable discussion on this matter and it was decided to write to the Federation requesting that they communicate with the Games Council for England, drawing their attention to the Code of Conduct, especially pp 40/41 where it requests that the Council for England should write to the English Rugby Union and the Government asking that the Tour should not take place. ”  

The Tour went ahead and seven matches were played against the South African team.   There was apparently some covert opposition from the government – it certainly wasn’t overt – but the RFU decided it should go ahead although, after the event, they were said to regret that they done so.   No matter, the damage was done.   Despite the best efforts, and considerable efforts were made by the organising committee and the Games Federation, the boycott went ahead. 

In addition to the boycott, there were massive financial problems – these are detailed in the first class coverage of the Games by the writers at ‘Scotland’s Runner’.   

The government of Margaret Thatcher was more than just unhelpful, it was obstructionist and the refusal of Malcolm Rifkind, Scottish Secretary at the time, in refusing to give any guarantees at all was, to say the least, damaging to all efforts to raise the necessary sponsorship.   This intransigence on the part of the government drove the Games into the arms of Robert Maxwell.   How did Maxwell get involved?   Probably because someone suggested to him that he could become the Saviour of the Games.

Team Managers Reports – Women

Complete Team with assistant manager John Hamilton, John Brown, Men’s Manager, Hilda Everett,Women’s Team Manager and David Lease, National Coach.

ATHLETICS WOMEN   –   Mrs Hilda Everett   –   Section Manager

Preparation for the 1986 Games has been ongoing since Brisbane with a yearly warm weather training camp in Portugal, event squads during the winter months and international competition.   A commonwealth games squad was selected two years prior to the Games, each athlete in the squad achieving standards set by the Association in conjunction with the national coach.  This squad was the basis of the Scottish women’s team for the Commonwealth Games.   

Accommodation:   This was provided at the Pollock Halls, Edinburgh, five minutes from the main stadium at Meadowbank.   All Scottish team men and women were housed in Baird Hall.   The rooms were small with bunk beds in each.   Tea and coffee facilities were available as well as washing, drying and ironing.   There was a TV lounge with colour television.    As we were competing on home ground, the girls were given the opportunity of staying at home if they wished, thus giving them as near a natural environment as they were used to.   This did, however, present some problems for the Team Manager.   Food was plentiful, good and available when required by the athletes, packed lunches were also available when required. 

Training:   This took place at Meadowbank and Saughton and the coaches under the direction of the national coach attnded training sessions.

Illness and Injury:   After the selection date, Janis Neilson sustained a pulled hamstring during a club league match and she was seen immediately by the team physiotherapists who advised that the injury was not as serious as we had at first thought, and would be healed by the timeof the Games.   When she arrived in the Village she was seen by the physiotherapists daily.   However during a relay practise session, Janis pulled her achilles tendon and had to be withdrawn from the relay team.

Team Matters:   Diane Royal had to be withdrawn from the team at the eleventh hour for technical reasons and had to be replaced by Elizabeth McArthur.   Christine Price was an excellent captain and I thank her for the help she gave.   

Weather:   It was not too kind and towards the latter part of the Games it became rather cold  ……. typical Scottish weather.

Behaviour:   All the team behaved and co-operated well and were a credit to themselves and Scotland.   It was a pleasure to have been Team Manager to such a dedicated team.

Results:

Event, Name, Semi-Final, Final, Place

100m, S Whittaker, 11.60s, 11.59s, 5th,

-, K Jeffrey, 11.55, 11.59, 6th

-, J Neilson,   –  ,     -,   –

200m, S Whittaker, 23.41, 23.46, 3rd

-, A Bridgman, 24.13,   –  ,   –

-, J Neilson,   -,   -,   –

400m, D Kitchen, 55.52,   –  ,   –

-, F Hargreaves, 55.76,     -,   –

-, L McDonald, 58.26,   –  ,  –

800m, A Purvis, 2:02.47, 2:02.17, 4th

-, E McArthur, 2:04.40,   -,   –

1500m,  Y Murray, 4:11.82, 4:14.36, 5th

-, L McDougall, 4:13.07, 4:17.25,   –

– , C Whittingham, 4:33.01,  –  ,  –

3000m,  Y Murray,   –  , 8:55.32,  3rd

-, M Robertson,   –  , 9:51.33, 9th

10000, E Lynch,  –  , 8:41.42, 1st*

-, A Everett,  –  , 33:56.43, 9th

-, C Price,   –   , 33:59.90, 10th

Marathon, L Irving,   –   , 2:36:34, 5th

100m H, A Girvan, 13.60,  –   ,    –

-, P Rollo, 14.00,   –   ,   –

400m H, M McBeath, 64.03,   –   ,   –

High Jump, J Barnetson,   –   ,   –   ,   –

Long Jump, L Campbell, 5.65m,   –   ,   –   

Discus, M Bremner, 47.06,   –   ,   –

Javelin, S Urquhart, 48.04,   –   ,   –

Heptathlon, V Walsh,    –   , 5420 pts,   8th

The two relay teams were both placed fourth.   The sprint relay team of Girvan, Kelly, Bridgman, Kelly was timed at 45.84 seconds, and the 4 x 400 squad of Whittaker, Purvis, Kitchen and Hargreaves recorded 3:42.86.    

Team Managers Report, Men

 

Team Managers’ Reports – Men

After the Games, the Team Managers, John Brown and Hilda Everett, were required to submit reports on the Games.   Both reports were much better than might have been forecast given the problems with money and the boycott that were faced.   They are reproduced below.

Men’s Team: John Brown, centre front

THIRTEENTH COMMONWEALTH GAMES

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

26TH JULY – 13TH AUGUST 1986

Scottish team performance is summarised below:

3 – 1st places               12 – 2nd places               18 – 3rd places

SECTION MANAGERS REPORTS

ATHLETICS (Men)   –   John Brown   –   Section Manager

Travel:   All athletes assembled at the Games Village under their own arrangements and no difficulties were encountered.

Accommodation: In contrast to the previous Games held in Brisbane in 1982, the accommodation provided in the Edinburgh University Pollock Halls of Residence was ideal.   Team members shared, two per room, but with the athletes being allowed to determine their own extent of residence in the Village, and by making appropriate pairings, many enjoyed almost single room accommodation and this was very much appreciated by the athletes.

Training Facilities: The training faciities provided by the Organisers were found to be adequate for our requirements.

Medical Support: The mdical team of doctors and physiotherapists can only be described as superb.   They were always on hand to provide expert care and atention in a very warm-hearted way, and on behalf of the athletes I would like to pay them a special tribute.   Of the many athletes who consulted the Medical Team only Lindsay Robertson (marathon) was unable to compete.

Discipline: No member of the team required to be spoken to regarding discipline or behaviour in general, and all supported the various functions and meetings with Royalty.

Boycott: It was most unfortunate that the Games suffered from the boycott with a third of the competitors being excluded.   In athletics very few potential medallists did not take part.   The depleted fields however meant that a number of our athletes who would have benefited from an earlier round, were being thrown into semi-finals or finals of events.   A number were unfortunate not to qualify for further rounds by the narrowest of margins.   

Results   * Aditional Event

100 metres

Bunney   5th   10.37;   Henderson   8th   10.68;   Sharp   eliminated in semi-final   10.62

200 metres

McCallum   eliminated in semi-final   21.39;  Whittle   eliminated in semi-final   21.69

400 metres

Whittle   5th   47.10;   Johnston   eliminated in semi-final   48.57;   Nicoll   eliminated in semi-final  50.07

800 metres

McKean   2nd   1:44.80;   Forbes   7th  1:51.29

1500 metres

Currrie  eliminated in heat   3:44.82;   Hanlon   eliminated in heat   3:50.57;   Robson   9th   3:57.20

5000 metres

Muir   8th   13:40.92

10000 metres

Hutton   –   30:16.50

3000 metres steeplechase

Charleson   –   9:21.73;   Hanlon   –   8:53.56;   Hume   –   9:05.40

Marathon

Graham   4th   2:12:10;   Clyne   10th   2:17:30;   Robertson   withdrawn on medical grounds

110 metres hurdles

Wallace   eliminated in 1st semi-final  14.23;  McDonald   eliminated in 1st semi-final  14.37;   Fraser   eliminated in 1st semi-final   14.28

400 metres Hurdles

Fulton   eliminated in 1st semi-final   57.90;   McCutcheon   eliminated in 1st semi-final  53.58;   Hardie   eliminated in 1st semi-final   55.68

Pole Vault

McStravick   8th   4.45m

High Jump

Parsons   2nd   2.28m

Long Jump

McKay   8th   7.39m

Triple Jump

Duncan   7th   15.68m

Hammer  

Black   8th   63.88m

Shot

Irvine   9th   16.73m

Discus  

Patience   52.54m

Javelin   

Maxwell   –   62.34m

Decathlon

McStravick   4th   7563 pts

4 x 110 Relay

Henderson, McCallum, Sharp, Bunney    3rd    40.41

4 x 400 Relay

Johnston, Forbes, McKean, Whittle    4th   3:18.43

Women’s report and results are on a separate page which can be reached   here

 

Women’s 10,000m, Meadowbank, 1986

Liz Lynch first appeared in the national rankings in 1979 but she had been running for a long time before that having been spotted at School and then coached by Harry Bennett at Dundee Hawkhill Harriers.   By 1986 she was studying at Alabama University and her times were such that there was no doubt that she would be selected for the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.   She could have been picked for the 3000m (there was no 5000m for women at that time) but instead the selectors felt that she would do better in the inaugural 10000m race.   So it was that she lined up for the race on 28th July, 1986, against thirteen other athletes from five countries – Scotland, England, Wales, Canada and New Zealand.    

When the Commonwealth Games returned to Edinburgh, 16 years after the Scottish capital had last staged them, one of the new events was the women’s 10000 metres.   It was a stage ready-made for a Dundee Hawkhill athlete who had made her first steps to world class while at the University of Alabama for whom she won the NCAA indoor Mile that same year.   While the weather had been typically Scottish for the championships, rain and gloomy conditions never being too far away, Lynch brought rick emotion to the occasion with a tremendous and emphatic victory.   What made her stand out, and it remained such a glorious trait throughout her career, was this bloody-mindedness to dominate races just how she wanted.   If the rest of the field wanted to follow, then they knew they would be in for a tough afternoon, as the Commonwealth’s best women long distance runners discovered.   Cheered on by a packed crowd at Meadowbank Stadium with the blue and white flag of Scotland turning the event into a spectacularly colourful occasion.   Lynch ran to victory in 31:41:42, a British record and a triumph by nearly 12 seconds, with Anne Audain of New Zealand second in 31:53:31.    It was was the first of four times that McColgan would break the British record for this distance, and the lap of honour was something to behold, as Scotland celebrated their only gold medal winner of the Games.   

The result as shown in Wikipedia looks like this.   She was twelve seconds clear of second

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
01 !1st, gold medalist(s) Liz Lynch  Scotland 31:41.42 GR
02 !2nd, silver medalist(s) Anne Audain  New Zealand 31:53.31  
03 !3rd, bronze medalist(s) Angela Tooby  Wales 32:25.38  
04 !4 Nancy Rooks  Canada 32:30.71  
05 !5 Susan Lee  Canada 32:30.75  
06 !6 Susan Tooby  Wales 32:56.78  
07 !7 Marina Samy  England 33:10.94  
08 !8 Carole Rouillard  Canada 33:22.31  
09 !9 Andrea Everett  Scotland 33:56.43  
10 Christine Price  Scotland 33:59.90  
11 Debbie Peel  England 36:03.79  
12 Chris McMiken  New Zealand 99:99.98 !DNF  
12 Jill Clarke  England 99:99.98 !DNF  
12 Debbie Elsmore  New Zealand 99:99.98 !DNF

In a profile published in the Scotsman in 2006, 20 years after the event, she said that she still remembered every step of the race.   She was quoted as saying

“It certainly doesn’t feel like 20 years ago, and I remember it as if it was yesterday,” said McColgan. “I was something of an unknown quantity, but I knew I was in great shape, running for the first and only time without any pressure on me, and I knew I had gold in the bag with 800m to go.

 “I was conscious of the huge crowd chanting, ‘Liz Lynch, Liz Lynch,’ and that carried me home, and the fact the entire stadium waited the 20 minutes of so for the presentation ceremony was amazing, and it was all very emotional.”

 Asked where her gold, won in a time of 13mins 41.42sec fitted in the pantheon of Lynch/McColgan achievements, she was clear. “Athletically, it wasn’t my best by a long chalk, but it got me known, got me top races at world class meets, so that was important, and it was certainly the emotional high point of my career.”

You can read more about her wonderful career at this link

Liz with some of the other Scots at the Games 

 

Scotlands Runner covers the Games

1986 was a very good year for Scottish athletics in several ways:   Despite the many problems associated with it, the Commonwealth Games was a real highpoint;   some new stars appeared on the international scene, mainly Tom McKean and Liz Lynch, who had been well-known beforehand but who really came good and launched wonderful international championship careers and the ‘Scotland’s Runner’ magazine appeared for the first time.    This magazine that went out of print in 1993 was a great source of information via the results pages obviously but also through the many ‘Upfront’ articles and stories by the editors Alan Campbell, Doug Gillon and Stewart Macintosh with regular contributors Lynda Bain, Fraser Clyne, Bob Holmes, Graeme Smith, Sandy Sutherland, Jim Wilkie and Linda Young.   The photographs were first class and the letters pages gave readers an opportunity to contribute to the debate.   Everyone was interested in and involved with the sport.   It was a real loss when circumstances led to it’s demise.    If you want to read the articles in their entirety or re-visit the magazine, just go to Ron Morrison’s website at

 http://salroadrunningandcrosscountrymedalists.co.uk/Archive/Scotland’s%20Runner/Scotland’s%20Runner.html 

It was natural then, that they should cover the Commonwealth Games in more detail and with more insight than the daily press.    I’d like to look at the July to October issues of the magazine and quote from some of the excellent articles on the subject.

The first issue – cover above – was in July 1986 and among many articles of interest was one by Sandy Sutherland entitled ‘The Shoestring Games’, one by Fraser Clyne on marathon selection difficulties and an interview with Tom MacNab about Allan Wells.  

Elsewhere on this website I criticise the low number of athletes chosen to represent their country in the Games but there is an interesting item in the ‘Inside Lane’ page written by Alan Campbell.    It reads: “Nobody loves a selector.   Every jogger who ever stumbled blistered and leg weary towards a marathon finish  thinks he or she can do better.   So as the Commonwealth Games selectors brace themselves for the four yearly lashing, let’s set the record straight.   The Scottish team’s original allocation of 33 male and 23 female places is smaller in real terms than in 1970.   There were 35 men in Edinburgh 16 years ago and 21 women.   But since then four events (400m Hurdles, 3000m, 10000m and marathon) have been added to the women’s programme.   This allocation is given by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland who have consistently refused to increase the figure.   That despite the fact that in overall terms Scotland is a stronger athletic nation now than in 1970 (although it does not mean we will win more than the four gold we took then.)   

Pressure on the selectors to pre-select, especially in the marathon, was intense.    There has to be something wrong with a system that does not get our fastest man on to the start line.       But the selectors, with no room for passengers on a tight ship,  dared not choose any but certain starters.   Allan Wells and Tom McKean are among those over whom serious injury doubts have been raised on the run-in.   The fact remains that a domestic Games remains the cheapest opportunity to blood young talent.   Lack of funds, always the scapegoat when the Commonwealth Games are held overseas, should be less of a consideration now than ever before.   The reality is that in the race to stage the first commercial Games the people who matter most, the competitors, have been left at the post.    National Coach David Lease admits that there are good athletes who will not be in the team.   That is a disgrace.   But it is not the fault of the selectors, or the sponsors and public who have given generously, and who will give more before the curtain goes up on Scotland’s greatest show.”

So the small team was not down to the selectors, but to the Games Council for Scotland.   That doesn’t make it much more palatable.   The shortage of cash with which to run the show was dealt with later in the magazine in the ‘Up Front’ page.  The item read:

“The Commonwealth Games faces a substantial cash crisis after the Government’s snub to a request for financial aid.   Attempts to emulate the success of the Los Angeles Olympics by making the 1986 Edinburgh Games the first to be funded entirely by the private sector and public donations have failed.   A yawning gap of £1.5 million lies between the Commonwealth Games and financial viability, but on June 2nd the Government refused to make any contribution despite the international kudos which could accrue to such a prestigious international event if it works successfully.

After considerable press speculation, Games chairman Kenneth Borthwick conceded at the end of May that only £12.5 million of the required £14 million has been raised and wrote to the Secretary of State, Malcolm Rifkind, to ask the Government to underwrite the loss.    Mr Rifkind turned down the plea and reminded Mr Borthwick that when Edinburgh had bid for the Games, it had been on the basis that there would be no State funding available.   He expressed his confidence that the £14 million target would be achieved.   Games organisers hope that they have correctly detected a coded message between the lines of the Secretary of State’s reply where he asks to be kept informed of the situation.   They harbour hopes that if they fail to clear the £14 million hurdle, some sort of cushion might be provided by Mr Rifkind.

Current sponsors will be approached and asked to consider increasing their contribution and Scots will be asked to make further donations to the public appeal which has had its target adjusted upwards to £2.5 million.   Companies who have declined previous request for support and sponsorship will be contacted again and asked to reconsider.”

A sad and rather undignified situation in which to be placed – and the contribution to the discussion by the Secretary of State not at all sympathetic.    Sandy Sutherland further through the same issue commented in more detail on the financial aspect in an article entitled “The Shoestring Games” which had the opening paragraph: “Sun and gold medals will make the XIII Commonwealth Games shine in a way that no amount of glossy PR will.   And it certainly has not been sunshine and roses for the Games organisers who were faced with some unique problems and a whole new ball game compared to Edinburgh’s so-successful 1970 Games.   Yet the cost-conscious 1986 event may yet prove to have done sport a favour – in the long run.”   and continued (with a large illustration of the new scoreboard  which had been bought second hand from Los Angeles to save money) as follows:

“The 1986 organisers must be praying that we find some new local heroes but with just over a month left before the opening ceremony at Meadowbank, it has to be admitted the portents are not good as over 3000 competitors and officials from up to 50 countries prepare to descend on Edinburgh.   Venues, tickets fund-raising, South African rugby tours, Zola Budd, miniscule Scottish athletics teams – these are just some of the topics which have caused rows in the build-up period.   The projected Scottish team of 23 women and 33 men is a big let-down for the competitors.  

Money however has been the matter which has dominated these first commercial Commonwealth Games.   When Scotland was awarded the Games in 1980 in Moscow it was by default – Scotland’s was the only hat in the ring and that somewhat prematurely, as the bid had originally been intended for 1990 or 1994.   Edinburgh, the reluctant hosts, gave an assurance that no government money would be required to stage the event as no new facilities would need to be built, hence negligible capital expenditure.   But that assurance came back to haunt them,  particularly when   a new Labour administration was elected in the city.   They refused to go ahead with an ambitious project for the velodrome, but in the end however something approaching £400,000 was allocated to dismantling and rebuilding the old cycling venue.   But it is much the same style as in 1970 with new wood, but still open to the elements with all the attendant risks should rain fall during the Games.  

The city have also resurfaced the Meadowbank athletics track and spruced up the old stadium.   A huge new scoreboard dominates the West end (but perhaps not big enough to shut out the awful prevailing wind?) and a photo-finish box in the stand shuts out at least 150 seats.   Improvements totalling £4 million were budgeted for by the city, including some at the Royal Commonwealth pool, venue for the swimming events, and Balgreen, where a lot of bowls will be played and talked about.   But that expenditure pales beside the organisational budget which at the time of writing stands at £14.1 million.   Compared to what it might have been, that is quite small.   The budget in Brisbane in 1982 was £17 million and, allowing for up to 25% increase in competitors, that figure might well have reached £28 million.   Instead that has been halved.   

“That is a fine achievement,” says Robin Parry, managing director of the consortium of accountants, Arthur Young, and publicity agency, Crawford Halls, charged with the task of raising the bulk of the funds, through advertising, sponsorship and licensing and other deals.   Will they achieve their target?

“It’s finely balanced,” says Parry whose group will be fund-raising right up to the Games. “In particular, arena advertising tends to go at the last moment, but we have already definitely raised over £13 million and I’m optimistic  of closing the gap.”   The consortium’s conservative projection, from their various sources, including hospitality suites at the main arenas, is £8.5 million  while the public appeal is expected to raise £1.5 million.   TV rights – £500,000; tickets – £1.1 million; and programme sales, after sales of equipment and other items – £600,000; while £1 million was raised in early sponsorship.    The appeal includes the Lottery, which could prove quite  money spinner, and the “McCommonwealth campaign” which has had a lukewarm response in its initial stages at least.   The Commonwealth Games book and the special £2 coin are two of the items which come under Parry’s remit and are two of the hardest to assess in terms of return.

But tickets look like exceeding their target and, with the main sessions at athletics and swimming sold out within a few days of going on sale for postal applications last September, there could be quite a black market for these.   Part of the problem for the organisers has been that they did not know how many seats were actually going to be available because the stadium capacity had not been settled due to the Popplewell Report on crowd safety and the extra room taken by hospitality units.   It looks as if, despite the extra terracing, the Meadowbank capacity will be approximately 22,000 compared with well over 30,000 in 1970 when scaffolding doubled the norm.   Sadly a priority ticket scheme intended for the real athletics fans, which would have given athletics clubs and others a month’s advantage over the general public, was so mis-handled that the dates merged.   That is just another example of how the people in the sport appear to have been neglected in these Games.   So in the end who will benefit?  

Certainly the Games themselves.   the inflationary spiral which has gone on through Christchurch, 1974, Edmonton, 1978, and Brisbane has been broken, and Edinburgh in particular because of the massive television exposure and the income from tourism (which has been estimated at £50 million).   Certainly sport in general though rowing, back in the Games for the first time since 1958, with new purpose-built facilities at Strathclyde Park, could point to more obvious benefits than swimming or tack and field which have been short-changed on facilities (no warm-up pool or track for example) and competitors.   But short-changed or not, track and field will be the centre-piece and showpiece of the Games, and the making or breaking of them.   And our athletes have destiny in their hands.”

It’s a very interesting article and looking back Sandy’s comments towards the end of the penultimate paragraph about priority ticket schemes, is thought provoking.   In the collection of club memorabilia that I inherited from James P Shields is a letter from the organising committee of the London Olympics of 1948 asking of any of our club members would like tickets for the event.  nearer home, all clubs in Scotland were asked how many tickets they would like, where in the arena they were for and for what events.   Here again is the idea that those who are involved in any sport should have priority in the availability of tickets is mentioned.   It is worse than just a shame that this idea has been abandoned in favour of mass, elbows out, scramble for tickets at Olympic and Commonwealth Games.  

For now I will hold back from re-printing Fraser Clyne’s article – sections of it will appear elsewhere soon – on marathon selection but will say that his conclusion was that “the 1986 Commonwealth Games marathon team should have been picked by no later than the end of 1985.”

The above picture features Sandra Whittaker the quite outstanding sprinter, coached by Ian Robertson, who was one of the very best Scottish runners ever.   It is most unfortunate, to put it mildly that she has been virtually ignored in recent years.   A woman who in the Los Angeles Olympics set personal bests in the heats, and in the quarter-final has to be very special.  She is still the only Scotswoman inside 23 seconds for the 200m.    With talents like hers and her training partners and the Edinburgh group of the same period, there should surely be some website with profiles or tributes to our sprinters.   However, in the second issue of “Scotland’s Runner”, the middle pages full-colour spread was an article by Doug Gillon which took a look back at 1970 and had what was called an optimistic look ahead.   But first, in the very first page of the magazine was Alan Campbell’s ‘Inside Lane’ page with the dreaded news that many had anticipated but which no one wanted to hear: the boycott was now on.    The article read:

“On July 9th, the darkest cloud hanging over the success of the Commonwealth Games finally burst over mountainous political pressure.   Nigeria and Ghana announced their withdrawal over Mrs Thatcher’s attitude towards South African sanctions.    Just 24 hours earlier, new Games trouble-shooter, Mr Bryan Cowgill, had felt justified in announcing a record Games entry including a full African participation led by … Nigeria.   Yet no sooner were we digesting the good news in our morning newspapers than our kippers and toast were upset by the boycott announcement.     The news came just in time for Scotland’s Runner’s final deadline for this issue.  we cannot therefore give an in-depth analysis of the ramifications and repercussions.   By the time you read this, any amount of political machinations – ranging from a full Afro-Asian-Caribbean boycott  to  a compromise salvaged from Sir Geoffrey Howe’s seemingly ill-starred trip to Southern Africa will have decided the fate of the Games.   ……

The sanctimonious claptrap mouthed by Mrs Thatcher on the morality of sanctions against South Africa had already turned enough white stomachs – including ours – before Nigeria and Ghana took their precipitous decisions.   In the light of the worsening political climate which dwarf the problems of the Games, a far more delicate hand than Mrs Thatcher is capable of playing was called for if the original boycott threat was to be finessed.   Before returning to the subject of the boycott however let us not pass over the, now admittedly parochial, commercial and administrative problems which have bedevilled this Commonwealth festival from the outset.  

After 18 months of rumour, evasion and a permanent smokescreen of optimism from the Games organisers, the truth emerged.   The Games were on the brink of cancellation; the limited company, Commonwealth Games ’86 Ltd, was in danger if trading illegally, and Scotland would have become an international laughing stock.   Part of the blame must lie in Canning House, the Games HQ, where a bewildering series of some 40 committees was spawned under the muddled leadership of Games chairman Ken Borthwick, a former Conservative Lord Provost of Edinburgh and a newsagent and tobacconist shop proprietor.   Political wrangles with a new left-wing Edinburgh District Council administration did not give confidence that the organisation of the Games was progressing smoothly.    The Government could and should have done much more, but their dogmatic commitment to the market economy blinded ministers to the contribution that a successful Games could bring to the future standing of Scotland and the UK.  

To be fair, it had been made clear at the outset that these would have to be the Commonwealth’s first “Commercial Games,” but when the fund-raising consortium got tantalisingly near the £14 million target it was petty of Malcolm Rifkind. the Secretary of State for Scotland, to refuse to fight in Cabinet for the funds that would have bridged the gap and given his home city and Scotland an unbeatable opportunity to perform on the world stage.   It would have been a very small amount to pay for the potential return in terms of future tourism and commercial interest.

Then the cavalry came riding over the hill.   Robert Maxwell, publisher of Mirror group Newspapers, had (with nothing more binding than a handshake) apparently won control of the Games, unseated Ken Borthwick as chairman, and in the process won himself enormous publicity.   But when the cavalry comes to the   rescue they are supposed to fly in with a life-saving charge, not stand on the hill-top trumpeting for reinforcements which are still some way over the horizon.   In return for his dramatic winning of the Games Maxwell seems to have offered nothing more than a promise to do three things: to campaign vigorously for further injections of commercial money, to explore advertising  and sponsorship opportunities which the Games organisers had missed, and to demand that the Government throws some cash into the pot.

Major sponsors such as Guinness, who have put money rather than hot air, into the Games must wonder whether they have got the full return on their investments when one of the most formidable personal publicity machines in the UK won the top seat so cheaply.   As one Scottish newspaper pointed out, it was as if the annual newspaper ‘silly season’ had started early this year; indeed if it was not for the fact that these indignities are being inflicted on our country and our sport it would be all rather comical.  ….

Returning to the boycott threat, having apportioned blame in all directions for the commercial shambles, we would like to at least applaud the Scottish Commonwealth Games Council for having tried its damnedest to keep the Games intact (and indeed Edinburgh District Council, although their methods at last year’s Dairy Crest Games were less than diplomatic).      The Games Council cannot be held responsible for the selfish attitudes of rugby administrators and players determined to flaunt the Gleneagles agreement on sporting links with South Africa now could they prevent the Daily Mail and the Home Office conspiring to polarise Commonwealth opinion over their handling of the Zola Budd affair.   Whatever the situation on July 24th, Scotland’s Runner can only join sports lovers everywhere in hoping that the merchants and politicians finally got their act together in time to salvage the Games.”  

This is not the entire article but he doesn’t mess around – he says what he thinks: and what he thought was endorsed by most of the Scottish sporting public.   He mentions the Gleneagles Agreement had been signed at Gleneagles in 1977 and discouraged sporting contact with teams from South Africa because of their apartheid policies – read about it at this wikipedia link

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleneagles_Agreement    

As far as the boycott of the Games by the African teams is concerned, it was a great deal to do with the Thatcher government’s attitude, Philly.com said frankly in 1986:   “Thatcher is virtually alone in the Commonwealth in arguing that sanctions against South Africa will not work, but in October she persuaded the other heads of Commonwealth governments to appoint a delegation to find ways to open a dialogue between the South African government and black nationalist leaders.”   Despite the agreement, England’s rugby team toured South Africa in 1984 although the Lion’s tour in 1986 was cancelled.   The Edinburgh Games Committee took a very public stand against the English tour but to no avail.  The whole story can be found at 

http://www.bl.uk/sportandsociety/exploresocsci/politics/articles/boycotts.pdf .   

Doug Gillon’s major article in the middle of the second issue of the magazine.   Starting with a look back at 1970 when Scottish chances of any gold medals were scoffed at (other than McCafferty – if we’re lucky!)   Looking ahead, Peter Matthews (ITV commentator) said we would get two – silver for Parsons in the High Jump and bronze for Liz in the 10000m.    Before looking at the prospects for 1986, he retells the story of an Englishman who wrote off Lachie’s victory over Ron Clarke in the 10000m by saying that a champion should win like a champion – from the front.   Jim Alder came back at him.   England’s great athletics hero Chris Chataway in his epic duel with Vladimir Kuts had led for 20 yards – the last 20!”   Doug says, in an article that is still worth reading, “There is certainly no lack of ambition.   The American philosophy of ‘First’s first, second’s nowhere!” alternatively expressed by “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” is a sentiment that many home athletes share.   They just are not as obtrusive about it as the Yanks.   But on current ranking, at the time of going to press, the reality is that not one Scot tops the Commonwealth lists in his or her event.   But the impact of national fervour cannot be underestimated.   I believe that Scotland has genuine medal prospects in Tom McKean (800m), Allister Hutton (10000m), John Graham (marathon), Geoff Parsons (High Jump) and the 4 x 400m relay provided the squad can get their act together.   I also believe that the hopes of gold are greater with the women.   Nobody should underestimate the talent of Yvonne Murray in the 1500m and more particularly, the 3000m, of Liz Lynch in the 3000m and 10000m, or of Lorna Irving in the marathon.   And Chris Whittingham has already carved three seconds from her 1500m personal best this year, running in Oslo, where she clocked 4:06.24, a time inside the Games record.

It will hopefully be third time lucky for her family.   Her twin, Evelyn, competed in 1974 at Christchurch, both of them were in Edmonton where Chris placed fourth in the 1500m.   In addition Christine’s husband Mike was edged out of the medals in the 400 metres hurdles in Brisbane.   There are several other events with lesser medal prospects and national and native records will fall regularly.”    The article continues with an appraisal of the Games as a whole.

The magazine contained other articles relevant to the Games – an interview by Bob Holmes with Geoff Parsons (who was to go on to win silver), several items in the Up Front section including one on the Guinness ‘Commonwealth Friendship Scroll’ travelling round the Commonwealth.   

The cover picture of Issue Number Three, September 1986, tells the story!    The men’s 10000m gold medal of 1970 had been equalled by the women’s 10000m gold in 1986.   By the time the magazine hit the streets, the Games were  over but the magic of Liz’s medal was still in the air and the delightful picture on the cover above just summed up everyone’s delight at the result.   Doug was given the two middle pages to ‘Report On The Games’ with another superb photograph of the end of the women’s 200 metres showing the first three in full flight.   Doug wrote:

” …. Jake Young, a teacher at Edinburgh Academy identified the talent of sprinter Jamie Henderson and commendably realised there were people better equipped than he to develop the boy’s potential.   In less than a year under Bob Inglis’s care, Henderson had won gold and bronze at the World Junior Championships and bronze in the Commonwealth Games relay.  

In cold statistics there were many who did not live up to expectation in Edinburgh.   Injury in some cases saw to that.   Janice Neilson never competed at all and Lindsey McDonald appeared to be limping during her warm-up and clearly competed in pain.   Moira McBeath from Thurso who finished seventh in the final of the semi-final of the 400m hurdles is pregnant.   Our three men’s 400m hurdlers all failed to match their best.   Neither  Allister Hutton nor Nat Muir came anywhere near threatening the Scottish native best for 10000m or 5000m which has stood since the 1970 Commonwealth Games, despite having run well inside these marks.   The long jump of 7.51m that gave Dave Walker sixth place in 1970 was one centimetre further than sixth place in 1986; the heptathlon long jump of 6.39m by Moira Walls in 1970 would have won her the bronze medal in the individual event this time; and the Scottish women’s relay squad have still not run any faster than the 45.2 seconds which an Edinburgh Southern Harriers squad achieved to win the WAAA title in 1970.

Worse, the boycott would almost certainly have stopped us from winning at least two of the six medals won.   But athletes can only beat those who turn up on the day.   Sandra Whittaker surpassed expectation in becoming the first Scottish woman ever to win a Commonwealth sprint medal, maintaining her style spectacularly over the final 20 metres when it counted.   The men’s relay squad succeeded against the odds.   Cameron Sharp, nursing himself round with an excruciating back and leg injury after sacrificing his personal aspirations in the 200m to do so.   And George McCallum tore his right hamstring yards before the vital final takeover to Elliott Bunney.

The highlight was of course Liz Lynch’s stunning 10000m victory.   It was a great gamble for the Dundee woman who was ranked top of the 3000m starters.   Had she known the 3000m would have been a straight final, she would have attempted the double.   The girl from Whitfield in Dundee was another who had a  haphazard introduction to the sport.   She went with a group of friends to Dundee Hawkhill Harriers and left almost immediately.   It was only later that she returned.   It was the late Harry Bennett who converted Liz from a 100/200 runner to  a distance athlete before she left to study in the USA at a junior college and then at Alabama.   Yvonne Murray, who settled for bronze but made a brave bid for gold in the 3000m, was spotted playing hockey by her biology teacher, Bill Gentleman.   Tom McKean however has had a more normal progress in the sport, a member of Bellshill YMCA since shortly after his eleventh birthday, and nursed delicately by coach Tommy Boyle.   His silver medal behind Steve Cram was a national record and bettered a native one that had stood to Mike McLean, chairman of the selection committee for the Games since 1970.   Geoff Parsons fell one short of his ambition to win gold but equalled his British outdoor record to do so.  

At this time last year, Jamie Henderson was pulling on an Edinburgh Academy cricket sweater.   The Games were something that would be happening in his native city the following year.   He might buy a ticket or two and go and watch.   Or he might not.   Instead the sweater was resurrected like a prop from the wardrobe room of Chariots of Fire, and Henderson wore it on his way to the starting blocks for the men’s 100m final at Meadowbank last month when he became the youngest man to contest a Commonwealth sprint final since the 17 year old Dan Quarrier struck gold in the capital 16 years before.   Henderson wore it again when he Groge McCallum, Cameron Sharp and Elliott Bunney came out to take the relay bronze.   A year is a short time in athletics, but the progress made by Henderson in that time is perhaps the most heartening thing to emerge from the Commonwealth Games.   And that is not to minimise the stunning success of the delightfully unspoiled Liz Lynch.   For the emergence of the Edinburgh teenager in so short a space of time is proof that the basic natural resource of the sport is flourishing in Scotland.   But we must have more input.   Otherwise these resources will be burned and wasted like a puff of spent tobacco.”

That is most of Doug’s article and it was the only major one in “Scotland’s Runner” that month.    The following month brought an article by John Anderson under the title of “Why Are We So Bad?” and a report by Doug Gillon on another event that certainly affected the Commonwealth Games – the European Championships later that year.

John’s article read:

” … we have a cultural heritage second to none, one which promotes the twin elements of dedication and passion.   The Scottish tradition is to learn well and fight hard to achieve.   We must harness that.

POTENTIAL

Clubs come in all shapes and sizes, some well organised and well resourced others which barely survive from year to year.   Some clubs have a large variety of facilities and can provide their members with a complete range of opportunities, coaching and competition, supported by an excellent organisation.   Such clubs  however are limited, largely through no fault of the club but either because they are geographically isolated, or by the nature of their limited resources they are unable to provide comprehensive opportunity to those in their area.   It is important to recognise the contribution made by schools.   The Scottish athletic tradition has been to a large extent built on the excellent network developed at this level.   But this marvellous tradition is in jeopardy as teachers consider whether they can afford to continue.   If the school involvement dimishes, this will pose further problems for clubs and the development of the sport.  

But however many clubs there are, and no matter how well equipped and funded, they cannot function without the voluntary club official.   Like the clubs they come in all shapes and sizes, but have in common a desire to give their time freely in order to ensure that others enjoy the full range of opportunities in athletics.   These people must fulfil many functions.   They have to be first-class administrators, able to deal with the secretarial and financial aspects of the organisation, and they certainly have to deal with fund-raising since most clubs usually exist on a hand-to-mouth basis at best.   There also have to be coaches to advise the young athletes and there must be conpetitions organised, and the structure to provide the numerous judges, timekeepers and other officials.   So, on the plus side, Scotland has a multitude of willing voluntary helpers, the backbone of athletics without whom the sport would cease to exist, or at least would exist in a very limited form.   We also of course have outstanding performers who have emerged to put a little dash of colour on Scottish athletics.   In addition to the one or two jewels in the crown is the very substance of athletics, the performers.   Some argue that athletics is about providing for these people rather than for the elite, but the argument of course is specious because all athletes are part of the sport.   The top encourages the bottom.   Aspiration and achievement are recognised throughout the sport and therefore those who achieve the highest levels act as a stimulus to those whose performance and talent are not at that level.   It is important to identify at the outset that the pursuit of better performance is the driving force within athletics.   One cannot just take part.

If it is accepted that all athletes are aspiring to improve and that officials are there to help bring this to fruition, we have to look at whether the existing structure achieves these ends.   The sport, including cross-country and road running, is too fragmented for effective management structure.   Any management consultant would feel that the ability to implement new initiatives would be restricted in view of the small population and large land area.   The existing structure does not ensure that those who live in the more outlandish places are given an equal opportunity with those in the central belt.   There are many self evident criticisms which might be directed in terms of management organisation and structure given the current framework, but suffice to say that the current structure is a nonsense and cannot achieve even a small part of what it sets out to do.   We need organisation and radical change.  

The problem of scale outside the central belt means that athletes are not given equal opportunity – or even an adequate opportunity – to take part in club athletics or competitions.   This is compounded by the fact that very few clubs are able to offer a full range of facilities in terms of road running, cross-country and all the various forms of athletics – throwing, jumping, pole vault, etc.   In many cases they even lack the required level of coaching expertise.   It is therefore necessary to find ways in which the resources might be used more effectively and efficiently.   In some if not all parts of Scotland the competition structure leaves a good deal to be desired ,   Certainly there are many very good competitions available.   These have grown over the past few years and are a credit to those who organise them.   But they are centred largely on the central belt and tend to leave others in isolation.   There are different modes of competition, the lifeblood of the sport, which might be brought into such areas to the benefit of the raising of standards.  

Competition is based on the existing club set-up but this is clearly inadequate.   What we must do now is build on that structure which has stood the test of time.   The older clubs must pool their resources, building an area structure on top, evolve the concept of more wide-ranging competition.   This could take the form of inter-area matches in throws, jumps and pole vault, others in sprints and hurdles, others still  in the middle distance races.   It should not be beyond the wit of man to devise this.    Scots traditionally reflect great national pride.   It is in evidence in all the national sports events when the Scottish people demonstrate their loyalty and pride in their heritage.   Sadly this very often is not reflected in the way in which our organisations function.   It may well be suggested that there is no really strong national feeling or sense of responsibility in Scottish athletics, that the sport is too parochial. that   it sells itself almost exclusively to individual clubs and those within these clubs concern themselves with ‘The Club’ rather than examining how the whole national scene can be improved.  

We must examine the sport’s funding in Scotland and different methods of financing must be promoted and developed.   Certainly if further development is to come then the whole area of sponsorship and support from local authorities, quite apart from national level involvement must be scrutinised.  As a Glaswegian I am ashamed to note that in spite of being one of the largest areas of population, Glasgow has languished behind not only Edinburgh, but many other smaller places between Glasgow and Edinburgh in its provision of facilities.   It borders on a national disgrace that Glasgow has only recently acquired one synthetic track for its entire population – this from a city which promotes itself as being ‘miles better.’    One track is inadequate and even the new Kelvin Hall project will only scratch the surface of the lack of indoor facilities.   Until that is resolved nationwide, Scotland’s adverse weather conditions will certainly limit the development of technical events.  

Tradition is a two edged sword.   It can be a positive or a negative weapon.   In Scotland the young are taught that the club is the focus of all activity, superseding all others.   By definition all else falls by the wayside.   Youngsters are taught to be hostile to other clubs, to succeed at the expense of others.   What is taught is negative.    We should be sharing our limited resources.   Very, very seldom do you hear of clubs sharing their knowledge, expertise or facilities or assisting other clubs.   All the clubs in the Edinburgh area, for example, could be pooling their resources.   There would be enough coaches to go round and a scouting system could be developed to tap into the schools.   Instead they are too frightened of the possibility of poaching.   The clubs are too selfish.   The questions they must ask themselves  are, “Is the sport bigger than the club?   Do they care enough about the sport they profess to believe in to change things?”

The allegation of Scottish small-mindedness is one that has to be looked at.   We  Scots have to bury our parochial attitudes in the interests of national development.

SOLUTIONS

The control, administration and management of Scottish athletics must be re-structured and reorganised.   A diverse and fragmented administrative structure leads to inefficiency and ineffectiveness.   A single administrative office was a step forward but one body for a country the size and population of Scotland is the answer.   The form that body should take and the responsibilities it should have are matters which can be resolved with goodwill on all sides.   This questions the motives of the adults who run Scottish athletics.   It is the officials, who put in many hours of effort, who actually control the sport.   The athletes themselves, although capable of decisions, are motivated by participation rather than politics, and it will always be thus.   So the responsibility for the future lies with those officials, and they now carry an onerous responsibility.   No doubt the vast majority of national officials come altruistically into the sport, but over the years that altruism becomes blunted.   The fragmented nature of Scottish athletics is perpetuated by misguided individuals reinforcing the separate entities of the sport, men’s and women’s track, men’s and women’s cross-country.   There is little to suggest in recent years these incumbents have made any effort to bring the organisations together for the good of the athletes and the sport.  Instead they seem intent on retaining their power.

They have the power to run the sport more effectively, but that will require sacrifices from them.   The tendency is to focus attention on their own club’s particular role.   What is needed is a magnanimity of spirit and attitude in the interest of the sport nationally.   These people must look beyond their own role and examine the contribution which could be made if they took a less parochial stance.   The leaders of Scottish athletics must do precisely that  …  lead Scotland into building a new structure, one more efficient and effective, one able to respond rapidly to the needs and demands of the athletes.   We should be riding on the high of the enthusiasm generated by the Commonwealth Games and the success Britain achieved at the European Championships at Stuttgart.   We owe it to the new generation of Scottish athletes.”

That’s John’s article and it makes interesting reading.   At the time it was written, Scottish athletics was governed by the SAAA, SWAAA, SCCU and SWCCU – he was one of the first to propose the amalgamation of the four bodies into the Scottish Athletics Federation, and as usual with John, the priority was always the good of the competitors.   A lot of what he has said about competition and clubs away from the central belt has also come to pass.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lawrie Reilly

Lawrie Reilly finishing second to David Glassborow in AAA’s Junior 1500m, 1970

Lawrie Reilly (7 August 54) was a very good athlete indeed, as was his older brother Joe, who is not as well known in Scotland as others of his generation who accomplished less.   Joe (8 July 1945) was ranked nationally on the track every year from 1964 to 1971, and ranked in One, Two, Three and Six Miles as well as in 1500m, 5000m, 10000m and 3000m steeplechase.   Third in the SAAA Six Miles championship in 1965 with a time of 29:09.2 which placed fifth on the year’s statistical rankings, Joe was very unlucky not to gain international recognition.

Lawrie is recalled by former team mates as slim, quiet and a bit reserved but very talented.   His performances would have been good in any era.   The family moved south to Liverpool in 1972 and both men ran for Liverpool Pembroke as well as retaining and using their Victoria Park membership.   Lawrie wn no fewer than six internationl cross country vests for Scotland and still holds three junior club records for the Liverpool Pembroke Club – these are for the 3000m (8:10:57), the 5000m (14:10.2) and the 10000m (30:29.8).    His range of talen was indeed wide – he is ranked at various times for 800m, 1500m, Mile, 3000m, 5000m and 10000m and well after his cross country international days were over, he ran 2:26:29 for the marathon in 1985.   

Joe Reilly in the national cross-country championships at Hamilton in 1967

Lawrie first appeared on the scene in season 1968/69 as a Senior Boy.   In the Midland District cross-country championships at  Bellahouston  in January 1969 he finished fifth individual in a team that finished fourth.   Then in the National at Hamilton when he was tenth the team responded to the higher level of competition by finishing first.     He showed even then what a good track runner he was when he topped the  rankings for 800m (2:09.7 at Scotstoun on 12th June) and 1500m (4:20.5 at Scotstoun on 12th June).   The 1500m time was when he won the Scottish School 1500m.   Many young athletes are successful because they are physically very mature – look at the starting line of any U13 or U15 800m race – and they disappear when there are increased training demands as they progress through the age groups.   Lawrie was not in the big, burly, physically strong category at any time.   

After a good summer, young Lawrie was still a Senior Boy and improved his Midland Championship run of the previous year when he finished second at Lenzie and led the team home to third place medals.    The next championship was the big one and he was second in the national to Mulvey of Shettleston.

That summer he again won the Scottish Schools 1500m title: on 20th June 1970 at Pitreavie, he was and exactly one week later in the  first in the 15-17 age group in 4:05, and exactly one week later he took part in the first ever combined men’s and women’s Junior and Youth track championships at Grangemouth where he won the 1500 metres in a time of 3:58.9 which also won the Bank of Scotland Trophy for the best performance in his age group.    He ended that summer with best times of 1500 in  3:57.6 which ranked him 26th in Scotland, 3000m in  8:36.2  (19th) and for 10000, a distance seldom run by Under 17’s,  31:19.8  (27th).   The 1500m time was when he finished second in the AAA’s 1500 at Kirkby on 1st August.   The 10000m time was run at Scotstoun on 31st July.   The times were not just good, they were verging on the precocious.

By winter 1970/71 he had stepped up to the Youths (U17) cross-country age group but it didn’t seem to slow his progress.  If anything it accelerated the process.   In the District Championships at Stirling he won the Youths race by 18 seconds from Gillespie of Springburn with Mulvey of Shetleston third.   Victoria Park’s team of Reilly, Alexander (6th) and Inglis (7th) was also first.   Not content with that, Lawrie also won the national in Bellahouston Pak from Rowan of Ayr Seaforth and Paul Bannon of Shettleston with Mulvey fourth.   The  team was also first with the other runners being Alexander 7th, Logue 12th, and Turner 22nd.    The ‘Glasgow Herald’simply said  “Laurie Reilly had a comfortable win the Youths 5000 metres.”   And left it at that.

Summer ’71 was one to remember.   His best times were 1500m  3:56.8  (22nd),   3000 8:33.8  (23rd).    These were senior men’s rankings.   As far as the age group ratings were concerned he was placed first and first.   Competitively he won the Scottish Schools in 4:04.6, the West District Championship in 4:03.0 and the inter-counties in 4:04.6.   He didn’t run in the national championships which was probably as well for the others  he was almost eight and a half seconds faster than anyone else in his age group.   (Lawrie 3:56.8 and Jim Thomson (Law) 4:05.2)   Selected for the Schools international at Meadowbank on 17th July, he finished fourth the time that headed the rankings.    The SATS Handbook read: “Once again Lawrence Reilly was the outstanding Youth at this distance, unaccountably missing the SAAA Championships but winning by a large margin in the other major titles.   Reilly convincingly broke four minutes in the Schools International race at Meadowbank, but will not be seen much in Scotland due to having moved South to Liverpool.”   

Lawrie was listed in 1971 as St Thomas Aquinas HS and Victoria Park, while Joe was credited to Liverpool Pembroke and VPAAC in that order.  His first race south of the Border was at the old track at Wavertree where the local runners knew nothing about him at the start of the race.   He simply sat in for the duration of the race – then out kicked them all.   They knew a bit more about the slightly built young Scot then.  The good news is that Lawrie continued to run for the Scottish club; the sad news is that he missed the major championships that winter of ’71/’72.   In the summer of ’72 he finished the season with best times of  3:58.0  for the 1500m which placed him 26th,  8:12.2 for the 3000m (5th),  14:35.8 for 5000m  (21st),  and 30:29.8 for 10000m (11th).    The last time, the 1000m, was run when winning for Liverpool Pembroke at at Kirkby on 11th June, 1972, which still stands as a club Junior record.

By 1972/73  Lawrie was a Junior Man in athletics terms and was able to run in the eight stage Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay for the first time.   Run on Saturday 18th November, it was a race with no easy stages.   Having said that, second and sixth were the really ferociously competitive ones where the top Scottish endurance runners faced each other.  Lawrie, on his first outing, was asked to run the second stage.   He performed nobly, but for the only time ever in the race, he dropped three places, from fifth to eighth.    The threee who overtook him were Norman Morrison, Jim Dingwall and Doug Gunstone.   Against that, Lawrie (who was a first year Junior) ran faster than Jim Alder.   He would never drop a place in the E-G again.    The club team was fourth – a position they were to fill several times in that decade.   Based in Liverpool, he failed to turn out in the District Championships at Viewpark in January 1973 but in a very competitive Junior National he was third across the line.   He was part of a very talented generation of runners, in eveidence I list the first five in the race:

   1st J Brown (Monkland), 2nd L Spence (Strathclyde),  3rd Lawrie Reilly, 4th R MacDonald (Monkland), 5th D McMeekin (Victoria Park).

The club team was second.    This run gained him selection for the Junior team to compete in the ICCU cross-country championships at Cambridge where he finished 20th.   Brother Joe had run in these championships in 1964 and finished ninth.   

The following summer, living in Liverpool by now, he had best times of 3:52.6 for 1500m which placed him 11th on the domestic ranking lists, 8:10.6 for fifth place in the 3000m listings and he was ninth in the 5000m with a best time of 14:10.0.   Running in the Pembroke colours, he ran the 3000m at Crystal Palace when finishing fifth in the AAA Under 20 championships on 14th July, 1973, and the 5000m at Derby on 4th September in the Northern Counties v Midland Counties v RAF fixture: both still stand as club Junior records in March 2017.

In the cross-country season of 1973/74, Lawrie ran well and won his first world cross-country selection.   In his second Edinburgh to Glasgow, Lawrtie again ran on the second leg where taking over in sixth place, he moved up to second collecting some good scalps on the way.   Two seconds faster than Jim Brown on the same stage, he saw the club again finish fourth.    Came the Junior National and this time Lawrie went two better than the previous year and won from Allister Hutton, Willie Sheridan and Lawrie Spence.   The standard of running among this generation was very high indeed and Reilly was well up to it.    The report in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ said only “Our junior winner, Laurie Reilly, has made the senior team, and it was little wonder after his clear cut victory over All-star Hutton (Edinburgh Southern). ”       Yes, he did say ‘All-star’ Hutton – wasn’t my misprint.

Selected for the Senior team for the international at Monza in Italy, Reilly finished 97th and was a counting runner for the Scottish team.

The 3000m distance seemed to suit Lawrie’s talents better than any o the standard events with his rankings for it consistently in the top five or six.  Strange then not to see him rated over the distance in summer 1974.   That summer he was running for Sale, which was the only club for whom he was credited that year.   Based in and running almost exclusively in England, he ran 3:56.9 for 1500m when finishing second at Oldham on 19th May, and 14:20.6 for 5000m at Crystal Palace on 21st September.   

The age groups for SAAA and SCCU were sometimes at odds with each other.    For cross-country purposes however, he was a Junior in 1974/75 and ran his third Edinburgh to Glasgow race in November 1974.   Again on the second stage he moved from the middle of the field (ninth) up to second with the fastest time of the day on this stage of savage competition among the top men.   Among those beaten for speed by Lawrie were Jim Dingwall, Ronnie McDonald, Donald Macgregor, Sandy Keith and Frank Clement.   Some were top milers, some were marathon men, and Lawrie ran faster than every one of them.   The team finished, yet again, fourth.    Living in the south as he did, he was not out in the District championships but he did appear in the Junior National and finished second, 11 seconds behind Allister Hutton.   It was another quality field.   As an illustration, the top ten are noted: 

1st A Hutton, 2nd L Reilly, 3rd P Kenney, 4th J Graham, 5th J Burns, 6th W Sheridan, 7th J Thomson, 8th J McGarva, 9th P Forbes, 10th I Orton.   

He had gone into the race as favourite, but the report in the ‘Glasgow Haerald’ said, In the junior five miles, Alistair Hutton emphatically turned the tables on his conqueror  of last year, Laurie Reilly.   Hutton was always a threat to the favourite, but informed spectators must have been  stunned to see a gap of 70 yards between them at the finish.”    Yes, he did say Alistair Hutton – wasn’t my mis-spelling.

The team selected for the international that year included Reilly among the seniors and he finished 43rd on the flat trail in Rabat.

The following summer was spent south of the border and it was a good one as his list of best times shows:

Event     time     ranking

1500     3:51.3       17th,  

3000  8:01.4,    4th

5000  14:01.8       5th,  

10000  28:58.75   3rd

The 10000m time was recorded when he competed in the AAA’s championship at Crystal Palace on 1st August that year.   The fact that he ran that time when finishing 13th indicates the gap in standards between Scottish and English distance track running at the time.

Winter 1975/76 was his first as a Senior over  the country and it was another good one.    In the eight stage relay from Edinburgh to Glasgow, Lawrie ran on trhe sixth stage and gained one place when he went from sixth to fifth.   He had fourth fastest time of the day behind Dave Logue, Doug Gunstone and Ronnie McDonald.   The team finished sixth.   At the start of 1976, Lawrie made a rare appearance in the District Championships at Coatbridge on 24th January and won from Frank Clement and Phil Dolan.   Ron Marshall in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ commented at length on the race.   “Scotland’s cross-country selectors have few opportunities to check on Anglos such as Lawrie Reilly.   Normally they have to rely on newspaper results from south of the Border, but on Saturday Reilly came north to reinforce the printed word with a victory of impressive dimension.   Slim, pale, scholarly looking, with a pair of unfashionable spectacles, Reilly gives the impression he would have a struggle lapping a kiddies playground, far less the four laps totalling six miles that an immense field of runners undertook at Drumpellier Park, Coatbridge, in a quest for the Western District senior championship.

 Appearances are deceptive.   He is superbly fit.   Winner last week of the East Lancashire cross-country title, Reilly counted among his victims Ron Hill and Mike Freary, two of the North of England’s best known faces.  Last year on the track he dipped under 29 minutes for the 10,000 metres and his summer objective is to beat 28 min 30 sec.   

On Saturday his aim was to stretch the biggest gap possible between himself and the rest.  The result was beyond dispute.   His ultimate lead was one of 175 yards, his runner-up the familiar bearded features of Frank Clement who had stayed more or less in third throughout.   Phil Dolan, Clydesdale, leader at three-quarter distance, was third in 30 min 46 sec, six seconds behind Clement.”

Two weeks, two wins.    Reilly was clearly in great form.   In the National on 14th February, racing at Coatbridge for the second time in less than a month, he finished fourth, six seconds behind Hutton, and was selected for the international at Chepstow on 29th February.    The Scottish team finished a disappointing tenth in the race and Reilly was a counting runner when he finished in 81st place.

Summer 1976 saw Lawrie Reilly ranked in five different distances.   He ran the unfamiliar 800m distance in 1:54 to be fourtenth fastest Scot, his best 1500m was in 3:48.4 where he was eighth, in the Mile he turned in a 4:06.4 time to be seventh, his 3000m was in 8:02.4 and he was third best Scot over 5000m when he ran 13:54.6.

*

Winter 1976/77  was one where we did not see too much of Lawrie in Scotland at all.   He had a very good run in the Edinburgh – Glasgow.  Back on the second stage, he pulled the club from sixth to fourth with the fourth quickest run of the day behind Jim Dingwall, Lawrie Spence and John Graham – it was a position that the club held to the finish  and they had been fourth  four times in five years.   He had run in his last District race the previous year, and he was absent from theNtional championships in February 1977.   He was nevertheless selected for the International in Dusseldorf where he finished 41st.

By now Lawrie was appearing only as a Sale Harrier as far as the ranking lists were concerned and on 3rd May he turned in a 4:06.5 Mile to get his summer off to a good start.   A month later on 14th June he recorded 8:02.8 for 3000m and on 7th August 5000m was run in 14:07.4.   All three times were good enough to be in the top 10 Scots – 9th for the Mile and 5000m and 5th for the 3000m.    

Winter 1977/78  saw him firmly ensconced in England but still committed to Scotland.   Nevertheless he missed the November relay as well as the District  Championship but he was out in the National where he finished down in 23rd position.   He was however selected – presumably on his form over the winter in the south – for the international to be held in Glasgow.   On a very wet day with rain throughout the running of the race, he finished 97th.     

 

In summer 1978 he won his only SAAA medal when he was third (14:08.7) in the 5000m behind Lawrie Spence (13:45.0) and Nat Muir (13:47.5).   By the season’s end he had bests of 

1500  3:46.8  7th, 

Mile  4:06.4  6th, 

3000  8:00.4  5th, 

5000  14:08.7 8th

 

In the 1978 version of the Edinburgh to Glasgow, he was back on the sixth stage for the team that won second place medals.   After Alistair Douglas won the first stage, Dave McMeeking was passed by Ian Elliott, Rod Stone and Jim Brown to hand over in fourth place.   Albert Smith ran the fastest third stage of the day to move into second place and the club held that all the way to the finish with Lawrie holding it with Nat Muir, Doug Gunstone, Willie Day and several other top guns chasing him.   In the National on 10th February, 1979, Lawrie in the blue and white hoops of Victoria Park  finished sixth and was again selected for the international championship.    Like many of the Scots senior team, Lawrie had a bad day at Limerick and finished 146th.   The team was fourteenth – the worst ever finishing position.   None of the big names in the team, and there were many very big names that year, performed to expectations.

In summer ’79, Reilly’s times in 3000m and 5000m were good enough to be ranked but were slower than he had run for many years.   His 3000m time was almost outside the top ten.   They were:  3000  8:16.4 and ranked 10th,  5000  14:35.5  ranked 15th.   By now he was not running in Scotland at all and in summer 1980 he appeared in the ranking lists for the last time with  1:53.2 for 800 placing him 18th,  and  3:49.1  for 1500 9th.

That is where the Lawrie Reilly trail in Scotland stops.    Whether he was injured or stopped serious running for business and career reasons has not been noted anywhere.   The SATS are assiduous enough to have noted any times coming out of England but there were none until 1987 when he ran a marathon in an excellent 2:26:29  –  good enough to be ranked 24th.

Such was the sandard of Scottish distance running at the time that Lawrie only gained one Scottish international vest.   That was at Cwmbran in Wales on 9/8/75 against England, Wales and Northern Ireland where he was fifth in the 3000m in 8:01.8, the race being won by Jim Dingwall in 7:58.   At British level, he was second in  the Youths 1500m in 1970, and and second to Paul Bannon in the AAA Junior 3000m in 1973 and also placed eighth in the Euro Juniors in the 5000m in the same year.

More information on the latter part of his career in athletics, or of his racing in England is really required to finish the profile but it is already evident that he was a very talented athlete and a loss to Scottish athletics when he stopped running seriously.

 

Cammie Spence

Cammie running in the Six Stage Relays

Cameron Spence, known to everybody as Cammie, was born on 19th July in 1950 and ran for five Scottish clubs (with an affiliation to one Irish outfit).   The Scottish clubs were Greenock Glenpark Harriers, Greenock Wellpark, Spango Valley, Inverclyde and in the summer of 1973, for Shettleston Harriers.   On the track he was ranked nationally from 1972 to 1988 in 3000 m, 5000m and 10000m with personal best times of 8:40.8, 14:27.6 and 30:00.84.   On the road there are times of 64:18 for the half-marathon and 2:28 for the marathon.   All good times and he was really competitive whatever the surface.  He hated the track because “it was so bloody hard” but he did run it in championships and in Highland Games.  Nevertheless, he is better known as an international cross-country and road runner.   

He started as a boy with Glenpark between eleven and fifteen years of age, and ran in his first major championships in 1960/61.   He was fifth in the District Championships as a Junior Boy and then 63rd in the National at Hamilton.  Of these early days he says Running was in the family. My 3 older brothers, Jim, George and Gordon all ran. So at the age of 11 I joined Glenpark Harriers. My first coach was the legendary Bill Elder. He coached all the youngsters in the club at that time. I only trained twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Short run followed by circuit training. To this day I can still be dab hand at skipping!”   

His father was a football player of talent and had been approached to play for a senior professional team and Cammie followed in his  footsteps for four years or so.   He played at the top amateur level before coming back into athletics in 1970.   He trained for a while with younger brother Lawrie and they were coached by big brother Jim.   With some encouragement from big brother George and his wife Pat, Cammie then moved to Greenock Wellpark Harriers where he coached himself.  His first run in Wellpark colours was in 1970 at Bute Highland Games.   It was in the Mile Handicap where  he was the back marker.  The family in the form of Jim and George complained to the handicapper because Cammie was a novice, saying that it was his first race in five years and he shouldn’t be the back marker. The handicapper would not change his mind.    Cammie, however, finished 4th and at the following week’s Cowal Highland Games he finished third on the Friday and, it being the age of the amateur,  won a plaque. He still has it.   The family bond was always important and when Cammie was asked if any person or group had a marked influence on his attitude or his performances, he says without hesitation, “I would say my oldest brother Jim. He was very enthusiastic about athletics and installed discipline into my training.”

Cammie is known as a hard runner and a real competitor.   He never just ‘ran round’ a trail in his life.   Maybe that’s why the photograph above is labelled ‘How to Hurt’!    He became a senior athlete in 1971/72 and he competed all the way through to the twenty first century.   One of the really big events during his time in the sport was the eight man Edinburgh to Glasgow relay and Cammie ran in no fewer than twenty one of them between 1968 and 1998 for four clubs.   The toughest stages of a race with no easy stages were the second and sixth.   His record was 1st Stage x 2, 2nd Stage x 3, 4th Stage x 1, 5th Stage x 4, 6th Stage x 9, 8th Stage x 2.   He represented Glenpark in 1968 and ’69, Wellpark in 1970, ’71 and ’72, Spango Valley in 1977, ’78, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’87 ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94 and ’95, and Inverclyde in 1998.   Remarkable.  

Cross-country was his forte however.   Spango Valley AAC was founded in September 1973 and Cammie was one of key men there right from the start.  A very good all round team they seemed to be specially good in relays and the part Cammie played (he was team captain for 20 of the club’s 25 years) was tremendous.   In the District Relays, they won gold, silver and bronze and Cammie ran times in the top ten most years and although they never won the six-stage road relays, they won lots of metal there as well.   He was a really good team player.    How was he as an individual?   We can look at his championship record.

In 1972/73 the Glasgow Herald report on the South West District championships read: “The Spence brothers, running for Glenpark and Wellpark respectively, dominated the South Western District Championships.   Laurie Spence was an easy winner of the senior/junior title by no less than 270 yards from his brother with Dick Hodelet a similar distance away third.”    Glenpark won the team race with Wellpark third.      In the National championships at the end of the season, Cammie was 27th in the Senior race while Laurie was second in the Junior event running for Strathclyde University.  Running for the new club of Spango Valley AAC in the 1974 National at Coatbridge, Cameron was 17th  while Lawrie was fourth in the Junior race.   The improvement was year-on-year by now and in 1975, Cammie won the last South-West District championship ever held by over half a minute with former team mate Bill Stoddart third.  This was followed by 41st in the National at Coatbridge.   

In season 1975/76 the South West District merged with the Midland District to form the West District – a much tougher outfit with good results harder to come by.   In the Championships, neither Cammie nor the club were placed and Cammie missed the National held again at Coatbridge.   

The rivalry between Cammie and Lawrie had not yet started to heat up and in the District Championship Lawrie was eighth and Cammie 21st.   In the National in 1977 Lawrie was fourth and Cammie was 26th.   The following year on a very hard and rutted course at East Kilbride Lawrie won from Phil Dolan of Clydesdale Harriers and Cammie was not able to run.   In the National however, Cammie had the beating of Lawrie when he finished twelfth to Lawrie’s fifteenth.   Time difference?   22 seconds.   The rivalry was probably at its best over the next few years    Both quality cross-country men, they had some real battles over the years with Lawrie generally coming out on top.     Neither ran in the District in 1978 and Cammie also missed the National where Lawrie was second.   

In the District championships in 1979/80 Cammie was third but they met up again in the national where Lawrie was fifth with Cammie tenth.  Difference?   47 seconds or 200 yards+.   The following year Lawrie was fourth with Cammie 12th, and so on with the gap being about 200 yards at the finish.   When Lawrie finished at Strathclyde Unversity he returned to Greenock and joined Cammie at Spango Valley AC.   Inevitably there was some sibling rivalry in evidence.   When asked, Cammie says, Of course there was, at times, between Lawrie and myself.   I always enjoyed beating Lawrie in races – which wasn’t very often.    He wasn’t as keen for me to do it!    Some of our sessions we did in the Battery Park in Greenock were legendary, and boy did they pay-off for us!”    

As  founder nations of the Cross-Country International Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales ran as separate nations in the World Cross-Country Championships up until 1985.   It was a wonderful time and the effect on Scottish distance running was entirely beneficial.   As well as the International there were several international fixtures on the continent for four man teams – Elgoibar in Spain, Hannut in Belgium, San Sebastian in Spain and so on.   The opportunities were there if you could take them.   Cammie was fortunate enough enough to have the talent that could take him to the necessary standard.   After running for a short time for Scottish representative teams at a time when the standard was high, he had the opportunity to race in the biggest race on the calendar for Ireland.  

Asked about the Irish connection, he said It started in 1979 when I fell out with the Scottish selectors.  I won the International race at Stirling University grounds running for Scotland in 1978.  Won it quite easily and was picked to run in Belfast  (which was cancelled due to the Troubles), and San Sebastian on the back of that win. Then went to Spain and picked a bug up (likely on the plane) and ran poorly. When I got home I had a chest infection. Missed training for a number of weeks and as a result missed the National but asked the selectors to consider me for the Worlds.   They didn’t.  

Meanwhile Rod Stone (Cambuslang Harriers) from NI asked Lawrie and I if we would like to run for Annadale Striders at the NI Senior Cross-Country Championships. We had Irish qualification through our father who was born in Belfast (and how did they find that out?).  We both agreed and joined the Striders.    Lawrie finished second  and I was sixth. They offered us places in the NI team for the Worlds. I said yes and Lawrie said no.  I got International clearance quickly. I went to Limerick for the Worlds and beat half the Scottish team. I had proved a point. It was the best move I ever made.”  

He had to qualify for selection by running in the Irish Senior National Cross-Country Championships and the result was that Cammie ran for Northern Ireland in Limerick in 1979, in Paris in 1980, in Madrid in ’81, in Gateshead in 1983 and in New York in 1984.   In  Limerick they were almost side by side at the finish – Lawrie was 193rd and Cammie 194th  and in New York they were team captains.   Not limited to the Worlds he turned out in international races at Milan and Buussels on the continent, Gateshead, Stirling, Cumbernauld and in road races in the south of Ireland too.   It was a great time for the event and cross-country has a high status in Ireland – Cammie ran in teams with Greg and Gerry Hannon, Paul Lawther, John McLaughlin and many other well-kent athletes.   

Family rivalry was now raised to international level.   Asked about the duels with Lawrie he said: ” Yes – at the Worlds and various other events.   I have stories about us and our battles over the country.   Now here is a question for you. Who are the only brothers to captain different nations at the World Cross-Country Championship.    And what year and place?    Yip, Lawrie and myself were the captains of Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively at New York in 1984.    What a honour for us.   Pity our dad had died two years previously.”

Cammie in his Irish vest

Of course there was life after the World Cross-Country Championships – 8 of his Edinburgh to Glasgow Relays for a start.   Cammie is a runners’ runner, he turns out for his club as readily as for his country, he turns out for the sake of the race regardless of whether there is a club team or whether he is running as an individual.    He continued to do so as well and as hard as he always did.   There was something he had not tried yet though.    In the 80’s the marathon was the thing.   Everybody ran the event – young people, old people, very old people – and there are no prizes for knowing that Cammie ran the event.   He says:

I hated marathons. 20 miles and body switched off. Every time except…………………in 1984.  I ran at the Cowal Games on the Saturday in the 5K. 2nd to Lawrie in 14.53.   Then it was 8 pints of lager and Chinese meal after.   My wife got me up at 9.30am on  Sunday morning saying I had promised to run the Inverclyde Marathon with Terry Wilkie.   I had just remembered after the 5K he asked me.   So I had a cold shower to wake and sober up and get a entry on the day (morning) and got to the start line just in that ime.   Off we went.   Time passed by in a sort of blur.   We stopped for water, we stopped for sponge fights, we stopped to get our picture taken.  Our last stop was just before the mile to go mark.

“Terry was struggling.   I wisnae bad.   Didn’t have a clue about time, but there were two  Kilbarchan runners coming and I said to Terry we can’t let them beat us.  He told me to go away.   He just wanted to lie down.    I wouldn’t let him,   Got him going.  We finished with a time of 2.35.    I couldn’t believe it.    Could have been 2.34 but we stopped again to pose for pictures before the finish.    There is no justice.    Didn’t train for it; raced the day before; drank too much the night before. I still don’t know how I managed it.”

Clearly fit and well but the twenty first century had a nasty surprise for Cameron Spence.

ATHLETE TO KEEP RUNNING DESPITE HEART PROBLEM

The above headline appeared in the Greenock Telegraph in 2010 and started: “An international athlete from Greenock discovered that his heart stopped beating during the night – but is now amazingly back running.   Cameron Cammy Spence was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma two years ago and had to give up running – but it was actually his heart that was causing breathlessness during exercise.   He has been fitted with a heart pacemaker and is back pounding the streets as well as being involved in worldwide research that could save lives.  

Superfit Cammy was given the shocking news about his heart after a specialist at Inverclyde Royal Hospital said he wasn’t convinced he had asthma and arranged for him to  get a mobile heart monitor.   Cammy said “I had the monitor on for 24 hours and it showed my heart stopping twice during he night for 4.5 seconds at a time.   I couldn’t believe it.   There is no history of heart problems on my mother’s or father’s sides of the family.   I felt numb.   

Now the Inverclyde Athletic Club coach wants to warn other runners that they too might under certain circumstances be in danger of damaging their hearts.”

Cammy then discovered after reading a magazine article that he wasn’t the only runner diagnosed wrongly with asthma instead of an irregular heart beat.   Now the Inverclyde Athletic Club coach wants to warn other runners that they too, under certain circumstances , could be in danger of damaging their hearts.   He said, “Just as I was getting diagnosed for an irregular heartbeat there was an article in “Athletics Weekly” by oneof the regulat writers who has the same problem.  “

Cammie got in touch with Martin and many Scottish runners then got in touch with him about it.   His belief is that hard training when running through colds and ‘flu may be the cause.   Remember he was running when all the regular road runners, not just the internationals, were running 70 – 100 mpw.   The whole article can be found at: http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/14001294.Athlete_to_keep_running_despite_heart_problem/

The cardiologist who diagnosed the problem was very keen to find out more about it and was very interested in Cammie’s work with Martin through AW.   Right now, he says that he was happy with the pacemaker but at present and for the last two years it’s not as good.   He still runs but feels more tired, even when jogging.   It is an ongoing problem and he is discussing it with his new cardiologist.  

*

Cammie is still very involved in the sport.    Let’s count the ways!

  1.   He has been coaching for many years.  It was easy for him to do the coaching, he says, as he had been coaching himself from 1976.   He was always experimenting.. When Spango were at their peak in the 80’s most of the guys at IBM were doing Cammie’s sessions.  Heencouraged them and says it was great to see them improving.
  2.  Administration. He has been doing that for a very long time as well. We have already noted that he was club captain at Spango for 20 years of its 25 years in existence. He was also the first captain of Inverclyde AC when it was formed in 1998.    Vice President  in 1998 and then President of the Scottish Veteran Harriers Club, plus  was the handicapper, race convenor, timekeeper, recorder.
  3. Then there was the Cowal Highland Gathering.   The Games committee asked if he was willing to bring athletics back to the Games.  This was 1996.   Of course being Cammie, he said he would.  He says:  “Cowal was wonderful. Running if front of 20000 people was amazing. So it was May ’96 that I had a meeting with the Captain Eric Brown, committee member, on the Western Ferries  So over 2 sailings between Gourock and Dunoon I had  my plan accepted and the athletics would start again at that years Games. Had my ups and downs at Cowal. Down bits caused by the Scottish Pipe Band Association. The up bits were the athletes who supported me. I’m sure they all enjoyed the experience. I stepped down last year after 20 years as athletics convenor. I always intended that the Dunoon folk should look after their Games. Now happening.”
  4. He has also been involved with the Bute Highland Games since he himself first started competing there in 1970.   Over the years he slowly drifted into becoming an official and is now athletics convenor. “I canny help myself, he says.
  5. Now there is the Renfrewshire AAA’s. President. Stand in Secretary, Treasurer, timekeeper, recorder. Been Colin Shield’s back-up for many, many years. Colin retired last year. His health not that great. 40 years he has been involved with the county. Looks like I’m going that way too.

  We asked Cammie to reflect on his running career and he came up with the following responses.

Looking back, Cammie, what exactly did you get out of the sport?

Friendships. The people I met during my running career were all wonderful. From Joe Jogger to World and Olympic Champions. And the many officials as well. It was the friendships that were created and they still last today.

Can you describe your general attitude to the sport?

It was hard work at times but  I enjoyed the training and taking part in races. Especially the racing.

What do you consider your best ever performance?

It was actually one year, 1979.

*I had always wanted to win a District Track title (10K at Coatbridge).

*I won the Gourock Highland Games Road Race(remember watching the road race as a wee boy and thinking I want to win that).

*And racing at the World XC Championships for the first time.

It was some year for me. The only down side it was a couple of years until I got my motivation back.   So the moral of the story is, and something I tell my athletes “You can always do better”.

 And your worst?

All my marathons. (Except the Inverclyde one in 1984. Which made me question why was I doing them?).

What goals do you have that are still unachieved?

My goals are for the athletes that I coach. I want them to get the best out of themselves. I think I achieved mines.

What would you have changed about your athletics career were you able to go back?

When I started running again there was only Ravenscraig Stadium for us to do our quality sessions.   It was a cinder track.   It was either brick hard or like a bog.   You know what Greenock is like for rain!!!   It was blisters or getting covered in wet dirty cinders.    So it was the Battery Park and on the grass which I developed for doing our speed work starting in 1976.  If we had a decent track maybe my track times would have been better.   But the Battery did help me pick up a lot of prizes at the Highland Games hmmm.  So to answer the question, if I had a decent track to train on maybe, just maybe, my track times would have been so much better. That would have gave me a lot of satisfaction.

Ran for Scotland quite a few times on the country. I would call them B vests. And was involved in the international training sessions, usually at Livingston on a wet Sunday.

I ran for the Scottish Vets. I did offer my services to the Northern Ireland people when I turned 40 in 1990. They didn’t respond for some reason. So I was more than happy to put on the dark blue vest once again. But I decided in 1996 I had had enough of International competition. I just didn’t want the pressure any more.

 

What do you think of the sport now that it is ‘more professional’ in its set up?

It was better run(ex the pun)in days gone by. But things are starting to improve. Scottishathletics are slowly starting to realise that the clubs are the mainstay of the sport. But there is too much emphasis on the younger athletes and not enough encouragement for the older ones. As I say the young ones come and go. The seniors are the mainstay of the clubs.   The “professional” athletes we have are having money flung at them. When they are good enough they will get invites and appearance money to the larger events. They don’t need the sports body to support them.

What advice would you give a young person coming into the sport for the first time today?

Athletics are there to be enjoyed. You can only do your best. You are going to have good days and bad ones. Don’t expect too much too soon. You only get out of the sport what you put into it.

And my favourite saying “You are as only as good as your NEXT race. You learn from the last one”. 

One of his former rivals, Colin Youngson (three SAAA Marathon titles, 10 marathon medals in total, and SAAA 10 miles track champion) has some good memories of racing Cameron.   He says

“To other runners, Cammie was well liked and respected as a fighter, a terrier – someone who could be relied on to battle as hard as possible and seldom even considered easing off – a very difficult man to beat, or stave off, if he was chasing you. He and I were occasionally close rivals, although his forte was cross-country and mine road running, especially marathons, which he did not enjoy.

Since I am nearly three years older, when we first raced against each other, on Stage Two of the E to G in 1970, I was a fair bit faster and the same was true on Stage Four in 1972. However by 1982 on Stage 2 he outpaced me quite easily, although I got my revenge on Stage Five in 1984 and 1985.

In the National Senior Cross Country, Cammie definitely had the edge. Although I finished in front of him in 1972, he outkicked me a year later. The last time I beat him in this prestigious event was in 1975. After that it was Cammie all the way, although 1978 was close – I was thirteenth and he was one irritating place in front! In 1980, although he beat me easily, I had the consolation of being ESH captain and a counter in their winning team.

An interesting encounter took place in October 1981 at the Allan Scally Road Relay. I had moved back up north and rejoined Aberdeen AAC. Since I was not particularly fit, I assumed that this event would merely provide good training. However Peter Wilson and Fraser Clyne ran well and then Graham Laing came back to form with a bang – handing me a totally unexpected 39 second lead! Cammie closed inexorably and by the finish, although AAAC did hold on to win, it was only by eleven seconds!

After he became a veteran by turning 40 in July 1990, we renewed our rivalry and had quite a few close contests. In the 1991 Scottish Vets Track Champs, I did manage to beat Cammie over 5000m, but he had raced the 1500m previously. Aberdeen was the venue for that year’s Home Countries Veteran Cross Country tussle. I was in the Scottish first team and Cammie in the second team. However I suffered badly from catarrh and, after starting too fast, began retching and struggling. Cammie’s unsympathetic voice rang out just behind me, “For God’s sake, Colin, if you’re going to die, just die!” He moved ahead, out of earshot, and ended up a respectable 11th, with me a disconsolate 16th.

At the Kelvin Hall Scottish Vets Indoors in March 1992, Cammie and I had a real fight in the 1500m, before he sped away to win in 4.16.3, while I was happy enough with 4.17.4. Then he beat me into third in the 3000m. Dougie Mackenzie won, with Cammie recording 8.56 and me three seconds behind. At the end of the same month the 8-Man Alloa to Twechar relay took place. Cammie won Stage Stage Two; I was fastest on Stage Seven and AAAC were first team home.

Saturday October 31st 1992 was a red letter day for me, and Cammie made me fight very hard. I had just turned 45 and was very keen to do well in that category at the Five Nations Vets XC event in Belfast. The rest of the Scots team arrived on Friday; but Cammie flew in from Glasgow that morning. I started fast but Cammie caught up and we ran closely together until there was less than a lap to go, when I edged away to finish 6th (and first M45, also leading my age group team to Gold), while Cammie was a fine 9th and led the Scots M40 team to Silver medals. Then he flew straight back home!

In 1993 I did manage to beat Cammie over 5000m in the Scots Vets Track; and in 1994 finished 4th in the Scots Vets XC, one place in front of him. However in 1996 Cammie Spence beat me very easily in the British Veterans Half Marathon Champs in Monkland.

Looking back, we were very well matched and enjoyed a long friendly rivalry.

Always a contributor to the sport, Cammie became President of the Scottish Veteran Harriers Club. When I started as editor of the club newsletter, Cammie submitted a lengthy account of the SVHC Easter trip to the sun in Lanzarote, a thoroughly enjoyable trip which he had helped to organise for many years. Social events in 2014 included daily runs exploring the local area, darts, sunbathing, Bingo, hotel entertainment, several refreshments, water flumes, climbing a volcano, a barbecue, cycling and a 5 km road race!”

And one of Colin’s key phrases was  “always a contributor.    Many, many people take part in the wonderful sports of road and cross-ountry running and almost all retire more or less gracefully after their competition dys are done.   But the spport relies on such as Cammie who after a long career as a runner give back at least as much as they have got out of the sport.   In Cammie’s case the return has been considerable.