SCOTTISH DISTANCE RUNNING HISTORY

Word from Bobby Young’s wife, received today via Phil Dolan:

Bobby’s wife, Anne Marie has informed that Bobby will be repatriated this Sunday. The funeral will take place on Wednesday 5th August at 11.30 at Bishopbriggs Crematorium. Please pass on to any others.

We have just heard of the death of a real supervet Bobby Young of Clydesdale Harriers,. He was on holiday in Australia and died of a bout of pneumonia. There will be more news when we have it. Meanwhile his profile is at this link and some of his photographs are at this one .

As of right now I am taking a step back from working with the two websites, this one and anentscottishrunning.com , and they are being looked after by Arnold Black on behalf of Scottish athletics. I have enjoyed every minute of it and the help from many friends of all kinds – runners, officials, statisticians has been invaluable. Thanks to you all. You will get some explanations of the websites at this link . Meanwhile, future items for possible inclusion should be sent to Arnold at scotstats@aol.com .

Ronnie McDonald, on the left against Dave Moorcroft, was not only a top miler for Monkland Harriers, but he also ran on the road and over the country for the club and for its successor, Clyde Valley. One of the best of club men, he turned in some sterling performances for them in the Edinburgh to Glasgow 8 stage road race. Joe Small has put together some stats on runners from the club who turned out in the race between 1971 and 1984 and you can find them here. Maybe you have similar stats for your own club? If you do we’d like to see them.

The picture above is an aerial view of Coatbridge Outdoor Recreation Centre – ie the track that has been used for International, national, district, county and club championships; it has been the focus of schools championships all the way up to veterans championships and even 24 hour races. Damaged by fire it is now not used for competition. Joe Small has written an ccount of the track’s history and ‘glory years’ of the 1970’s (and they really were glorious with Olympians, world record holders and a host of international stars) and you can read it here .

Who’s the modest looking Cambuslang Harrier second left in second front row? It’s the subject of our latest profile, Mike Johnston who has been a fixture in the endurance running firmament since the turn of the century with important roles in four Commonwealth Games, two hill running and ultra games and with two GB jobs to his credit. Read about him at this link. I had valuable assistance wile doing it from Dave Cooney and took the opportunity to bring his profile up to date, You should read it here .

Ewan Cameron of Edinburgh AC leading the field shortly after the start in 2023. He won in 2022, 2023 and 2025, second in 2024.

The Edinburgh to North Berwick 20 Miles Road Race left the road running calendar in 2017 but thanks to the Lawson brothers (Alan and Alistair) it was resurrected in 2022 and is now being contested with over 200 runners in the 2025 race. The original Trophy had been lost but it has been found and is awarded to the first man to finish – first woman has her own trophy. The account of the race from 2022 to 2025 is available at this link.

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