Aileen running in the Perth Ultra Fest, 2010

Aileen Scott has a first class athletics career with top class runs over most distances and in classic ultra distance events such as the Highland Fling (Milngavie to Tyndrum), Devil of the Highlands (Tyndrum to Fort William), the West Highland Way, and  the Edinburgh to Glasgow road race.    She has also covered other open events (Brampton to Carlisle half marathon),  as well as competing in cross-country events at club, county, district and national level.   

Aileen also served on the club committee for several years.   She was also the first woman president of the club in its its 120 years history, serving in that post in 2006/7 and 2007/8.    As such it was no token appointment with Aileen efficiently conduction committee meetings, initiating other one-off events and doing her best to advance the club both competitively and socially.   

We should however begin with her early days in the sport.

One of the first questions that any runner is asked is how they started in the sport and we turn to an article in the Daily Record in 2010 which was written after a wonderful run in London which had helped her selection for a 24 hour race representing Scotland in Perth.   It starts as follows.

 Aileen’s career began in 1998 when she was persuaded to enter a ladies 10k race at short notice.   She says:  “My first foray into running was the women’s 10k in Glasgow. A friend was running it and she asked if I wanted to run it with her. So I entered – very dubious that I could even run 6 miles – but it was a great event with a great atmosphere and I was hooked .”    Having been ‘hooked’ Aileen kept running for several years as an unattached runner; training,  racing and learning about running as part of her lifestyle.   She went on to say in the interview that “I was never much of a runner before then, but I joined the Harriers in about 2002 and a few years later did my first West Highland Way race which is over 95 miles from Milngavie to Fort William.”

There were two races in particular in 2004 where she ran well enough to be noticed and included in the Athletics Weekly results.   The first of these was the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon where, as a Clydesdale Harrier she was placed 16th in 91 minutes 31 seconds and the second was the Dunky Wright 5K held in Clydebank one week later where she fifth in 21:22.   These were both run on relatively flat courses.   

One of the races that the club supported regularly and in which Aileen played a part was the Brampton to Carlisle Half Marathon.  Between 2001 and 2009, Clydesdale Harriers supported the race and the women won several individual and team awards with the veteran women taking first place in no fewer than five consecutive years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).  They won both the Lady Vets and Ladies races in 2006.   Aileen  joined the club in 2002 – but only three years later she was there on the starting line in 2005 and by the end of the 13 miles plus she was 16th and third club woman finisher – Ann Murray was eighth and Pamela McCrossan tenth – and that group of three was second in the Ladies race 11 points behind local club Morpeth Harriers.   More than that, the same three runners won the Veteran Ladies team race with their positions in the veteran category being 3rd, 5th and 8th and the Morpeth Ladies team was second 31 points behind them.   

2006 was also a good year for Aileen, maybe even better.    She ran the Monklands half marathon which was anything but flat and finished second in 95:44.   Forget the time – this was a good run on a difficult trail which had several very long hills to negotiate and, more, she was running it exactly one week after the London Marathon.  Run on 23rd April in 3:26:55, she was 463rd of the thousands taking part.   Less than a week before that – April 26th – she had run in the short steep hill race of the Whangie Whizz at Blanefield finishing 96th.   Came November and she was back in Brampton and the Ladies team of Melanie Douglas (5th), Pamela McCrossan (13th) and Aileen (21st) won the race from Bellahouston Harriers by 22 points, and the veterans team – over 35 – of Pamela (5th), Aileen (11th) and Marina McCallum (19th) won by no fewer than 58 points from Tynedale Harriers.      

It was at this point, about 2007, that Aileen found that she had a talent for running big distances and that she also enjoyed doing them.   How did it come about?   Aileen again: “I joined the Harriers in 2002 and a few years later did my first West Highland Way which is over 95 miles from Milngavie to Fort William.   A South African friend, David Foord, convinced me to run the WHW as I had supported him in races like it a couple of times in the past.   I actually enjoyed that race more than I thought.   David had said that I was built for that kind of race as opposed to half marathons or 10K’s. ”  

The HOKA Highland Fling race covers slightly more than half of the West Highland Way, goes from Milngavie to Tyndrum and has a total distance of 53 miles.   Times can vary tremendously from year to year simply because of the weather conditions and the effect they have on the underfoot conditions.   It’s run early in the year – April – and Aileen first ran in it in 2007.   Her time of 11 hours 16 minutes and 20 seconds saw her finish 25th which was in the first half of the field and placed seventh of the twelve women taking part.   The progression from running part of the West Highland Way is to run the whole way and Aileen did just that in the race held on 23rd June.   Her time of 24 hours 19 minutes 16 seconds was good enough to see her in the first half of the runners who completed the event – 35th out of 76 – and fifth woman of 11 who also made it to Fort William.  

Aileen finishing the Highland Fling in 2008

(the Fling is a 53 mile race from Milngavie to Tyndrum along the West Highland Way route)

Not content with having run in the Highland Fling once, Aileen was there on 26th April in  2008  in a bigger field of runners and this year finished in 11 hours 24 minutes and 20 seconds which was a bit slower than the previous year but the measure of her progress is in the placing – this time she was 44th out of 104 and in the women’s race, fourth out of 15.

Later in the year, on 21st June 2008, she was out there taking part in the West Highland Way  which she completed in 23 hours  28 minutes 48 seconds to be   48th of the 97 finishers and tenth woman of 16.

  Aileen’s best years were probably 2009 and 2010.    In April she was again in action in the Highland Fling, this time running 10 hours 45 minutes 25 seconds which was her best time by far for the 53 miles and it showed in her placing of 93rd out of 242 and 9th woman to finish of the 37 who entered.   This could maybe be seen as preparation for the West Highland Way race which was held on 20th June.    Run over the full 95 miles distance from Milngavie to its finish in Fort William, Aileen tackled it well finishing 29th of the 122 men and women who started and was fourth woman to finish of 122 runners.   It seemed as though the further she ran, the better she ran.   

The biggest event of her career up to that point, possibly ever, was saved until 17th October when she ran in a 24 hour race at Tooting Bec in London.   She ran a superb distance of 117 miles 610.6 yards in the time and was not only tenth of 32 but the first female runner.   How did she get into such a race?   She herself says “I entered Tooting Bec because someone mentioned to me that the woman’s commonwealth qualifying standard for a 24hr race was 115 miles. I thought that sounded do’able based on my WHW experience and so entered to see if I could run the commonwealth qualifying distance.”  The standard for  Commonwealth Games selection was to run 185km/115 miles.   The Games in 2010 were to be held in Delhi in India and it was not clear whether there would actually be a 24 hour race held there but, if there weren’t, she was hoping for a place in the 2014 Games to be held in Glasgow.   It was quite a race – run on a 400 metre track, the athletes had to run round and round for the full 24 hours!

It certainly was “do’able”!    The organiser’s, Sri Chinmoy,  report read:   “In the Ladies race, Jane Riley took an early lead but was soon overtaken by Aileen Scott before six hours and was chased by Elisabeth Karlsson who stayed close to the end.”   Short and to the point – Aileen took the lead before six hours (ie before even a quarter of the race) and was not caught finally winning by more than five miles! 

The full result after the race was as follows.

If we look at the race in more detail we see that he splits, according to the sri chin moi races website were as follows:   

The full marathon distance was covered in 4 hours;   

50 miles in  8 hours 14 minutes ;

70 miles in 12 hours; 93.95 miles 18 hours;  

113 miles in 23 hours ;

117 miles  610 yards in 24 hours.

It was a quite remarkable feat and it is doubtful if any club member, male or female, has covered such a distance in the time since it was established in 1885, and it earned her a Scottish selection just a year later.

In 2010 her first ultra was on 14th March when she took part in the Edinburgh to Glasgow 50 miles road race.   Fellow Harrier Peter Halpin was also running and they ran the second half of the race together crossing the line in 9 hours 48 minutes 43 seconds.   Just over a month later, on 24th April, she was out running again in the Highland Fling and again she ran faster than in previous years – 10 hours 13 minutes and 27 seconds which placed her comfortably in the first quarter of the field overall and seventh woman of the 59 who took part.   There is also a race over the second half of the West Highland Way known as the Devil of the Highlands which at 42 miles is a bit shorter but more than makes up for that with the much hillier terrain over which it is held.    It is held at the start of July and on the seventh of the month Aileen covered the distance in 8 hours 01 minutes and 21 seconds to be 34th of the 94 participants and eighth woman of 31 who finished the course.   

The 24 hours race run in London in October 2009 led to Aileen being selected to run for Scotland in the international 24 hour race being held in Perth in September 2010.    It is worth remembering that already in the 2010 lead in to the Perth race she had already run the Edinburgh to Glasgow, the Highland Fling and the Devil of the Highlands on a variety of surfaces.   Before the race, Aileen was interviewed by the Perthshire Advertiser from which the following extracts come.   She said  “Aileen Scott, a partner with accountancy firm Campbell Dallas, has been chosen to represent Scotland Ladies after being placed first at Tooting Bec last October in her 24 hour racing debut.   Aileen told PA Sport  “I was delighted to earn a place in the team alongside the Scottish record holder Pauline Walker and her twin sister Fiona Rennie.   It’s great to be running at Perth and I hope that my colleagues from the local office are able to come down and support me at some point in the day or night.”   Campbell Dallas has a branch in Perth – one of 50 branches they had at the time.   Quoted in the Daily Record, she said that she had got into the race off the back of the London race, after which she got an email to say she was being considered for selection and to advise them of what races she would be running so that she could be assessed on them.   She put the West Highland Way race forward and that and her time was good enough for selection.  There were also articles in the local papers in Helensburgh and district.      

Aileen and Fiona Rennie with two of the Scottish men before the Perth Race.

The race started at 10:00 am on Saturday, 4th September on a flat 1.5 mile loop round the North Inch in Perth.   The runners were from Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, Italy and France.   

Aileen was third in the race – first Scot and only beaten by two English runners.  It was also belatedly designated as the Scottish 24 Hour Championships so she was also Scottish Women’s Champion.  Afterwards spoke to the Daily Record about it.   “The race went well and I’m delighted with coming third in my first time representing Scotland.   I didn’t run as far as I have done running 24 hour races in the past, but quite a lot of people’s mileage was down because of the heat.   It was a really warm day on a running loop which was quite exposed to the weather.   The most difficult part was around 3 a.m, to 4 a,m which is always the case when I run 24 hour races.    I was desperate for sleep at that point, and I was also vomiting which was the case for quite a few of the runners,   I don’t know when I’ll do a race like that again.”   

Result for the race is as follows.

The Power of 10 website lists only 9 events from Aileen’s running career, and lists her personal bests at standard distances, as well as 24 hours as follows.

That was to be her last Scottish international appearance and her last Scottish championship.   Aileen’s business demands became much more intense and she simply had to turn her attentions in that direction.   It was not only a loss to Clydesdale Harriers of her enthusiasm, imagination and work rate but Scottish athletics also lost a talent that could have done much for the sport in the country as a whole.