Author: The Author

The Mile has a kind of magic of its own and while all events have world figures that are looked up to, respected and admired, the Mile tends to have Heroes.    People who are legendary and of whom any middle distance runner walks in awe.   The to real stars are Herb Elliott and Peter Snell.    Herb was coached by the rather eccentric Percy Cerutty – who called himself a ‘conditioner of men’ rather than a coach.   He would have been well in tune with the philosopher Diogenes who, when asked why students left him to study with others, none seemed to leave other philosophers to study with Diogenes, replied “One can make a eunuch of a man, but can never make a man of a eunuch!”   Elliott never lost a race at 1500m or a mile between 1957 and 1961 and while he ran well and won medals over 880 yards and 800 metres, he was regarded as a miler pure and simple.    There is a very good clip of Percy Cerutty and Elliott at the Portsea Training Camp on youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKqMRpv7ygc and one of Herb setting a world record at      www.criticalpast.com/video/65675066596_Herb-Elliott_mile-race_gun-being-fired_run-on-the-track

Peter Snell, another Antipodean but from New Zealand, won three Olympic golds as well as Commonwealth winners medals and set world records at 880 as well as winning Olympic gold in the 1500m.   In fact his first Olympic gold was at the shorter distance and his first world records were for 800m and 880y on a grass track in 1962.   Coached by Arthur Lydiard who like Cerutty was not part of the official coaching system.  Unlike Cerutty he did not believe in weight training but did believe in bige mileage training  for athletes including training runs of over 20 miles.   There is an excellent video of Peter Snell on youtube at www.nzonscreen.com/title/peter-snell—athlete-1964    There are two clips (9 min and 12 min) to this short documentary covering his career up to 1964.   Hugh Barrow sent a link to another article –   www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/sport/6365084/Peerless-Snells-Christchurch-records-still-stand – which is a good read.

Classic picture from the cover of the BMC News

2014 being the anniversary of the first four minute mile ever run on 6th May, 1954, by Roger Bannister at Iffley Road Track in Oxford.   The story about how Roger and the ‘two Chris’s’ managed it is by now well known and there are many journal and website articles about it.    Universally hailed, there were one or two dissenting voices at the time (and there are still some to be heard) that it it was not the done thing to use pace makers – indeed on the very day one of the officials there who were required to sign the form ratifying the record refused to sign until heavy pressure was brought to bear upon him.   Several years later every runner in a British Milers Club race in the South West was disqualified because a pace maker had been used in the actual race.   Video of the race can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz3ZLpCmKCM   and an account at www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/first-sub-first-four-minute-mile explains briefly the previous attempts and the race itself.

There was no less excitement north of the Border to have a Scot under the magic figure and many top Scots strove to reach the mark but the honour of the first four minute mile in Scotland went to Englishman Derek Ibbotson in June,1957 – a full three years after Bannister and his time of 3:58.4 was the second fastest ever in the world, only Landy had been faster, and a European, British and Scottish all-comers’ record.   The ‘Glasgow Herald’ report on the race read as follows:

 “IBBOTSON’S ACHIEVEMENT AT POLICE SPORTS” – 

GD Ibbotson, holder of the AAA’s Three Miles title, gave notice of his intention to do particularly well at Glasgow Police’s seventy fourth annual sports at Ibrox Stadium on Saturday by requesting that he take part in the Mile rather than in the three miles event.    That he was serious was proved when on an afternoon of stamina-sapping heat, he broke the European, British and Scottish all-comers records for the mile by winning in 3 mins 58.4.    Ibbotson’s time is the second-fastest ever run in the world.   Only J Landy (Australia) who holds the world record of 3 min 58 sec has achieved faster time.   The 18000 crowd gave the Yorkshireman a magnificent reception when he became the first to run the distance in Scotland in under 4 minutes.   That Ibbotson succeeded may be due in the first instance to the pace and judgement of a colleague, L Locke, who ran the first lap in 57.2 sec – Ibbotson was then comfortably in fifth place – and the half mile in 1 min 58 sec, at which point Ibbotson was moving up.   At the end of the third quarter of a mile, Ibbotson led the time being 2 min 59.8 sec.   No one was able to extend him in the final lap and yet he completed it in 58.6 sec.   The previous British record of 3 min 59.4 was held jointly by RG Bannister and two Hungarians,  L Tabori and I Roszavolgyi.   The Scottish champion GE Everett, profited by competing in the top class for he finished fourth in 4 min 6.6 sec- 0.9 sec better than his previous best for the distance achieved at the corresponding meeting last year.   M Bernard (France) who was second was delighted with his time of 4 min 5.8  sec, the best ever by a Frenchman.   Ibbotson who visited his wife and newly born daughter in St Helier Hospital, Carshalton, Surrey, said of Saturday’s race:-

“Had it not been quite so hot, and had someone been able to stay with me to the bell, I think I should certainly have broken the world record.   I had not planned to try for a four minute mile but knew after hearing the time for the first lap that it was possible.   The only encouragement I had was the other athletes lining the track and urging me on.”    

The third placed runner was Mike Berisford, an Anglo-Scot who was one of a number who were trying to reach a mile time that started with 3.   The man most likely had been thought to be one mentioned above – Graham Everett.   Other home Scots who had been though contenders for the honour included Graham Stark from Edinburgh and Hugh Barrow from Victoria Park in Glasgow who was a bit younger but very talented.   Then there were the Anglos.   Berisford was one and the Wenk brothers were also working hard on the task.   None of them ever lived in Scotland, none of them had a Scots club affiliation and none of them were at all known north of the border.   But the Anglo who might have been first was Alan Gordon, the man who had run in the actual race where the first four minutes was run.

Gordon was a very talented runner who took part in several of the four minute miles of the era and at one point he had run in more sub-fours than anybody else but had never dipped below the magic figure himself.   A one point he confessed himself to be uncertain why he never did so: in an interview with Doug Gillon he said that Graham Everett had paced him on one occasion to get the time but he was out of sorts and didn’t manage it.   He himself paced Tabori to the clocking coming through 440 in 60 and 880 in 2:00.8.    There were several races where Everett, Gordon and Berisford all ran well in the same race but none of them got there.   Despite the best efforts of Scots runners to beat the clock, it was not until 1961 that a Scot ran inside four minutes, and not until 1970 that a Scot ran the time inside Scotland.   It was not for want of trying though.   The table below shows the progress of the Scottish Native Record for the Mile (performances made in Scotland by competitors born in Scotland).

It was a long wait – sixteen years after Bannister before Scots could see a Scot run under 4 minutes.   It was a hard battle to get there at any venue and the progress is indicated in the table below.

Berisford was born in England in 1936, he lived in England and ran for an English club, appearing seldom north of the Border.   Very few of us would have recognised him.   He did compete in Scottish championships and won the 880 yards in 1961 and mile in 1962.   He raced against Everett many times, usually coming off second best but on 18th August 1961 he went into the Emsley Carr Mile at the White City  in a race won by Jim Beatty (USA) in 3:56.5, and finished fifth in 3:45.2 to win the race to be first Scot under 4 minutes.   He was a Scot under the rules and that is what matters when compiling rankings but we would rather have seen a home Scot doing it.   Graham Everett would have been a popular man to have done it, Alan Gordon should probably have done it in 1955 or 56 and later on Hugh Barrow or Graham Stark were also capable: Barrow’s three quarter mile record of 3:00.5 and pb of 4:01.0 indicate that it was possible.

However – Bannister 3:59.4 in Oxford was first in 1957, Ibbotson 3:58.4 was first in Scotland in 1957, 3:59.2 Berisford was first Scot in 1961 and Stewart was first Scot in Scotland in 1970.   Stewart of course was from Birmingham and later chose to run internationally for England after running for a couple of years for Scotland.    Scotland’s really great period of miling was still to come with the likes of Clement, Robson and Williamson being regularly under four minutes and members of many GB teams.

We are now sixty years from that first sub-four and hundreds of runners have succeeded in getting there but the event and the time still exerts a fascination for people all over the world.   There have been several claims from runners around the world to have run the time before Bannister did so but the most repeated is that of Englishman Ken Wood to have done so.   Ken Wood, from Yorkshire, was a very good middle distance runner indeed and he claimed to have beaten Bannister to it by 29 days.   Unfortunately it was done in a training session in Sheffield.  Many runners claim to have done great things in training which are greeted with scepticism.   Of Wood’s ability there can be no doubt – he won the Emsley Carr mile four times and ran in the 1956 Olympics – and he was adamant that he had run the distance inside four minutes.   His time – 3:59.2 – was faster than Bannister’s and run on the University of Sheffield’s track on 7th April, 1954.   Looking back on the run he said, “I used to train with the University team on Wednesday afternoons and that day there were four or five others doing the session.  Some of the boys thought that it was interesting that I had run under four minutes, but I didn’t regard it as that important.   It was only when Roger made a fuss about it that it seemed significant.   I was pleased for him because I knew mine wouldn’t have counted in any case.”

I’m a wee bit sceptical about the time, but then I’m sceptical about lots of things.    The remark that he didn’t regard it as that important is a strange one when there was a great deal of coverage of the quest for the four minute mile with John Landy in Australia and Wes Santee in America only the most prominent searchers for the prize.

More significant is an article by James Fletcher on the topic from a historical perspective.    It can be found at the BBC website and has some wonderful illustrations.

 The 18th Century four-minute mile              By James Fletcher BBC News

PARROTT’S MILE:  Roger Bannister was credited with being the first person to run a mile in under four minutes – but 18th Century runners are reported to have got there first. Why are they not recognised?  It was 9 May, 1770 when James Parrott, a costermonger, stood at the Charterhouse wall on Goswell Street, London. He was getting ready to run. For money.   A wager had been made that Parrott could not run a mile in under four and a half minutes. If he could, he stood to win 15 guineas – a substantial sum for a man who may only have earned around 50 guineas a year selling fruit and vegetables from a street barrow. With money on the line, it’s likely that umpires on both sides carefully checked the watches, locked them in a box to prevent tampering, and placed them in a horse-drawn carriage that would make sure they reached the finish line ahead of the runner.

After the signal was given, Parrott was away, turning briefly up the narrow confines of Rotten Row before emerging onto the flat, wide open space of Old Street. Legs pumping, heart pounding, he ran its length almost all the way to the finish, a mile away at the gates of Shoreditch Church.  The result was reported in the Sporting Magazine of 1794: “1770 May 9th, James Parrott, a coster-monger, ran the length of Old St, viz. from the Charterhouse- wall in Goswell Street, to Shoreditch Church gates, (which is a measured mile) in four minutes.”  It is the first known report of a four-minute mile. On another May morning 244 years later, Peter Radford retraces James Parrott’s steps.

Listen to Peter Radford on More or Less on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, or download the free podcast  Today, estate agents and kebab shops line the route. A massive roundabout has been added. But St Leonard’s Shoreditch, home of the bells of Shoreditch from the famous nursery rhyme, still looks much as it would then, although these days it’s perhaps best known from the BBC sitcom Rev.  “The ghost of it all is still here,” says Radford. “All of the new buildings are clustered around the road which is exactly the same as it was then, with the same bends and twists and turns and width as it was then.”  Radford is a retired professor of sports science, and also bronze medallist in the 100m and 4 x100m sprints at the 1960 Rome Olympics and broke the World Record Holder for the 200m in 1960..

He has a passion for runners from the past, and it’s largely thanks to him that we know of the achievements of James Parrott and others like him.  He has collected more than 600 records of running races from the 18th and 19th Centuries, revealing a rich culture of running and athletic achievement. “Women did it, girls did it, men did it, young men did it, old men did it, fat men did it,” Radford says. “Sometimes for a wager someone would say, ‘I can run two miles in XYZ time while eating a chicken’.” Among those records there are further intriguing hints that the mile may have been run in under four minutes.

 1770

May, 9th, James Parrott, a

coster-monger, ran the length of

Old Street, viz from the Char-

terhouse Wall in Goswell Street

to Shoreditch church gates,

(which is a measured mile) in four

minutes.   Fifteen guineas to five were

betted he did not run the ground in

four minutes and a half

POWELL’S MILE; On 22 December 1787, the Oxford Journal reported that a man named Powell, a plater from Birmingham, had been wagered the huge sum of one thousand guineas that he could not run a mile within four minutes. No report survives of the final race, although the paper does say that Powell ran a trial in four minutes, three seconds, and continues: “He ran entirely naked, and it is universally believed, that he will win the wager.”

WELLER’S MILE: Then in 1796, the Sporting Magazine reported that a young man called Weller, one of three brothers, “undertook for a wager of three guineas to run one mile on the Banbury road, in four minutes, which he performed two seconds within the time.” In other words, a mile in three minutes, fifty eight seconds.

From a modern perspective, it’s natural to assume that the further back in time we look, the slower people were running. We also have the benefit of distances measured to the millimetre and times recorded automatically to a hundredth of a second, so when confronted with stories of naked, chicken-eating runners, and reports of races published decades after they took place, it’s easy to dismiss the old times as errors or tall tales.   But Radford argues that at the time of Parrott’s run, agricultural chains would have been able to measure the distance to within a few inches. And, by the late 18th Century, the best watches were extremely accurate. Even a watch that lost five seconds a day could still time a mile to within a second.

Crucially, the culture of wagers gave everyone a strong financial incentive to get it right. “The two parties agreed that there hadn’t been any advantage taken by one side over the other,” Radford says. “It’s not like a diary entry where somebody said, ‘I did so and so’ and they could make up whatever they wanted.”  But any individual result could always be compromised by dodgy technology or dishonest or inaccurate reporting, so Peter Radford has applied the tools of statistical analysis to all of the hundreds of results he’s collected.

“It’s only when you look at them and gather them together that you begin to see the patterns emerging,” he says.  Very broadly, his method is to take the best results in any given era over a range of distances and plot them on a graph. Results that are suspect stand out and can be discarded, and those that remain can be seen as more reliable. You can also extrapolate from the times at other distances to see what the ‘physical culture’ of the time might have been capable of achieving over the mile.

“You begin to see that they’re not a random collection of oddball times and distances, they have an internal mathematical logic to it. The argument increases in strength all the time that there were some quite extraordinary athletes in the 18th Century.” Radford recently ran the numbers based on all the races in the period covering Parrott’s run. Factoring in the margin of error, the best possible one-mile time would be anywhere between 4m 13s and 4m exactly.

Radford himself appears surprised by Parrott’s reported time. “The gods of mathematics (and athletics) are playing games with us,” he says.   But behind the athlete’s excitement, there’s the professor’s more scholarly caution. “The analysis has of course answered no questions,” he says, “but has simply made the debate even more intriguing.”   So where does this leave Sir Roger Bannister’s famous run of 6 May 1954? What does Sir Roger himself make of the idea that a costermonger might have got there before him, in the 18th Century?   “It’s inconceivable,” Bannister says. “Without the modern measurement of tracks, and stopwatches that were reliable, there was a lot of guess work in terms of the distance run and I don’t think any of these claims are credible.”  But for former Olympic sprinter Peter Radford, the comparison with Bannister is not the point. “I suppose it’s trying to understand where I’ve come from, to try to understand the history and culture of what drove me,” he says.  “For me the runners of the 18th and 19th Centuries are part of my sporting family tree, and I think they’ve been overlooked for a long time and I want to understand them better.”

The article is fascinating and the accompanying pictures and maps that you will find at the BBC website add tremendously to it.

The four minute mile may be almost commonplace today but regardless of how many men, and surely women in the future, run it, it will still retain its magic.

UK ALL-TIME TOP UNDER 17 MILE TIMES

So there it is – numbers three and four both Scots, High’s time set in 1961, Alistair’s set in 1981 and despite all the remarkable improvements made in shoe and track technology, they have only been beaten on time by Welshmen in 1972 and 1977.   The list is noteworthy too for those not included on it – No Clement, Coe, Cram, Elliott, Ovett, Robson, Williamson ……………………..

If you have any more interesting statistics about the half/800/mile/1500m, just send them on and we’ll put them up.

Rosemary winning the 1970 Commonwealth Games

Rosemary Stirling, later Wright, was one of the heroes of the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh when she won the 800m on the last day.   Ranked in Scotland for performances as early as 1964 she was a firm favourite of athletics supporters on both sides of the border.    With Georgena Buchanan she was half of the GB team that broke the world record for the 4 x 800m in September 1970.   Colin Youngson has put together this profile of a wonderful athlete.

Doug Gillon, the distinguished athletics journalist, wrote in ‘The Herald’ on Friday 2^nd May 2014: “Rosemary Stirling was once the first lady of Scottish Athletics. She was the first to win Commonwealth track gold when she took the 800 metres title in Edinburgh in 1970; first to hold UK and Commonwealth records indoors and out; first to win a medal (400m bronze) at the European Indoor Championships, while 4x400m victory at the European Outdoors made her the first Scottish woman to win European gold and she was the first to hold a world record in an Olympic event.”

Colin Shields and Arnold Black included her profile in “The Past is a Foreign Country”, published in 2014: “At 5 feet 2 inches, and weighing in at around 110 pounds, Rosemary Stirling did not cut an imposing figure on the track, but her achievements stand along any other female athlete in the history of Scottish Athletics…….. an Olympic finalist, she also held Scottish records at 400m that lasted 12 years and, at 800m, an incredible 36 years from her first record, set in 1966.”

“Born in Timaru, New Zealand, on 11^th December 1947 of a Scottish father and English mother, she started running at the local club’s handicap events in Whakatane before moving to the UK in the mid-1960s.” She joined Wolverhampton and Bilston in the English Midlands. In 1966 Rosemary won the SAAA 440 yards title and then, Gillon says: “She was selected to run for Scotland. ‘My grandparents were proud Scots and so was my dad,’ she said, ‘so I accepted.’”  The following week, as Shields says: “Her breakthrough came at the AAA Championships where, although finishing third in the 440 final, she bettered the Scottish record in the semi-final with 54.5. To put this in perspective, as an 18-year-old, she was now ranked in the top five all-time in the UK. Finishing behind her in that semi-final was a young Lillian Board, destined for tragically short-lived greatness.” Doug Gillon reports: “Rosemary Stirling was offered an England vest immediately. ‘I told them they were too late, that I had already committed to Scotland. I never regretted it. Scotland, with smaller numbers, really looked after you.’” At the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica, 1966, Rosemary Stirling was fourth in the 440 and 880 finals, recording Scottish records on both occasions. 

In 1967 Rosemary Stirling won Scottish titles at both 440 and 880. (Between 1966 and 1973 she was to win the 440 three times, the 880 once and the 800 three times.)  Previously she had taken (Colin Shields): “The first of five WAAA indoor titles, and together with Pat Lowe and Pam Piercey, became a world record holder as part of the team that broke the 3x800m and 3×880 relay records.”

“1969 saw her first international medals at the two European Championships held that year. At the indoor event in Belgrade, she slashed her UK indoor record from 56.0 to 54.8, courageously fighting round the final bend to gain the bronze medal, in a time shared with second place. In Athens in the outdoor championships, she was adrift in the 400m final, finishing 8^th in 54.6, but two days later ran the lead-off leg in 54.2, hampered by a troubling foot injury, as the UK team of Stirling, Pat Lowe, Janet Simpson and Lillian Board came home in a world record of 3.30.8 for gold.”

The ‘Athletics Weekly’ report by Mel Watman was as follows.

“In the entire history of Track and Field Athletics there has never been a race that was more exciting than this one. From my own point of view, even the Chataway v Kuts epic will now have to take second place.

On paper France couldn’t lose but, luckily, races are fought out by people on tracks, and not by mathematicians or computers. There was one obvious chink in the French armour, though. Instead of ending up with the double grand slam of Colette Besson and Nicole Duclos – a partnership almost guaranteed to make up any deficit – the team management opted for Duclos on the second leg and Besson on the anchor. This made the French extremely vulnerable on the third stage with Janet Simpson in pursuit of Eliane Jacq. If Janet could be close sufficiently then Lillian Board would be in with a chance against the tempestuous Besson.

Rosemary Stirling, her troublesome foot feeling the strain of five races in as many days, led off with the utmost of her current ability. She handed over with a few girls ahead of her but her time was 54.2 (0.1 outside her best ever) and Britain was in touch. On the second leg Duclos rushed from third to first along the back straight – overtaking the Russian and West German – and continued to pile on the pace for the rest of the distance. It was an awe-inspiring run – TIMED AT 50.6 SECONDS – and at the end of it, France was nicely set up some ten yards ahead. But only ten yards up, for Pat Lowe – who has never run faster than 54.6 off blocks – produced another of her inspired relay performances. Running perilously close to her optimum 200m pace for the whole circuit she covered her lap in an heroic 52.1. Britain’s chances had been kept alive.

Now it was Janet Simpson’s turn. Bitterly disappointed with her showing in the individual final, this was her chance to show why she came fourth in the Olympic final. Never allowing herself to be flustered, she gradually cut down her French rival and, although she could have forged ahead in the final strides to hand Lillian a lead, she deliberately held back … and still ran a superb 52.1!

The advantage in the anchor leg of the relay rests with the runner who takes over just behind and that was just the position in which Lillian found herself. Would Besson destroy herself? As she pulled away from Lillian with every stride it looked for a while as though it would be no race, but then came the realisation that the French girl was travelling too fast for her own safety – a situation borne out by the splits that became known later. Besson covered her first 200m, during which she opened up a lead of 6-8 metres, in a suicidal 23.6! Worse still, at 300m – when some 10 metres up – her time was an almost unbelievable 36.1 … 48.1 speed for 400m. No woman – and not all that many men – could get away with it.

Inevitably, Besson began to crumble in the straight, and Lillian – who had sensibly run her own controlled race – started to close. There was no question of a response from Besson, who was thrashing about wildly, the question was could Lillian pass her in time? With 40 yards to go Besson looked round, the ultimate sign of anxiety, and that gave Lillian renewed hope. It was still touch and go but in the last stride or two, Lillian forced herself ahead for a famous victory. She had run her lap in 52.4 and the team’s total time, shared with France, was a World, European, Commonwealth and UK record 3.30.8 – an average of 52.7 per leg. Truly a glorious performance, one in which all four girls gave of their very best and from which no individual should be singled out.”

Shields and Black note: “Concentrating on the 800 up to the 1970 Commonwealth Games at Meadowbank, she set a Commonwealth and UK all-comers indoor record of 2.06.51 at Cosford and won for Britain against East Germany at the same venue. In June she took the Scottish title in an all-comers record (2.05.4) and returned to Meadowbank a week later to share in a world record 4×800 time of 4.27.0 for the British quartet of Stirling, Sheila Carey, Lowe and Board.”

‘Athletics Weekly’ journalists Cliff Temple, Dave Cocksedge and Mel Watman compiled the Commonwealth Games Reports.

WOMEN’S 800 METRES: Final

“It was four years ago, at Kingston, that Rosemary Stirling – then 18 – surpassed herself by placing 4^th in the 880 in 2.05.4. Since then she has run in several world record relay teams and produced the occasional world class performance, but a combination of repeated injuries and a certain lack of confidence prevented her from reaching the heights expected of her. Although possessed of all the necessary qualities to break 2 minutes for 800 metres she was in danger of falling well short of her potential.

Not so now. By winning this important title, her first, in a race in which she had to drive herself unmercifully for the entire length of the finishing straight, Rosemary had proved to the world that she is a champion. More important, she had proved it to herself. From now on, we can expect to see a more assured runner.

The race, as exciting as they come, was marred by Sheila Carey’s misfortune. She tripped and fell soon after the field merged along the back straight. After a few seconds hesitation she started running again and pluckily finished but it was a deeply distressing experience for Sheila, rated favourite for the title.

Rosemary Stirling and Pat Lowe were two runners affected by Sheila’s fall but they managed to regain their balance without losing much ground and at the bell (63.6) it was Gloria Dourass of Wales ahead of Lowe, Cheryl Peasley (Australia) and Stirling.

Peasley, a strapping 19-year-old with fast 400m and 1500m times to her credit, took up the running after 550m and with half a lap to go the race was clearly between her, Lowe and Stirling. The Australian continued to lead into the finishing straight but the two Midlanders (though New Zealand-born Rosemary was representing Scotland, of course!) were poised to strike. A relentless struggle ensued … and it was Rosemary – on the outside – who prevailed by the narrowest of margins.

Both Rosemary and Pat have made courageous recoveries from injures that a few weeks ago threatened their very participation in these Games, and it was tough that one of them had to lose.

Rosemary said later: ‘On the first lap I was boxed in and kept looking round waiting for someone to make a break so I could get through. I thought after the slow first lap that I had a good chance.’ Pat said: ‘I was very tempted, before Cheryl went, to go but it was a long way from home.’ Cheryl said: ‘It was too slow in the early stages; it just wasn’t my race.’

       1                    Rosemary Stirling (Scotland) 2.06.2

2                    Pat Lowe (England) 2.06.2

3                    Cheryl Peasley (Australia) 2.06.3

4                    Gloria Dourass (Wales) 2.08.6

5                    Sylvia Potts (New Zealand) 2.09.7

6                    Penny Werthner (Canada) 2.10.0

7                    Georgena Craig (Scotland) 2.16.1

8                    Sheila Carey (England) 2.18.5”

Doug Gillon reports the victor as saying, “I knew I’d won but it took a long time for the result to come through. I can still hear the crowd egging me on now.”

(Rosemary Stirling, left, was first in the final of the 800m at the 1970 Commonwealth

Games in Edinburgh, crossing the line just three hundredths of a second ahead of her rivals but enough to claim the gold medal. Picture: Herald Archive.)

Shields and Black: “Returning to the 400 scene later that season, she set a national record of 53.9 with her first outdoor win for Britain in Warsaw and repeated this feat in the 800 (2.04.2) in Bucharest in September. That same month she helped Britain to reduce its own world 4×800 record by two seconds to 8.25.0.    In 1971, Stirling improved her 400m time to 53.24, a Scottish record. She also won bronze in the European indoor 800m, retained her Scottish title, was second in the AAA and third in the European outdoor 800m (2.02.08, another Scottish record). In addition she also brought Britain up to fourth on the final leg of the European 4x400m, recording an outstanding split of 52.6, quickest in the team and her fastest ever.

Unfortunately in Olympic year, 1972, as Doug Gillon wrote: “Rejection of England may have hindered her. She says: ‘Before the Munich Olympics, I couldn’t get the British Board to send me anywhere. I struggled for races.’”

At the Olympics, after Rosemary Stirling had battled through the heat and semi-finals, AW commented: “As so often in the past, she has peaked at the right time and her record of being an individual finalist at Kingston, Athens, Edinburgh (gold medal), Helsinki (bronze) and now Munich, is an indication of her consistency.”

The final was packed with world class runners. The gold medallist was Hildegard Falck of West Germany, with an Olympic record 1.58.6. Four competitors broke 2 minutes. AW reported: “Such was the overall quality of the race that Rosemary Stirling smashed Ann Packer’s UK and former world record of 2.01.1 by 0.9 in 7^th place and Abby Hoffman (Canada) clocked the same Commonwealth record time of 2.00.2 for nothing better than last position!…….Rosemary, tipped by AW five years ago to become a 2 min runner, finally made it – or at least came within a stride of that target.” Doug Gillon comments: “Stirling’s time survived as the Scottish best for 30 years until Susan Scott broke it…..Rosemary also held the Scottish 400m record for 12 years with 53.24.”

Shields and Black: “Marrying English international distance runner Trevor Wright after the Olympics, she ran steadily thereafter, representing Britain internationally until 1975.” Rosemary won her final Scottish 800m title in 1973 and also won bronze in the AAA outdoor 800m. Between 1966 and 1981 she topped the annual ranking lists for 220 yards (once), 440 yards (once), 880 yards (once), 400m (six times), 800m (six times) and the marathon (once, recording 2.43.29 to win the Gloucester Marathon in 1981). 

Then the Wrights emigrated to New Zealand and settled in Tauranga. Their daughter Jess Ruthe ran for NZ in the World Cross Country Championships; and her sister Emma was NZ schools 800m bronze medallist. Rosemary was team manager of  several NZ teams, including for the 2008 World Cross in Edinburgh.    Trevor’s grandson is Julien Matthews is a sub-four miler who ran in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and finished ninth in the 1500m final.

In June 2014 Mrs Rosemary Olivia Wright (nee Stirling) was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University of Glasgow in recognition of her sporting achievements.

Colin Shields and Arnold Black conclude her profile: “A gracious and modest runner, she expressed her pleasure on Susan Scott breaking her 800m record in 2002, although admitting her surprise that she still held the record after such a long time.”

Rosemary with her Glasgow Doctorate

And that’s where Colin ends his look at the career of Rosemary Wright.   The GB World Record Relay mentioned at the top of the page was reported in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ as follows: “At the Coca-Cola International Invitation Meeting at Crystal Palace on 5th September, 1970, they obliged but the race did not go as expected.  Let Ron tell the tale: “Two Scots, Rosemary Stirling and Georgena Craig, shared in another world record, though only through the disqualification of the West Germans.   The West German Women’s 4 x 800m relay squad broke the tape in 8:22.6, a world record, but were disqualified for passing the baton on the first leg take-over out of the legal area.   So the world record went to Britain (Miss Stirling, Mrs Craig, Pat Lowe and Sheila Carey) who finished second in 8:25, two seconds inside the record set by Britain earlier this year.”  It was the second time that the record had been broken that year – the only change being because Lillian Board was too ill to run and Georgena Craig had been drafted in.   Statistically, Rosemary appeared in the Scottish lists from 1964 through to 1985 in a wide range of events.  220 yards, 200m, 440 yards, 400m, 880 yards, 800m, Mile, 1500m, 3000m and from 1980 she was ranked only at the marathon where her best time was 2:43:21 which made her top rated Scot in 1981!   Had she not been living in New Zealand at the time, a new international  career might have beckoned.

Graham Williamson leads – rival Steve Cram inset

Graham Williamson was born in Glasgow on 15th June 1960 and was one of the best middle distance runners the country has produced – Frank Clement was already on the scene when Graham and John Robson burst through to prominence in 1977 and 1978 but the rivalry between the three of them was as intense as that south of the Border between Coe, Cram and Ovett without any of the bad feeling.    Graham, like many another before him was well known on the Scottish track and cross country circuits well before he was heard of in England.   He had started running in Summer 1973 at the age of 12/13 with personal bests of 2:19 and 5:20.0 for 800m and 1500m.   By 1974 as a Junior Boy his bests were 2:09.0 and 4:29.0 and his bests for the next three years are in the table.

There was an excellent interview with the BMC News of Autumn 1978 which provided a lot of information for this profile.  His competitive record with placings up to and including 1977 are as follows

• 1974: third in Scottish Junior Boys Cross Country
• 1975: second in Scottish Schools Cross Country; first in the Scottish Schools 800m; Second in the SAAA Boys 1500m
• 1976: second in the SAAA Youths 800m; second in SAAA Youth 1500m; first in Scottish Schools 1500m
• 1977: First in Scottish Youths Cross-Country; 43rd in IAAF Cross Country (Dusseldorf); First in SAAA 800m, 1500m and 3000 metres; second AAA U20 1500m; Scottish Youth (U17) 800 and 1500m record holder.

So, although John Keddie says that Williamson came into prominence in 1977 along with John Robson, he had been working his way through the age-groups, under the guidance of coach Eddie Sinclair since he was twelve years old!   The first report in Keddies book says “In 1978, Robson had a brilliant run in the SAAA Championships in a memorable race.   After a terrific duel with Frank Clement Robson just came out on top, 3:40.1 (a Native record) to 3:40.5.   Not far behind these two was outstanding Junior John Graham Williamson (Springburn Harriers)  whose 3:42.1 constituted UK aged 17/18 years old bests.   Six weeks later these positions were exactly repeated in the UK Championships at Meadowbank.    These performances augured well for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games at Edmonton for which, alas, young Graham Williamson, despite a record breaking win in the AAA’s Championships (3:39.7), was not selected”.   When the list of incredible non-selections made by administrators is drawn up, this along with his disgraceful non-selection for the 1980 Olympics are sure to be at or very near the top.   His win/loss record vis-a-vis Steve Cram was something like 21:1 in his favour but while the English selectors sent Cram along to gain valuable experience, the Scots left Williamson at home.

So what was Graham’s response?   By the end of 1978, his achievements included;

• Scottish Junior 800m and 1500m champion;
• Scottish Junior 1500m and 3000m record holder;
• Scottish, UK and European record holder for 1500m;
• UK record holder for Junior 1 Mile;
• AAA Under 20 Champion.

 But what must surely have given him most satisfaction was setting a World Junior record in Warsaw the day after the final of the 1500m in Edmonton.   His time?    3:37.7.

In July 1979, Williamson was second  and Robson third right behind Steve Ovett in the AAA’s 1500m.   Three days later on July 17th, both Scots were in the Golden Mile in Bislett Stadium, Oslo, when Coe broke the world record with 3:39.0.   Robson in fifth ran 3:52.8 ( a Scottish National record) and 19 year old Graham was seventh in 3:53.2.  Video with interviews can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyss8ym2bq0 .

 There is a superb article in Sports Illustrated by Kenny Moore on 13th March 1980.  

and is a first class description of how the field came together, the wheeling and dealing about who took the pace, how fast it was to go, conversations between runners, the influence of Andy Norman, the conversation Brendan Foster had with Graham before the race and (of course) the course of the actual event.   If you are interested in middle distance racing at this time and what ‘our boys’ are expected to put up with when they get to these events, this is a ‘must read.’    I’ll quote some of the bits of what Graham had to put up with here.   The race already included Steve Scott, John Walker, Thomas Wessinghage and initially Ovett seemed a certain starter and the race was being organised by Andy Norman and Arne Haukvik of Norway.   “Graham Williamson, only 19, had a best of 3:55.8 and been third in the Golden Mile the year before.   For seven months he had had a tentative invitation to Oslo but there had been no confirmation.   It seemed that with Walker and Ovett and Scott in the race, the promoters were waiting until the last minute to complete the field.   They wanted the fittest runners and, because NBC-TV had bought rights to the race, a few Americans.   “All year I’d been planning to make this race the peak of my year,” says Williamson.   “I arranged three weeks of training at altitude in Colorado as final preparation.”   He returned to Scotland 12 days before the race.   “My training was going badly when I got home.   One afternoon a week before the race I was out doing four miles and everything clicked.”   That was the day that Norman called.   “You’re in,” he said.   They continued to put the field together – Robson and Moorcroft were kept waiting for their invite.   Steve Lacy and Craig Masback (The two Americans) were also included.   In Oslo no ‘journeyman rabbit’ could be included – it would have to be one of the runners.   Masback was in no doubt that it would be Robson, Williamson or himself that would be required to do the job.   None of them wanted it and Williamson made it clear that he wasn’t doing it.   Then during an interview with the BBC Ovett said that with the strength of British Miling, why should they go all the way to Norway for a fast race?   He boxed himself into a corner where it was not possible for him still to go to Oslo.   Coe, who still seemed to regard himself as an 800 metres runner was in the field.   “Back in the hotel, Williamson who had also resisted Haukvik’s entreaties to set the pace sat down with his room-mate, Brendan Foster, a magically astute judge of runners.   Before them they had a ist of the field.   “We got it down to Coe and Scott really,” Williamson says.   “For a year I had felt that Coe was capable of a big mile, Coghlan had to be tired from his 5000, Walker was not at his best and Wessinghage seldom comes off well in a big race.   I never expected anything of Masback.”   The 19 year-old Williamson looked up at the 31 year-old Foster .   “What do you think?” he asked.    “I’d bet you third,”   said Foster.”   There was an interesting conversation with Walker and it was on to the race.   Graham warmed up wearing two track suits.   Lacy, the American, took the pace and came through the first lap in 57 seconds with Scott a yard back.  They both got to 800 in 1:54 with Coe just behind in in 1:54.5.  Two laps in 57 seconds each.   At 1200 metres the time was 2:52.0.   Coe moved off and down the back straight, “Williamson had found the race frustrating for its refusal to develop into a file of efficiently running men.   “You could never settle in,” he said, “There were always things going on, people going past.   I really only took stock of the race with 300 metres to go.”   He was in fourth.   “With Scott and Coe out and away, I was aiming for third.   I got by Walker.   I cut in on him and he pushed me in the back.   Ahead Scott didn’t look that good.   I began to think I might get second.”   Looked good but then ………….. “On the turn, just past 1500 metres Masback loomed up just behind Williamson, and his reaching stride accidentally caught Williamson’s left foot.   Two spikes came into the rear of the Scotsman’s  red Puma and ripped it off his heel.   “One second I was sprinting at Scott, thinking he’s not too far away’, says Williamson.   “And the next ‘Christ, what can I do?’   I kept looking down.   I ran a few steps with the back of the shoe tucked under my foot like a carpet slipper.   Then I got it off.   People began to go by me.   My running action was gone.”   Williamson would finish seventh in 3:53.2 – that and his 1500 metres time of 3:36.6 were European Junior records.   The whole saga of the race is in Moore’s article.   Then after all that hassle, just five days later Williamson easily won the AAA’s 1500 metres which he had won the year before in 3:41.6 and on August 16th won the European Junior 1500m in 3:39.0.   A month later at altitude in Mexico City, Graham won the World Student Games title in 3:45.4: a really remarkable double.

In 1980 there was a slow start to the season with early season illness.   If the non-selection for Edmonton was a disgraceful decision, it did not compare with the ‘fix’ that was the selection for the 1980 Olympic Games.   There was an Olympic trial for the 1500m in June.   Graham ran and was second to David Moorcroft who said he wanted to run the 5000m in the Games.    Ovett and Coe were clearly going and Graham as second in the trial should have gone.   Steve Cram had fallen during the race and Brendan Foster persuaded the selectors to have Graham and Steve have a run-off for the Olympic place over One Mile at Bislett.   Graham had a cold that week and asked the selectors to put the race back a week so that the two would have an equal chance.   They refused.   Then his bag containing his running kit, spikes and all, was stolen at the airport.   He had to run with a cold and in borrowed kit.   Needless to say he did not run to form in the race which was won by Ovett in 3:48.8 with Cram second in 3:53.8 and Graham some way back in 3:56.4.  In his biography, ‘Ovett’ written with John Rodda, Steve has some hard words to say about the incident and I’ll quote some of them here.   Steve was running in the 1500 at Bislett as were Cram and Williamson.   “When I arrived in Oslo airport my thoughts of world-record breaking were quickly set aside for the plight of another runner, Graham Williamson.   The young Scottish miler and Steve Cram had been pitched into my race to decide who should have the third 1500m place in the Games, in my opinion the most absurd way of choosing an athlete and an indictment of the selectors who could have had little understanding about the preparation and planning that goes into an athletes life.   It showed a complete lack of feeling for the sport.   If these selectors had been runners then they had completely forgotten what their sport was all about.   To ask two young athletes to race in these circumstances a month before their Olympic event was like committing them to a duel at dawn: one of them was going to have a shattering experience.   As we all waited at the airport it became clear that Graham’s kit was missing.   I felt for the man as did the other athletes in the party.   The prospect of having to run in different spikes, shorts and vest in such a crucial race was a cruel blow.   A runners spikes are like a comfortable old pair of shoes – you will keep them until they are falling apart.   I wanted to say something to Graham but I stopped short realising I would only make matters worse.   In the event Graham’s gear did not appear and Cram finished in front of him and won the ticket to Moscow.   Within a few seconds of winning the race I went over to Graham and tried to offer the right kind of words to comfort the guy.   He had been running well, he thought he had done enough to win his Olympic place and then the selectors had turned round and said they had wanted more.”   The book is excellent and I used to use particular paragraphs to illustrate points that I wanted to get across to runners and even at times to coaches.    Exactly two weeks later  at the same Stadium, Ovett set another world record with 3:32.1 for the 1500m while Graham ran 3:35.8 in fifth.

1992: Graham wins the Mile in a Scottish Native Record of 3:52.66 at the Iveco International Games at Meadowbank

Injury prevented him from competing seriously in 1981 and the only mark for him in the SAAA Yearbook is 3:46.4 for 1500 metres in March that year.   In 1982, however, he won the AAA’s indoor 1500m in January with a UK Indoor best of 3:40.72 which eh reduced further to 3:38.28 in a match against Belgium at Cosford ten days later.   Into the summer season and he brought his mile time down to 3:50.65 for a National record when he was fourth behind the South African Sydney Maree at Cork on 13th July.   He qualified for both the European and Commonwealth Games held later in the year.   He had ten of the top 20 Scottish marks that year from 3:37.7 in Meadowbank in July down to a 3:46.1 indoors at Cosford in February.    He won a top class 1500 in an international match at Meadowbank in July with 3:52.66    The match was against England, Poland, and Norway and he defeated the in-form Irishman Ray Flynn by almost two seconds.   There was more misfortune in the Commonwealth Games in Australia however.   He won his heat in 3:45.22 and was going really well in the final when there was a bit of a kerfuffle in the back straight of the final lap.   Cram saw this and decided to take advantage and go for it.  The result was a win for the Englishman in one of the tightest finishes imaginable.   Result: 1.   Steve Cram   3:42.37; 2.   John Walker   3:43.11; 3.   Mike Boit   3:43.33; 4.   Graham Williamson   3:43.84; 4.   Mike Hillardt   3:44.03.   How close and how unlucky can you get?     Well, the European Championships later in the year gave the answer.   In the Final Graham accelerated past Cram with 600 metres to go before the Spaniard Jose Abascal caught his heel in the back straight and he crashed to the track.   Cram won and Graham did not finish.

1983 and 1984 produced many of his lifetime best times with 1983 in particular showing best marks of 1:45.6 for 800m, 3:34.01 for 1500m, 3:52.01 for the Mile, 4:58.38 for the 3000 metres and 8:07.8 for the 3000 metres.   The times for 800m, 1500m and 2000m were lifetime bests.   He ran in the World Championships in Helsinki at the start of August and the BMC News had this to say of his performance: ” Graham Williamson gambled on not having lost too much conditioning with his injury but a 3:38.99 Heat was really all that he could manage in his condition.   The man has talent and guts but never seems to enjoy much good luck.   Still, he and George Gandy may well come through in 1984: Williamson can certainly run 800 in 1:44 and 1500 in close to 3:30, sometimes.”    I like that ‘sometimes’ at the end!   Graham was well liked and respected in the BMC and Frank Horwill liked the fact that he was not afraid to take it on if appropriate.

 In 1984 there were more excellent times recorded: 2:16.82 for 1000m, 3:34.13 for 1500m and 3:51.6 for the Mile.   After these two outstanding years he was injured for most of 1985 and did not compete.   There was a solitary 1500 metres time of 3:46.85 recorded in 1986 and, because of injuries, his wonderful career was basically over.   The man who had been on the wrong end of several decisions by administrators and selectors was ironical given an extension to gain the qualifying time required for the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games.   He couldn’t get within 7 seconds of the required time when he went for it in Innsbruck.   His last lap kick had gone and he could only manage 63 seconds for it.   In an article by Doug Gillon in ‘Scotland’s Runner’ for  May 1987 he says”I knew then I’d had it.   Yet it was the most consideration I had ever received from the Scottish selectors.   He had retired by the age of 26.

Graham had a fine career with many, many very good races and although most of the times were recorded approximately 30 years ago they stand up remarkably well today.   He tops the Scottish Junior All-Time lists for 800m, 1500m, One Mile and 3000m.   He ran for Scotland n the World Junior Cross-Country Championships (twice as a Junior and once as a Senior).    His best marks are in the table which has his all-time GB as well as his Scottish rankings for each performance.

I would like to go back to the article mentioned at the start: The ‘Olympic Prospect’ interview in the British Milers Club magazine for Autumn 1978. It is not clear who asked the questions but the replies were quite revealing.  Remember his date of birth: 15/6/60

BMC:   Please describe in some detail your winter training and outline how it has progressed over the past three years.

GW:     1975/6:   Sunday: 7 Miles easy.   Monday: 4-5 miles steady.   Tuesday:  4-5 miles brisk.   Wed:  5 miles steady.   Thursday:  5 miles steady.   Friday:   Rest.   Saturday:   Race

            1976/7:   Sunday:  10 miles easy.   Monday:  3 miles easy am; 800’s or speed work pm.   Tuesday:  3 miles easy am; Brisk road run pm.   Wed:  3 miles easy am; steady road run pm.   Thursday:  3 miles easy am; Acceleration run pm. 

            Friday: Rest.  

           Saturday:  Race.

            1977/8:   Sunday: 10 miles easy.   Monday: 3-4 miles easy am; Brisk road run pm.  Tuesday:  3-4 miles easy am; track speed work pm.   Wed:  3-4 miles easy am; Steady run pm.   Thursday: 3-4 miles easy am; Steady run pm.  Friday:

            Rest

            Saturday:  Race.

BMC:   What are your views on the comparative values of indoor running and cross country during the winter?

GW:     I value cross-country running very much.   It is a nice break from track running.   I take the country very seriously but seem to get dogged either by very bad colds or injury at very important times.   I have only won the Scottish National once.   Twice in the last three years I have been undefeated   and then got ‘flu one year and a very bad foot injury in 1978.

BMC:   Please describe in some detail your summer training and outline how it has progressed during the past three years.

GW:

BMC:   Please give details of training other than running.

GW:     None.

BMC:   Please describe how you warm up.

GW:    At the moment I am trying different ways of warming up to see which one suits me best.   I am trying different amounts of jogging and strides at different meetings.   The warm-up depends on how long before the event you have to report.   Normally at meetings I now start 45 minutes before the event.   I just jog about during that time with about four or five ‘strides’ to loosen off and increase the heartbeat.

[The entire article can be found in the BMC Magazine for autumn 1978.]

My favourite Graham Willliamson story is of the wee boy (no more than 12 years old) who spotted Graham talking to Jack Crawford as he walked through the Springburn Harriers grounds at Huntershill and asked for his autograph.   Graham was quite agreeable to this and asked if the boy had a pen he didn’t but borrowed one from Jack.   He then asked for a bit of paper but the boy didn’t have one; he did however suggest that Graham sign his forearm and he would trace it on to a piece of paper when he got home!