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John Hanratty running in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay

There were many who came into running via the ‘running boom’ of the 1970’s and 1980’s.   The first ever Glasgow People’s Marathon was held in 1982 and brought hundreds into the sport.    John was one of them , his first race was in ’84, and unlike the vast majority he went on to run distances up to the marathon on the roads, he ran on the track in 5000m, 10,000m and steeplechase, and ran in every cross-country championship – club, county, District and National – for which he was qualified and he ran in championships on all surfaces as well as in international teams as a veteran runner.   

Asked about previous sporting involvement, John tells us that “I was in the Clydebank Sea cadets, TS Queen Elizabeth, for about 6 years, where I became an instructor cadet, many a weekend was spent sailing dinghies at HMS Lochinvar under the Forth bridge, great time.  Like most boys I played football but wasn’t very good.” 

Why did he come into running in the first place?   “I watched Peter Fleming win the Glasgow marathon in 1983, decided to give it a go and joined the harriers soon after that.”  

The Glasgow Marathon, after three years as an elite international race over four laps of the city became a people’s marathon, a mass marathon that attracted thousands into the sport and it was in 1983 that Peter Fleming won the race in 2:17:46. 

Having been inspired by that run, and of course the race publicity machine which was in full swing then, John, who was 32 at the time, joined the Harriers with his application form going through on 10^th January, 1984.  Unlike most Harriers, he was not brought along by a friend or acquaintance but just went down to the club’s winter headquarters at Bruce Street Baths and that was it.  Later that year, John was at the start with 10, 702 other runners with the 10 Miles Tom Scott Memorial Road Race as his longest race before that.   The Glasgow Herald estimated that more than a quarter of a million spectators, bands and dancers turned the city into a carnival.   John was 236^th at the finish with more than 10,000 runners behind him.   Not a bad debut at all for the newcomer.   

He ran in three more Glasgow Marathons all of which were in very good times indeed.    More important, he finished further up the field every time he ran.  The weather may change from year to year affecting the times, but the fields are no less competitive, and that is nowhere more true than among the real club runners.   John’s consistency however is remarkable.

Not satisfied with running well in Glasgow, he travelled to Fort William and ran in the Lochaber Marathon twice finishing in times of 2.35 (1986) and, in 1989 he ran 2.37.19 to be sixth finisher and first non-veteran across the line.   In one of them, he recalls getting terrible cramp in the last mile and stopping to recover. 

John featured prominently in this poster for the Glasgow Half Marathon in 1996.

He always ran well on the roads and turned out for the club in – 

*The Edinburgh to Glasgow Eight Stage Road Relay 10 times between 1984 and 2002 when it ceased to be an event.   He ran seven of the eight stages, missing only the fourth leg. 

*The National Six Stage Road Relay 16 times between 1985 and 2004 and ran every stage at one time or another.

John ran in teams with runners of all abilities including Scottish internationalists Allan Adams, James Austin, Ewan Calvert, Phil Dolan, Grant Graham, Kheredine Idessane Billy Jenkins, Ian Murphy, Brian Potts, Graeme Reid, Des Roache and others.    

He also has the distinction of winning the first ever Polaroid 10K Road Race on Sunday, 1^st October, 1987, which started in Christie Park..   The Polaroid 10K races were sponsored by the Polaroid factory in Dumbarton and consisted of 10K races in Clydebank, Dumbarton and Helensburgh and were popular among club runners of all abilities particularly from the West of Scotland.   John thinks that this was his best road race, running all the way with the leading pack, he saw an opportunity to take the lead and made his break to victory.  

The result was   1.  J Hanratty (Clydesdale Harriers) 32:25;   2.  R McCulloch (Bellahouston) 32:37; 3.   M Gormley (Scottish Marathon Club) 32:49.   Like many runners he returned to the race – and to others in the Polaroid series – year after year including the last to be sponsored by Polaroid in 2017 when as a V60 he ran 50:09.  

John ran in all the classic road races in the country with very good results.  His best half marathon was at Livingston where he ran 69.59.    He didn’t run the Tom Scott 10 miles road race very often and his best time was 55:57 in 2003 as second placed V50.    He also ran in the Balloch to Clydebank, the Nigel Barge Memorial Road Race in January and the Glasgow University Race in November as well as the McAndrew Relay every October.  

Having joined the club, as noted above, in 1984 and having represented it on the roads and over the country in relays and championships, at club, county, district and national levels, he turned his attention to the track in 1986 and competed in the Scottish Athletics League for the first time. 

 As a competitor he ran

• in the 5000m in 1986, ’87, ’88, ’89, 90, ’92, ’93, ’95, ’98 and ’99;
• in the steeplechase in ’89, ’90. ’91, ’93, ’94 and ’95;
• in the 10,000m in 1990, ’91, ’93, ’94 and ’95.

Valuable as these runs and the points they earned for the club were, and they were very valuable, he was also responsible for most of that time in selecting the runners for the three distance events and ensuring their appearance at the venue.   He set the example himself by doubling up the 5000m and steeplechase at the same match fairly often.  Never afraid of taking on additional tasks, John was club captain for many years after only a few years in the club.   He took his responsibilities seriously and could be seen helping to mark the track  at Whitecrook for club championships, or putting out and taking in the course markers for cross-country races.   He himself says that of all the captain’s duties,  “Waiting to put teams in for the relays on the day was nerve racking and must have affected my own race”.   Maybe it did affect his own race but it did not show in the results column.

John was maybe seen at his best over the country and he says quite clearly that cross-country was his favourite event.  

John in the Veterans’ International in Meath, County Cavan, Ireland in 18/11/2000

John had an outstanding career as a veteran runner winning international honours over the country and more will be said about that below but again his running as a club member was notable.   He won the Dunbartonshire Cup for the first club man home in the Balloch to Clydebank road race in 1985/86 and the DJ McGinley Trophy for the first veteran in the club championship in 1992/93, 1994/95, 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/2001.

He has run in every race imaginable – club, district, national championships, district and national relays – and all over Scotland on all the classic courses – Hamilton, Falkirk, Bellahouston, Jack Kane Centre in Edinburgh – as well as at many local venues.   

A very consistent athlete and always a good team member.  In the top event of the winter, the National Championships, he ran 18 times in 19 years between 1987 and 2005 in teams that finished between 6^th and 21^st, and was in the club’s first four counters 14 times, with a best club position of 2^nd on 6 occasions.    In the National Four Stage Cross Country Relay Championship, his first run was in October 1985 at St Andrews where he ran on the second stage in the B team (the club had four teams out that afternoon).   The Power of 10 website has listed John’s races since 2000 and they are impressive.

Note the number of first, second and third places in the table.   The Run Britain website give additional information, below,  about his GB position over the same period using the above information..

From the British Masters at Irvine 12/4/2003 where John finished 3rd in his age group and with Bobby Young and Peter Cartwright taking second team for Clydesdale Harriers

*

Colin Youngson, himself a superb runner, has written the following appreciation of John as a veteran runner. 

JOHN HANRATTY AS A VETERAN ATHLETE

by Colin Youngson

“John ran for Clydesdale Harriers, Scotland’s most historic club. He first appeared aged 40 in the 1993 Scottish Veteran Cross Country Championships at St Andrews, when he finished a respectable 22^nd, while I was fifth and first M45.

As the years passed, he proved admirably consistent: improving to 9^th in 1994 (Troon). He was a strong 12^th in 1995 (Stirches, Hawick).

Shortly afterwards, the 1995 British Veterans Cross Country Championships were held over Beach Park, Irvine. I was very pleased to finish 16^th and first M45, but John Hanratty was only fifteen seconds behind, in 21^st place, and an excellent fifth Scot on the day, due to the English invasion.

Our Scottish Veteran/Masters cross country friendly but close rivalry continued: he beat me for the first time in 1996 (Elgin – 12^th to my 15th); and subsequently in 1999 (more details below); 2000 (Cumnock, 14^th and fourth M45); 2001 (Aberdeen – 19^th); and 2003 (Forres – 26^th).

However, I ‘got’ him in 1997 (Edinburgh – John was 23^rd); 1998 (Troon – 16^th and sixth M45 to my 12^th and first M50); 2002 (Glasgow – he was 28^th to my 24^th). Our last such encounter was in 2004, over a hilly monster at Cupar, when he finished 63^rd shortly after I collapsed over the line 52^nd and first M55.

Therefore, tough, consistent, modest John Hanratty raced the Scottish Veterans XC 12 years in succession.

His best performance in the event was on 27^th February 1999, in horrendous conditions over the Stirches course in Hawick. Let that great athletics journalist, Doug Gillon, set the scene with excerpts from his Glasgow Herald report.

“Storm-lashed hailstones scourged runners like a medieval penance” … “Rough sheep pasture, with a grinding half-mile hill, and muddy descents, was not for the faint-hearted, yet it brought not one moan from the vets. If this had been an open championship, younger wimps would have been bleating in complaint.”

I can add that paths were very slippery, there were several fallers, and that tactics were essential, since during one long section of each lap, we had to battle an incredibly fierce gale. Consequently, joining a small group and sheltering behind was sensible. Suffice it to say that this formidable Stirches course, which John Hanratty had relished in 1995, suited him very well. After the big uphill, when we turned into the gale, he was two groups in front of me – and held on for 12^th place (securing a bronze medal for third M45), while I was 17^th and first M50 by six seconds from my old friend and redoubtable harrier George Meredith.

In the 1998 British and Irish Cross Country Championships, at St Asaph, Wales, Archie Jenkins won M45 bronze again, leading his team (John Hanratty 11^th, Andy McLinden 12^th and Barney Gough 13^th) to silver medals. This was John’s first international vest for Scottish Vets.

In the 2000 British and Irish Cross Country Championships at Navan, County Meath, Ireland, John finished 52^nd, 19^th M45 and fourth counter in the team, which just missed out on team medals in fourth place, in front of Northern Ireland.

John must have enjoyed racing at Dumfries in the 1998 Scottish Veterans Athletics Championships, winning a gold medal in the 1500m (4.23.90) and narrowly losing to Archie Jenkins but securing silver in the 5000m (16.08.77).

John Hanratty of Clydesdale Harriers was well-liked and very well respected, especially as a fine cross-country competitor. “

With Brian Edridge (48) and Jim Shields (47) at Veterans’ National in Elgin, 24/2/96

Given that there was no internet and that not everybody had a telephone, it is not surprising that the Scottish Games Association, organisers of the professional athletics scene, had its own handbook listing of its own rules, races for the coming season, records, winners of last season’s meetings, etc.   Alastair Macfarlane let us copy his handbook for 1969 and it is reproduced here over two pages.  

Part Two:  Records and fixtures

…

The photograph above shows Danny Wilmoth of Springburn Harriers winning the half mile handicap at Shawfield Stadium, home of Clyde FC, in Glasgow.   Note that although the runners are on a grass surface, there is another track on the outside and that track has floodlights placed at intervals round it.   Shawfield was built in 1898 and Wikipedia has this to say about the venue:

“Shawfield Stadium is a venue in the Shawfield district of the town of Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located close to the boundary with Glasgow.   Originally a football ground, Shawfield was home to Clyde FC from 1898 to 1986. Greyhound racing was introduced in 1932, and the stadium hosted the Scottish Greyhound Derby from 1970 to 1985 and from 1989 to 2019. The Glasgow Tigers speedway team was also based there, from 1988 to 1995 ,and 1997 to 1998, with the Scottish Monarchs also racing there in 1996. Other sports including boxing and athletics were also staged at Shawfield.”

The Scottish Greyhound Racing Club bought Shawfield, which had been losing money before the War, in 1935.    Despite several attempts to increase income, the track suffered a huge fire in 1975 and was put on the market in 1983 and it was proposed to sell it to Asda but permission was not granted.  In 1986 Clyde were given orders to leave and also in 1986, planning permission to build houses was refused.    There were lots of attempts by various bodies to use or dispose of it.   The last remaining track in Scotland all hopes of the stadium re-opening disappeared when the owner died in 2022.   

Athletics meetings at Shawfield were well supported by athletes – see

Clyde FC Sports 1911 – 1918   which deal with a period when it was a professional meeting; and 

the short account of team races at the stadium at  Inter Clubs at the Games: Shawfield and Brockville .     

Unfortunately the economics of running the stadium meant the end of the athletics there and it was shut in October 1986.   Look at it in the pictures below:

There is a lot of talk just now of the fate of Grangemouth Stadium – the only stadium in the country currently capable of hosting a full programme of events.   Let’s hope that it doesn’t end like Shawfield.   Another of Danny’s pictures below of what it had been in 1955

.

The competition rules continue . . .

Alexander Duncan Robertson ( born 7/05/56), Edinburgh Southern Harriers, Penicuik Harriers, Lothian Running Club.

Personal best times. 3000m: 8:28.47 1981; 5000m: 14:34.8 1981; 3000m Steeplechase: 9:03.8 1978. 

Alex, a Scottish International athlete, was an invaluable team man and a decent steeplechaser and road runner.  He was the son of Hamish Robertson, the ESH secretary and 1950s road runner.  

Representing ESH, Alex was in 4 winning teams in the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay. 1977 gold (Stage 7); 1978 gold (Stage 7); 1979 bronze (Stage 7); 1981 gold (Stage 8 ran very well, 3^rd fastest); 1982 gold (Stage 8 ran very well, second fastest).

Alex also contributed to 4 winning teams (1979, 1980, 1982 and 1983) in the Scottish Six Stage Road Relay. He ran the fifth stage in the first two, and recalls that team star Allister Hutton asked him to limit the gap to Clyde Valley AC (the leaders), so that Allister could overtake them on the final stage – which Hutton did, both times! In 1979, Alex was fastest on stage five, six seconds faster than Ron Macdonald (CV); and in 1980 Alec was second-fastest to Jim Brown (CV), but only lost 32 seconds. Both Ron and Jim were outstanding Scottish International athletes.

 In the classic 1982 Tom Scott Ten miles Road Race Alex ran an excellent 48.58; and later that year 10,000m on the track in 30.40.2. His best marathon was 2.28.10 in 1985.

In the 1985 Tom Scott Ten Miles, Alex finished a valiant third, behind Alan Puckrin and Jim Brown.

Jim Brown (left)  and Alex Robertson

Alex Robertson featured in the Scottish Athletics annual rankings from 1975 to 1990.   Highest rankings below.

Alex also raced internationally for Scotland on the track three times:

In the 3000 Metres Steeplechase:

*31^st August 1980 at Gateshead, England (Scotland v England v Norway v Yugoslavia);

*and early August 1981 at Meadowbank, Scotland (Scotland v Denmark v Ireland).

In the 3000 Metres – 26^th July 1981 at Gateshead, England (Scotland v England v Hungary v Norway).  

EDINBURGH MARATHONS

On September 4^th 1983, Alex finished fourth in 2 hours 28 minutes 45 seconds, behind Lindsay Robertson (EAC), Ian Elliot (Hawick) and Dave Ellis (England).

                                   Left to right: Ian Elliot, Alex Robertson, Lindsay Robertson, with Dave Ellis hidden behind

On September 2^nd 1984 in the Edinburgh Waverley Market Marathon, Alex raced for Scotland. He kept up early on but unfortunately suffered a stitch and dropped back during the second half.

Left to right: Lindsay Robertson, Evan Cameron, Dave Ellis, Alex Robertson

“A field of 3,597 runners lined up outside Meadowbank Stadium at 8:30 am on Sunday morning, with light rain making the conditions perfect for the runners.   As the race got underway, a group of four runners were immediately to the fore.   The group contained Lindsay Robertson (EAC), Evan Cameron (Edinburgh SH), Alex Robertson (ESH) and the winner of the first Edinburgh Marathon in 1982, Dave Ellis of Birchfield Harriers.   By the time they had run two miles, this group was 100 yards clear of the next runner with the rest of the field starting to settle into their pace.   As the runners reached Princes Street they were being caught by Brian Emmerson of Teviotdale Harriers.   However, soon after catching the group he was again dropped and they continued to push on.   Lindsay Robertson at this point was doing most of the front running and it was good to see the Scotland squad in a 1,2 and 3 position with Dave Ellis still with the group but not looking very comfortable.   By halfway, Lindsay Robertson and Evan Cameron had broken away from Alex Robertson and Ellis.”

Lindsay Robertson finished very strongly, to win in an event record of 2.15.55, with Evan Cameron second in 2.19.34.

Alex Robertson remembers “I ran the Edinburgh Marathon in 1983, 1984 and 1985. It was a well-organised event. In 1983 I finished fourth in 2.28.45; 1984 16^th in 2.31, having suffered a stitch; and in 1985 11^th in a personal best of  2.28.10.

 In 1984 I was part of the Scottish team (with Lindsay and Evan) and we received complete International kit: vest, shorts, tracksuit and even shoes! Unfortunately, England did not send a complete team, so Scotland won unopposed.”

Alex Robertson also answered the questionnaire.

Occupation: Research Technician. 

How did you get into the sport?  Initially, through my Dad who ran for ESH.

Has any individual or group had a marked effect on either your attitude to the sport or your performances?  Training at Fernieside (the club track) and my years training with Ali Hutton and all the support I got from club officials and team mates. 

What exactly did you get out of the sport?  Fun and friendships.

Can you describe your general attitude to the sport?  Enjoyment. At the 1970 Commonwealth Games, I remember, as a 15 year old, from inside the track, watching Lachie Stewart, Ian Stewart, Ian McCafferty and Gareth Bryan Jones racing so well!

What do you consider your best-ever performance?  Tom Scott 10 miles in under 49 minutes and running for Scotland. I was also proud to race for ESH during their Grand Slam or Clean Sweep year (see certificate). That was some winter season!

And your worst?  Some of my Scottish National Cross Country Championship performances. 

What goals did you have that were never achieved?  Win a Scottish National Cross Country team medal. 

What has running brought you that you would not have wanted to miss?  All the friends I made and enjoyment. 

Can you give some details of your training?  

I trained twice most days.  

Between 70 and 100 miles a week

Sunday: long run (15 miles) with the group.

Monday: track session with the group or just me and Ali. 

Tuesday: run from Fernieside with the group.

Wednesday: normally an easy run.

Thursday: track session. 

Friday: easy day if racing on Saturday. 

Saturday: race or steady run.

A regular session Allister and I did was driving down to Gullane Sands, then runs over the dunes and hill reps. Also did the Monday 16-rep session, four times round The Meadows in winter.

I would like to thank all the guys I trained with – too many to name but they know who they are.

Alex added “After giving up racing for a few years, I got into mountaineering and rock climbing, climbing in many different countries. Nowadays I am still climbing and running for fun in a few races a year. Once a week, I still meet up with John Gladwin for a run.”

Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis. Left to right: Alex, Darren Smith, Stuart Aikman