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Back Row: Ray Baillie in the middle and Nick Rogers second from the left

Second Row: Tor Denstad,  Terry Kerwin,  Craig Sharp, Brian Scobie, Willie Diverty, Brian Kennedy

Front Row: Allan Faulds, Calum Laing, Dick Hartley and Cameron Shepherd

It is unusual for any University team to make it to the top in team competition for many reasons.   First there is the regular turnover of students as they arrive and graduate.   There was a time when the ‘chronic’ was a feature in every university – the student who went on either doing degree after degree and never working for a living, but these days are gone.   Second a habit seems to be developing, or have developed for students, after graduation, moving to another establishment for their PhD and increasingly they are leaving the country.   Third we have a situation where many, if not most, students continue to represent their clubs while studying rather than temporarily transfer allegiance to the University team.    Rumour has it that Bobby Calderwood of VPAAC was one of the very first to keep on racing for his club team during his student days, and certainly when Glasgow University won the ScotUnis eight times in succession in the 80’s several prominent members only ran for them in Scottish or British University competition while competing against them for the rest of the year.    It is therefore  not all that common for any University squad to reach the heights.

When we talk of good University teams the immediate point of reference is the great Edinburgh University runners who won the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay three times in the late 60’s and were running well right into the 70’s.   But before their heyday, the Glasgow University team was hailed as the best ever Scottish University team.   Several very good runners just happened to appear at the same time, to prefer to run for GUAC or GU Hares and Hounds and to enjoy each other’s company.    The names fondly remembered by those who saw them come easily to mind: in alphabetical order they were Ray Baillie, Jim Bogan, Tor Denstad, Allan Faulds, Douglas Gifford, Calum Laing, Nick Rogers, Cameron Shepherd,  Brian Scobie, and several others.   Allan Faulds will be profiled on the ‘Elite Endurance’ page of this website and it would maybe be appropriate to look at some of the other members of this group first before taking the team as a whole.   By the way, if anyone has more names for the photograph above, would they let me know?

Calum Laing was undoubtedly the top endurance runner for his brief time at University and it is a real pity that he did not carry on with his career after graduation.   He was a son of the manse from Ross-shire who appeared in the 1960 National Cross Country Championship as one of only two seniors entered by Inverness Harriers when he finished down the field in sixty second place.   In two short years he moved up to third place when representing Glasgow and leading the team (Laing 3, Gifford 27, Hartley 38,  Rodgers 67, Denstad 123 and Campbell 146) to third place.   The quality of this run can be seen from the names of the first eight finishers – Jim Alder, Andy Brown, Calum Laing, Steve Taylor, Alastair Wood, Bertie Irving, John McLaren and John Linaker.   His reward was a run in the International Cross-Country Championship where he was a scoring runner in thirty seventh position.   The country was his real forte and in 1963 he again made the team for the International Championship and was again a counting runner, finishing in sixty third place.   In the National in 1964 he was eighth, his second best placing, and the team was fourth.   An inspiration, he had several very good runs in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Race.  In 1960 he raced the second stage and picked up from twelfth to fourth for the team that was to pick up the bronze medals.   A year later he again ran the second stage and pulled the team from fifteenth to twelfth on this very difficult leg with second quickest run of the day but the following year, 1962, he ran even better bringing the team from fourth to first with the fastest time for the leg.

1962 was to be his best year on the track with four personal best times which are noted below.   That for the Six Miles was set when winning the SAAA championship, (he had already won the West District Six Miles) and the Three Miles time was set when he was third in the District championships, he was also third in the National Three miles.   So – two first places and two third places.   Many of his team-mates and rivals thought that he could have been an Olympian but unfortunately he had a short career before leaving University.

When his University days were over he ran for Victoria Park.   Nationally he ran in two Edinburgh to Glasgow Relays and one National winning medals in two out of the three.  In the E-G in 1965 he ran on the fifth stage for the team which was third, turning in the second fastest time.   In 1968 he ran in the last stage, taking over fourth and holding it to the finish.   In the National in 1966, he was thirty second in the team that took silver.

In his official history of the SCCU, “Whatever the Weather”, Colin Shields says in his review of the 1962 Cross-Country Championship, ’24 year old agricultural student Calum Laing, a son of the manse from the North of Scotland studying at Glasgow University, was the best distance runner produced by any Scottish university to date.’ 

UAU team (in front) and the SUCC team at Durham, 1960:   Jim Bogan on the left in the back row, Don Macgregor third from left.

Picture from Donald Macgregor’s “Running My Life”

Jim Bogan stayed as part of the University faculty after he graduated and became “one of Britain’s leading figures in veterinary medicine.”     A member of Victoria Park AAC (as indeed was Calum Laing) he was a steeplechaser during the track season and when Lachie Stewart set the SAAA 3000m steeplechase title, Jim was one of the early pacemakers.   The steeplechase was to prove his best event and he was ranked among the top men in the event almost every year in which he competed seriously with a best of 9:40.4 in 1966.   His best Mile time was 4:18.2 and for Three Miles he is credited with 14:55.0 in 1960.

In 1960 Jim in thirteenth place led the University Junior team to third place in the National Cross-Country Championship.   He was followed home by Hunter (16), Gifford (27) and Hartley (28).   He joined some of the men who would make up the really good team of later years and which was second in the Scottish Junior Cross-Country Championships in 1961.   Douglas Gifford (9), Bogan (13), Baillie (22) and Shepherd (23) were the counting runners.   In his third year in the Junior age group he was in the team which won the Junior championship giving him the complete set of gold, silver and bronze for the National team race.    The runners that day were Allan Faulds (4), Jim Bogan (5), Cameron Shepherd (16) and Ray Baillie (23).

In the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay in 1959 he was ninth on the first stage for the team that finished thirteenth.   In 1960, he ran on the first stage for the team that was placed third – he was twelfth on the first stage before Calum Laing brought the University up to fourth, from which position the others worked their way up to third.    In 1961 he was fourth fastest on the third stage, bringing the team from twelfth to sixth – six places was really something in the E-G.     When the University team was third in the Edinburgh to Glasgow in 1962, Jim Bogan ran on the third stage again and although dropping one place it was from first to second after Calum Laing’s fastest time on Stage Two, so there was no disgrace in that!      In 1963 he ran the last stage and picked up one place from seventh to sixth with again the fourth fastest of the afternoon.   By 1964, many of the top men had moved on but Jim was still there, running the last stage he maintained fifteenth position.   No fair weather runner he was out for the team again in 1966 running the very difficult second stage and held on to seventeenth place.    By 1967 the team had slumped to nineteenth and Jim ran the seventh stage picking up from twentieth to nineteenth.   That was to be his last run in the race.

He stayed on as a member of the staff of the University and became President of the University Hares & Hounds.   In that capacity he was responsible for many innovations – the key one being the University Road Race every year in November.   He stayed as a member of Victoria Park too as a recreational runner and it came as a shock to us all when he died following a road accident while on holiday in Grenoble in July 1988.   An excellent athlete, he was very easy to get on with and was popular with all athletes regardless of club or generation.    He was a runner first and foremost and runners always know their own.

Douglas Gifford was a very good athlete who, like many University athletes of the period, just seemed to stop competitive running when his student days were over.   A key member of this excellent team, he excelled in student matches and championships, and showed great ability in open competition.    In the National Championships, Douglas appears in the 1959 Glasgow University team when his twenty fifth place headed the four counting men to fifth place.   In 1960 he was twenty seventh and third scoring runner in the Junior team that finished third and one year later his ninth place led the team to silver in the National championship.   Unfortunately he was a year out of  sync with Jim Bogan and moved up to the senior ranks and by so doing missed the gold Junior medals of the following year.    Nevertheless he was twenty seventh in his first Senior National behind Calum Laing’s third place.   The team was eighth.   Unfortunately, despite all his good running, he was not a member of the team that was placed fourth in 1964.   He continued to run for the University from time to time but by 1966 the team had broken up – Calum Laing was running for Victoria Park in the National , Allan Faulds for Stirling and Dick Hodelet for Greenock Glenpark Harriers while Douglas was fiftieth running in the University colours.

His record in the E-G covers the same period.   In 1959, in his first run in the event, he was on the second stage – seldom a good idea for a first run in that event – and did well to limit the drop to four places.   In 1960, he was given a job which might even have been slightly more difficult – taking over in fourth place on the sixth stage surrounded by top class athletes.   He kept the position and the team was third at the end of the race.   In 1960 he was again on the Stage Six and held the sixth place that he had been given by Dick Hartley.   1962 brought him another bronze medal.   This time he was on the fourth stage and ran the third fastest time on the stage to hand over in second place for the team which eventually finished third.   In 1964, the team lost several members and in the E-G Glasgow University finished fifteenth with Douglas back on the sixth stage.

In the picture below he is seen leading the 1960 Scottish Universities Championships which he won with Glasgow winning the team race.   It is described in Don Macgregor’s autobiography “Running My Life”, from which the photograph was taken, as follows:   “Our hopes of recording an historic victory in the Scottish Universities Championships the next Saturday, February 6th, were high.   The four teams lined up outside St Salvator’s Tower in North Street.   Archie Strachan and Willie Diverty, Glasgow’s “manager” and Scottish ‘Athletics Weekly’ correspondent, watched as Professor Dickie, dressed in his usual broad-brimmed black hat, black coat and suit, dropped his hankie and we were off.   It was quite sunny and much drier underfoot than the week before.   The individual and team struggle was intense along the Kinkell Braes, over to the A917 Crail Road, and up the big hill with its ‘plough’.   St Andrews were 12 points ahead with 2 miles to go as we plummeted down from Lochend farm track over the stubble fields with the whole magnificent vista of the city and its towers laid out before us.  

Alas for our hopes!   The Glasgow middle counters gradually moved up the field.   The two best Glasgow runners, Douglas Gifford and Jim Bogan, and I had broken away from the rest quite early on.   We stayed together through the streets of the new town and were still together going up Dyers Brae into narrow Abbey Street – widened ten years later – and over South Street into South Castle Street.   It was only over the last 300 yards that Gifford and Bogan were able to break away from me to take the first two places for Glasgow with five seconds covering the first three.   David Jeffrey followed me home in 4th.   Glasgow also took the team medals, but there were only 7 points in it.”

The extract is interesting for several reasons, the first being that the race was started by dropping a hankie.   This was very common practice in road and cross country races with the old joke being about the difficulty of hearing the recall hankie in the event fo a false start.   Second is the fact that it was a single lap trail – nowadays the ease of spectating plays a part and it is much more usual to have a course of two, three or even four laps.   The Glasgow University home course was also one single, big, challenging lap which started at Garscadden Playing Fields went up on to the Great Western Road Boulevard past the Drumchapel Road entrance and then over the hilly fields of Braidfield and Langfaulds Farms before making its way back down the Boulevard.    The officials started the race and their watches, repaired to the clubhouse for tea and elegant conversation coming back out when they estimated the first runner would appear.   What is not different is the ferocity of the battle for individual and team victory.

Winner Doug Gifford in the SUCC Championships leading at three miles up to Crail Road.

Jim Bogan was second

The coming together of the team can maybe best be seen by following the fortunes of the Edinburgh to Glasgow squad.   The first significant group was in the relay of November 1959 when Jim Bogan ran a fairly steady first leg to hand over in ninth place to Doug Gifford.   Being new to the event and against top quality opposition he dropped to thirteenth, a position kept by Dick Hartley on teh short Stage Three.   S Hunter brought them up to tenth before S Kerr and Nick Rogers dropped to thirteenth leaving Tor Denstad and J Gray to bring the team home in that position.   Six of the names that would bring success to the Hares and Hounds are there.   1960 saw them win their first medals in the event.   Jim Bogan again led off but was slightly lower than the previous year with twelfth place before new boy Laing brought them up to fourth with the second fastest stage of the day.   His example was followed by Rogers who was second fastest on Stage Three catching another place.   Hunter had third fastest but dropped a place on the fourth.   Gray (seventh fastest) held it, as did Gifford on the sixth stage (fifth fastest), before Hartley brought them up to third, a position held by Denstad on the final stage.   1961 wasn’t quite so good with the team crossing the finish line in eighth.   Ray Baillie had a poor first stage handing over in fifteenth, although when I say ‘poor’ you should bear in mind that it was the top twenty teams in Scotland and he was against their chosen first runners.   Everything is relative!    Calum again had a good second stage and turned in the second fastest  time again to hand the baton over to Jim Bogan in sixth.    Jim ran the fourth fastest of the stage to move up to sixth, Dick Hartley maintained it as did Cameron Shepher who had the third fastest fifth stage that year.   Doug Gifford kept it on the hard and long Stage Six before Norman McPhail dropped to seventh and then Tor Denstad lost one more place to eighth.   Two additions and some team shuffling by the selectors brought the team into medal winning contention again in 1962.   This time Dick Hartley started the ball rolling with fourth on the first stage before Calum Laing moved into first with the fastest outing on Stage Two.   Jim Bogan dropped one place but from first at the end of a close fought second, that’s no disgrace – he again had fourth fastest time of the day.   Dougie Gifford ran the third quickest fourth stage to hold second before Ray Bailllie dropped one to third.   This was held all the way to the finish by Allan Faulds (fourth fastest), Cameron Shepherd (second fastest and Brian Scobie on the last leg.   That was the last of the really good teams and many of them graduated and moved on and the following year the squad had dropped to fifteenth in the race.

As noted above, the Junior team went from third to second to first in the National with Bogan, Hunter, Hartley, Gifford, Faulds, Shepherd and Baillie moving through.   As Seniors they never seemed to reach the same heights.   In 1962, Laing (third), Gifford (27th), Hartley (38th), Rodgers (67th), Denstad (123rd) and Campbell (146th) were eighth and in ’63 they failed to finish a team behind Laing, Rodgers, Hartley and Gray.    1964 was probably their best team in the senior event – Laing was eighth, Faulds fourteenth, Kerwin forty second, Shepherd forty third, Hodelet fifty seventh and Hartley sixty first – behind ESH, Aberdeen and Motherwell and ahead of Shettleston.   The following year they were ninth, Ray Baillie in twenty sixth was the first finisher, Cameron Shepherd forty third ……………….. and the results thereafter have big gaps so that the rest of the team is not available and the fourth place of the year before was the best the seniors were to achieve.

Allan Faulds provided some of the results from the Scottish Universities Cross-Country Championships between 1962 and 1964 and they are actually quite impressive.

• 1962:   1st  Calum Laing;   2nd  Doug Gifford;   3rd  J Bogan;   7th Cameron Shepherd;   8th  Allan Faulds;   13th Dick Hartley.    Points total was 34 points which won the team race from Edinburgh on 45 points, St Andrews on 115 points and Aberdeen 139 points.
• 1963:   1st   Calum Laing;   8th  Allan Faulds;   10th  Brian Scobie;    14th  Tor Denstad;   15th  Cameron Shepherd;   17th  Ray Baillie.   Points total of 65 put them second behind Edinburgh’s 53 with St Andrews on 96 and Aberdeen on 103.
• 1964:   2nd   Calum Laing;   5th Allan Faulds;   6th    Brian Scobie;    11th    Terry Kerwin;  12th  Cameron Shepherd;   13th  Jim Bogan.   The total of 49 points gave them a comfortable victory over Edinburgh (71) with Aberdeen third (83), St Andrews 4th (110) and the Royal College of Science and Technology (later to become Strathclyde University) fifth with 189 points.

That it was a very good team, there is no doubt.    Times and marks for some of those not covered so far include:   Dick Hodelet (only ranked times for 1963 and 1964 are included since he was back with Greenock Glenpark Harriers by 1995) – 880 in 1963 of 1:54.2; in 1962 he had times of 10.2 (100 yards, ranked 16th), 49.9 (440 yards, 10th) and 1:52.6 (880 yards, 2nd);    Brian Scobie  1964, 880 yards in 1:55.6; 1965, 880 yards in 1:54.5.   Ray Baillie 1961, 1 Mile in 4:26; ’62, 1 Mile in 4:17, 1963, Three Miles in 14:41;   JB Gray  1959, Three Miles in 14:45.

EUH&H  in 1965: Gareth Evans, Fergus Murray, Frank Gamwell, Chris Elson, Roger Young, Ian Young, Alistair Matson and Chris Elson

First let’s get the terminology right: in Glasgow the students cross-country team is called the Hares and Hounds, in Edinburgh they only have one hare – so it’s Hare and Hounds.   Both answer however to the name of The Haries!    The following series of profiles was written by Colin Youngson who knew them all well when he was teaching and living in Edinburgh and his admiration for the team is boundless.   

Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds nurtured so many fine athletes, many of whom have been profiled here under ‘Marathon Stars’ or ‘Elite Athletes’ or ‘The Chasers’.   Consider this impressive list: Martin Craven, Donald Macgregor, Fergus Murray, Alex and Jim Wight, Alistair Blamire, Gareth Bryan-Jones, Andy McKean, Jim Dingwall and Phil Mowbray.   But what about the supporting cast: very good runners who contributed to great success in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay or the Scottish National Cross-Country Championships?   EU H&H were usually the best long distance running team in Scotland from 1965 to 1968.   They won the E-G from 1965 to 1967 and the National Senior from 1966 to 1968.   The potential was clear in 1963 when they won the Scottish Junior cross-country title with a team including Chris Elson and Roger Young.   Frank Gamwell was part of the outfit which won again in 1964; and the students made it a hat-trick when Roger Young took part again, along with Ian Young.   Willie Allan was one of the 1965 E to G record breakers; and Ian Hathorn was in the 1966 E to G triumph.    These seven athletes will be profiled briefly.

Roger Young  won two Scottish Junior Cross-Country team golds, and in 1965 finished second individual, defeated only by the immensely talented Ian McCafferty.   In the E-G he was in the team which finished second in 1964, and was second fastest on Stage Eight in 1965 when EU won and broke the course record.   Roger achieved eighth place (second team counter behind Fergus Murray) in the 1966 National.  On the track he ran 14:20.6 for three miles.

Chris Elson   won a Scottish Junior Cross-Country gold in 1963, finishing seventh individual.   In the Senior National he obtained team bronze in 1965 and gold in 1967.   In the E-G Chris won silver in 1964, when he was second fastest on Stage Five.   When EU triumphed in 1965, he was the second fastest again this time on Stage Four, behind only Andy Brown’s fantastic stage record.   Then in both 1966 and 1967, Chris was fastest on Stage Eight in the winning team.   He broke the stage record in 1966.   On the track, he seems to have concentrated on the mile with a best time of 4:10.9.

Frank Gamwell   was thirteenth in the 1964 Scottish Junior Cross-Country when his team won the title.   In 1966 he was one of the victorious Edinburgh University runners in the Senior National.   Previously he won silver in the 1964 E-G and then gold in 1965 when he was fastest on Stage Five.   As a summer athlete, Frank ran nearly everything:   one mile (4:19), two (9:13.4), three (14:17.8) and six miles 29:33.0), steeplechase (9:35.4) and eventually the marathon (2:35:14).

Ian Young   also ran for Springburn Harriers.   He was a counter for Scotland in the ICCU Junior Championships in both 1964, when he finished twenty second, and in 1965, when he was seventeenth.   In the 1965 Scottish Junior he had achieved sixth place.   As a Senior he was fifteenth in 1967 when EU won team gold.   In the E-G Ian was fastest on Stage Eight when EU won the silver in 1964.   Then in 1966, winning team gold, he was second fastest on Stage Five, only one second slower than Alastair Johnston’s record (for Victoria Park)    Ian’s team won again in 1967, when once more he was second-fastest on Stage Five, one second slower than Aberdeen’s Steve Taylor.   In 1968, although EU could manage only seventh, Ian was easily fastest on Stage  Five when he broke the record.   As a track athlete, Ian Young had many fierce battles with Alistair Blamire over three miles.   Ian’s best time was 14:01.6 and he won a silver medal in the 1967 AAA Championships.

Willie Allan   won Senior National team golds in 1967, with EU, and in 1969 with Edinburgh Southern Harriers.   He ran Stage Three in the famous 1965 record-breaking Edinburgh University E-G team.   For several seasons Willie was a good steeplechaser with a best of 9:13.   Nowadays, relatively speaking, he is running better than ever, winning British cross-country and road titles in the over-60 age-groups.

Ian Hathorn’s finishing sprint for nineteenth place proved vital in the Senior National in 1968.   He ended up one place in front Aberdeen’s Joe Clare and EU won the team title by a single point.   Ian could cover 880 yards in 1:54 while Joe was a 2:18 marathon runner.   In the E-G, Ian’s best run was in the EU team that won in 1966 when he broke the record on Stage Three.       He also won gold in 1967.

After University, many Edinburgh University graduates joined either ESH (Craven, Macgregor, Murray, Blamire, Bryan-Jones) or EAC (Alex and Jim Wight, McKean, Dingwall).   But who were among the most prominent team mates for these stars and others such as Southern’s Allister Hutton and John Robson and EAC’s Jim Alder, Adrian Weatherhead, Doug Gunstone, Jim Dingwall, Sandy Keith and Lindsay Robertson?

Scottish Universities Championships,  Elspeth Turner 1984

Pictures from Graham MacIndoe’s Galleries.

The Scottish Universities Championships have produced some exciting races and close victories in both team and individual races over the years and many of the very finest athletes the country has produced have graced the competitions.   It is strange therefore that there is no comprehensive list of results for former students, or simply students of athletics available for consultation.    In an effort to address this, Colin Youngson has done some research and with help from Fraser Clyne, Alex Wilson, George Brown and Kenny Ballantyne has come up with the following tables.  There are several gaps, particularly in the women’s list, and any information helping us to complete them would be welcome.   Men first and then the women, whose championship only started in 1975.

 Scottish University Championships 1984

Complete results from the Universities Championship in 1971 are available   here  : thanks to Alex Jackson for passing them on.

Women’s Championship : 1975 to 2011

The following results were received from Faser Clyne, to whom many thanks.Results for 2013

Men:   David Vernon (Aberdeen), Grant Sheldon (Stirling), Tom Martin (Edinburgh)   Venue:   Aberdeen

Women:   Laureen Quee (Glasgow), Katie Bristow (Strath), Mhairi McLennan (Edin)

2014:

Men:   Lachlan Oates (Glasgow), Michael Ferguson (Aberdeen), Ryan Thomson (Strath)    Venue: Dundee

Women:   Louise Mercer (Edin), Mhairi McLennan (Edin), Stephie Pennycook (Edin)

2015:

Men:   Scott Stirling (Edin), Dale Colley (CoG College), Andrew Lawler (Edin)                        Venue:   Stirling

Women:   Steph Pennycook (Edin), Angela Richardson (St Andrews), Fanni Gyurko (Glasgow)

Edinburgh won the women’s team race in each of these years, in the men’s race Edinburgh won in 2013 and 2015 with Glasgow winning in 2014.

From John Myatt:

Early in 2013 while surfing the web I stumbled across the Scottish Distance Running History website and was amazed to find such an Aladdin’s cave of people I had known during my time at Strathclyde from 1966 to 1970.   I was further surprised and humbled to find that my contemporaries Innis Mitchell, Colin Youngson and Alastair Johnston , had submitted my profile as a member of ” the fast pack” along with Brian McAusland who trawled through the records to recall things I had forgotten or never realised .   Since then I provided some details and grainy photographs to support the narrative of my peers.   Brian subsequently invited me to provide some recollections of my time at Strathclyde for the universities section of the history; so here goes with apologies for the selective and vague recollections of those days of nearly 50 years ago.   There is no need to dwell on results in detail as these are given elsewhere and I concentrate on impressions and recollections of an Englishman abroad in the late 1960’s.

Despite there being no running tradition in the family I wanted from an early age to do running in preference to the other sports available.   Like so many I was inspired by a mix of the feats of Alf Tupper in the “Rover” and the Amazing Wilson in the “Wizard” comics respectively and by the real life achievements of Bannister in the four minute mile and Chataway’s duel with Kuts at the White City in 1954   .At school running was a long way behind rugby and cricket , the only gesture being an annual school run.  In spite of this Cinderella status my secondary school, Sir William Turners Grammar of Redcar, developed a fine cross country tradition in the early 1960’s, winning the North Eastern inter Grammar Schools title in the years 1961 to 65.  There were regular senior fixtures against other schools and races at town, area and county level leading to the English Schools championships.  It was not until age 17 , as a first year youth, that I joined a club, Middlesbrough and Cleveland Harriers, which gave access to inter-club events in parallel with the schools system.

The choice of Strathclyde University was driven by the course in Business Administration at a respectable distance from home rather than the prospect of joining a strong running team; had that been the case I would have taken up the offer from Leeds University which was then very strong in cross country.  It would , in any case , have been difficult to identify Strathclyde’s strengths, except by their absence, from Willie Diverty’s column on Scottish Athletics in “Athletics Weekly” and I was only vaguely aware that Edinburgh were quite good but soon came to realise just how good they were.

So I trod the well-worn path to the Freshers’ Fair in September 1966 and signed on with SUAC. Many years later I learned from George McIvor that no one could believe that a 4.22 miler had signed on as this was beyond the comprehension of the Strathclyde runners of the time.  The fact that I was nursing a knee injury and not particularly fit may have encouraged the sceptics although Bobby, “Rocker” as he became known, Thompson did vouch for me, having come up against me in the 1965 National Association of Boy’s Club Championships.  A search of “Athletics Weekly” would have shown me finishing 25th in the English National Youth’s Championships behind Martin McMahon (14)and Norman Morrison  (16) who led Shettleston to third team place in 1966 at Sheffield.

Prior to going to Strahclyde my exposure to Scotland was limited to a primary school day trip to Edinburgh in 1958 and short walking holidays in the Trossachs and Wester Ross which involved changing trains in Glasgow.  Apart from that I had been fed the tartan version of Scotland: White Heather Club, pipe bands ,shortbread and all but was aware that there was more to it than that and looked forward to learning more about what was, even then, a different country rather than one of a set of regions with their own identity such as the South, North and Midlands of England.  I do recall being struck by the civic and urban architecture of Glasgow having more in common with continental cities than with Leeds, Manchester or Newcastle.   Language was different too and this went beyond a question of accent  and I soon learned that a ” trail” was a cross-country course; “stripping ” meant changing accommodation which was, on occasion ” in the back of a dyke” ( here we avoid the temptation to join the Monty Python team in their four Yorkshiremen of the Apocalypse sketch).  Post-race refreshment was usually “heavy” rather than bitter beer or Newcastle Brown Ale, while the officials favoured whisky despite the blandishments of Ba Bru who held neon sway above the Central Station in those days. It did not take long to adjust to the Scottish licensing laws with their 5.00pm opening hours timed to coincide with lectures ending ; this was offset by the 10.00PM closing time , rigorously enforced , and offset by the “carry out”, another novelty as far as I was concerned.  After a few months I was able to appreciate Stanley Baxter’s ” Parliamo Glasgow” and could even discern some of the regional variations in accent.

 John Myatt, Willie Diverty and Gareth Bryan-Jones

By 1966 the athletic club at Strathclyde had a cross country and an athletics section and ,like the University itself,  they were in their infancy and were derived from the Royal College of Science and Technology   .Joe Walker was the founding father aided by such as Alex Johnston and the Toms: McGrenary and Gallagher, all of whom were established club runners.  They passed the baton to Dave Condie, Bobby Lochhead,  Roger Sandilands,  George McIvor and Ronnie Morrison by the time I showed up.  The older universities had well established clubs and traditions with Hares and Hounds in the Oxbridge manner rather than cross country sections and were an established force in the running world.  Edinburgh at this time were pre-eminent in cross country and road running events at every level in Scotland.  Strathclyde, as a newcomer to university athletics, was developing its own traditions from scratch.  Walter Eadie had set the standard in representing Scotland in the Junior International in 1965 while the founding fathers had developed an active social life to complement the running.  The club maintained a fairly serious running stream and an active social stream which met in the bar after races to analyse performance and to plot the downfall of adversaries.  There was some crossover between these two streams.  Away matches usually involved adjourning to a bar, normally after the race, for a review of results before bursting into song, accompanied more or less, by guitarists Ronnie Morrison and Donald McPhail. The repertoire was mainly traditional and modern folk including Sunday School songs from McPhail’s childhood; like Gordon Brown he was a son of the manse but there the similarity diverged.   Sessions usually culminated with ” The Song of Strathclyde” especially if the team from the other place was present.  A modified version of this song was recorded by Kenneth McKellar and rumour had it that the Beach Boys ripped off our version of “Sloop John B” ;perhaps it was the other way round, old men forget after all.  Just for the record no bawdy songs featured in the repertoire, this being left to the plumbers in the Union beer bar.

 Also new to me was the first claim issue whereby rather than running “first claim” for the university student members of other clubs could opt to represent their original club in open competition and to run for the university in inter-varsity matches only.  Many established athletes, especially those from the Glasgow, area were reluctant to represent the university on a first claim basis given an understandable loyalty to their original club.  This conflict of interest meant that the university was denied the services of many strong athletes in such events as the Edinburgh to Glasgow and National championships. Alastair Johnston is a case in point and he managed the conflict judiciously by giving priority to Victoria Park but turning out for Strathclyde in many inter-varsity races including the BUSF and the Hyde Park relay.  Albert Smith was a somewhat similar case.  Those from further afield tended to opt for the university on a first claim basis eg Innis Mitchell who was already established with Aberdeen AAC and Mike Hall of Teviotdale.  English athletes also opted for the university eg Robin Robson and John Huxtable who became part of the “engine room” of the first team along with other Scots such as Bobby Blair, Andy Pryde and Ron Paton who all blossomed, so to speak, in the hothouse of the late 1960’s.It is worth noting that Innis Mitchell and Bobby Blair both joined Victoria Park once they left university where they continued to give good service; other valued exiles from Aberdeen included Kenny Laing and Dave MacFarquhar.  The first claim issue did not arise for me as my parents moved abroad in my first year , a case of home leaving me after I left home so to speak.  I left Middlesbrough and Cleveland in 1966 and ran exclusively for Strathclyde in Scotland and in races such as the English National.

I must have been a bit overwhelmed on arriving in Glasgow and coming to terms with university life and finding accommodation quite apart from getting involved in running.  There were very few English students in those days, single figures in my own year and heavily outnumbered by Norwegians  .This was not an issue for me as one was made welcome by all within the various new groups to which I was exposed.  Looking back at the training diary there is a gap from September to December and the detailed record restarts in January 1967.During the first term I was nursing an injury which kept me out of the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay in which Strathclyde finished a sorry last; not that I would have made any difference to the result which was seen by some as a highly risky ploy to win the most improved team award in the following year.  Some training was done and I had a decent début in the Midland District relays followed by the SUSB team trial and race against the SCCU ( best forgotten). There was also a second place to Adrian Weatherhead in a downpour on the HW course and a win in a three way match at Dundee in which I outsprinted Allan Faulds.

 It took some time to adapt to training from the John Street and Taylor street gym in the city centre but I eventually worked out some fartlek sessions on the golf course in Alexandra park and longer runs out to Hogganfield Loch  .The John street gym was inhabited by the ” Heavy Gang” of Edmunds, Bryce, McPherson, Muir and McCue who came into their own in the athletics season after perfecting their grunting and strutting about the weights in John Street most lunchtimes.

Things settled down in January1967 with regular training and a heavy racing programme including SUSB, BUSF and Midland District Championships.   In the BUSF Edinburgh won the team race and the Scottish Universities beat the UAU.   I recall Ian Young gave me a word of encouragement as he passed me at the start of the second lap at Parliament Hill Fields.  In the Scottish junior championship I managed third place behind Eddie Knox and Alistair Blamire and was honoured to be selected for the Scottish team in the junior International at Barry in South Wales.   The International was the nearest thing to a World Championship and I was proud to make the Scottish team, something which had not featured in my thinking when I went to Strathclyde.

Prior to this selection the biggest races I had taken part in were the English and Scottish National Championships and despite the occasion, I found the International a bit of an anti-climax.  This is not to decry the class of the athletes present from the home countries and continental Europe but Barry Island in late March was scarcely a destination town and the whole event seemed a bit low-key.  The best runners in Europe heavily outnumbered the few spectators who turned out to watch the events on some flat and uninspiring school playing fields.  It was not a low-key event for Eddie Knox who won the junior race at the third go, beating fancied runners from England, Belgium and Italy in the process.  My own 19th place was disappointing although we did manage third team.  The senior race was a great contest won by Gaston Roelants, reigning Olympic steeplechase champion with Lachie Stewart 4th ahead of Dick Taylor, Ron Hill, Alan Rushmer and many other fancied runners. In the aftermath of the race some of the younger Scottish team rather overdid it on the refreshment in what turned out to be a bit of an an exhibition event.   The precise details of that evening escape me ,although Alistair Blamire  who was present much of the time, still maintains that I led him astray, unlikely as this may seem.

Fast forward to the 1967-68 season  where the highlight was, without a doubt, the Irish tour which became the stuff of myth and legend within the Cross Country Team.   Queens Belfast had a fine tradition of making a mainland tour every two years and some Scottish Universities would return the compliment with fixtures in Belfast and Dublin.  So it was that, on a dark and damp evening of 3 November 1967 , in a scene worthy of Joseph Conrad ,our motley crew made their way on foot along the Broomielaw to embark on the Burns and Laird overnight ferry to Belfast with strong first and second teams including some seasoned drinkers with “Fat Ronnie” Morrison( no irony intended) and Donald McPhail providing musical accompaniment.

We travelled steerage class which provided sleeping accommodation on the wood floor in the bowels of the ship, no mattresses of course but a thin blanket was available. McPhail had an outbreak of Long John Silver impressions in which he outdid Robert Newton and continued by setting up a card school which included the youngest member of the club, Ian Picken.   Ian had just left school at age 17 and, little versed in the ways of the world, had already been christened “The Boy”.   The tale of the Boy on the Irish Tour grew in the telling and is encapsulated in the following recent email exchange between George McIvor and Ronnie Morrison.   George reminds Ronnie how

“ On the 67 Irish Tour – you and McPhail taking all of Ian Picken’s money before the boat left the Broomielaw must be put on record.   He had just turned 17 and had just arrived at University very fit and all shiny, clean and bright eyed from his mammy.   He was immediately keen to join the big boys card school (poker). You shameless bastards had taken all his money within about three minutes and he was immediately put into the tender care of Rocker, ” Miss Helena she pay” Thompson and thereafter became his “Boy”. His athletic s career then seemed to go a bit downhill.   I recall in the Union at Trinity College after the race” Boy, get 17 pints of Guinness”.   As I recall it the results book noted that The Boy was sick against a tree before the start of the race in Phoenix Park. These things could happen when you fall under the influence of big boys like McPhail and Morrison. 

As the boat docked in Glasgow a rather dishevelled Boy approached me and sheepishly said ” Mr McIvor, can you lend me a shilling for my bus fare back to Kirkie?”   God knows what his mammy thought when he got home.

In the Queens Union in Belfast you and McPhail thought that Sean South should be balanced by a rendition of the Sash, but it wasn’t to be!I do’nt think that we recognised that the Troubles were just around the corner.

Any more detail you can get out of the great archive in the sky would be good.”

Ronnie’s riposte:

 “You have been developing this line of events in your mind for years, embellishing it with crap to make it sound more interesting with you as the hero.

I do not remember any poker game but do remember the Boy drinking all the time.  Where did he get the money for that? I also remember passing out on deck as we passed Ailsa Craig.   I also think it was Rocker that was sick.   I recall stepping over him and a Donore harrier saying ” Oh my God”  “

The account by McIvor fits my own recollection, bearing in mind that I abstained from drink and cards until after the race in Belfast.   The weekend was a great success in that we won both matches and provided the individual winner in each case. I took advantage of the muddy course at Queens with Alastair Johnson in second place. The positions were reversed at Trinity where the flat, dry course in Phoenix Park suited him better and he had the faster aggregate time over the two races.   As for the Boy I was told by Rocker Thompson that he was thrown of the bus at Lenzie on his return being short of thrupence to pay for the full journey to Kirkie.  According to the record book, which sadly disappeared in the 1980’s, it was Rocker who was sick over a tree before the start of the race in Phoenix park.

Despite, or because of, the trauma of the Irish Tour the Boy became a regular first team runner, winning the Scottish Youths title in 1968 and representing Scotland in the Junior International in 1969 but sadly seemed to fade out of athletics after he left university.

 A final tale concerns the Rowlands and Winpenny Trophy at Durham in 1968 when the Boy allowed himself to be set up against Edinburgh’s Judy Dry to down a pint in one.   The smart money was on Judy , a hockey player and hurdler who had lots of match practice at downing pints and she duly trounced the Boy in a fair competition.   After the match he admitted to me that he had some doubts about his ability to down a pint in one and as part of his warm up had nipped into an adjacent bar in Dunelm House where he successfully downed a pint in one; without any suggestion of sour grapes he ruefully concluded that this may have adversely affected his own performance.

 A final note on the Irish Tour concerns the minute of a meeting of Glasgow University Hares and Hounds in 1968 when the possibility of joining Strathclyde was mooted.Willie Diverty counselled against taking part as he felt that

“ Strathclyde has a disreputable element and the tour might disintegrate into a brawl” 

The meeting strongly disagreed with this analysis.  I lighted on this minute in 2013 when surfing the web and was amused as no one at Strathclyde was aware of this opinion at the time.   Had we known it would inevitably have led to an annual award of the Diverty Cup for disreputable behaviour for which there would have been very strong competition .   There are thoughts among the Old Crocks of setting up such a competition on a retrospective basis ; sadly Donald McPhail is no longer in a position to collect his posthumous award.

The 1968-69 season was notable for, among other things, my selection along with Adrian Weatherhead and Ian McCafferty to represent Scotland in the San Sebastian International Cross Country in January 1969.  This was, and remains, one of the biggest Continental races and it was a case of innocents abroad for Adrian and me when we found that the field included many finalists from the Mexico Olympics 10,000 metres.  To make matters worse the course was uncharacteristically dry and the weather was warm and sunny.  As a result we had difficulty keeping up with the leaders and even Ian McCafferty opted out of the clogging match up front, finishing comfortably in 12th place with a time of 31.43.Adrian was 31st in 33.23 and I finished 28th in 33.12; we both had the privilege of being taken by Bill Adcocks , 25th in 33.02, in the final 400 metres.   The race result was : Mike Tagg 30.49, Mariano Haro 30.54 Tim Johnston 30.57; other notable athletes : Mamo Wolde 7th in 31.33,Mohammed Gammoudi 8 th in 31.35.   It was a great experience to take part in such a race, the first of many in Scottish senior colours.   On arriving back home we were met by Ewan Murray who needed a replacement for a race in Tunis the following week. Ian McCafferty being unavailable the honour went to me even though this meant missing the BUSF on the same day.   The San Sebastian experience was good preparation for racing on the sandy Tunis racecourse along with Gareth Bryan Jones and Jim Wright ( Tipton and EAC) in Le Cross des Capitales.  We were billed as representing Glasgow according to the official programme, something which suited team manager Willie Diverty.  This turned out to be a fast race on a hard surface with a few hurdles for Gareth’s benefit.   The race was won by Alan Blinston  23.18 from local hero Mohammed Gammoudi 23.22 and Roy Fowler was 4th in 23.25. The Scottish team was third : Jim 5 th  23.32, Gareth 8th 23.54 ,yours truly 9th in 23.57.

 Scottish Universities Championships at Strathclydech saw us winning the Midland District and Scottish Universities Championships in 1970.   During this period we competed in the Hyde Park Relays, taking third place in 1969 and even fielded a team in the English National at Blackpool in 1970.   This was notable for Murray McNaught’s famous start which put him in the leading bunch after 400 yards, as shown on the cover of Athletics Weekly.   In the same year we also took part in the Ingleton Fell race organised by Lancaster University.  Apart from the fun of the race the hard part was getting back to Glasgow on the Sunday as no trains stopped at Lancaster  and we had to thumb a lift to Carlisle to get a return train.   A small group got a lift in a mini Moke, a 60’s fun car with a soft top.   We encountered a heavy downpour and high winds going over Shap Fell which gave Innis Mitchell, who was in the back seat,  a monumental soaking which he never forgot.  No account is complete without reference to the BUSF cross country championship in Sheffield in 1970 when the cream of the Scottish Universities had a run in with the Sheffield constabulary; shades of Bertie Wooster after the boat race which Dave Logue probably recalls better than I do.   And then there was the time , following the E to G relay when we adjourned to the bar with Dick Wedlock….but you can imagine the rest of this tale.

 These idiosyncratic recollections may ring a bell with some who were around at the time and were also privileged to take part in university athletics in the late 1960’s. I had a lots of fun  training , racing and socialising fellow athletes from many scottish clubs. It was particularly gratifying to be part of the development of Strathclyde as a club which could compete on equal terms with the other Universities.  Even allowing for the nostalgia effect and the possibility that subsequent generations are a mere shadow of ones own ,it does seem that without noticing at the time we may have lived through a “golden age” of Scottish athletics in which the Universities played an important part.  No use bemoaning subsequent changes, the world moves on and one remains glad to have played a small part in that era.

From Johnny McCall:

Johnny ‘Buster’ McCall (70)

I started Medical School at Glasgow University in 1960.   I had been running for about two years with the Clydesdale Harriers prior to that.   I had no talent, but I did manage to win the club Junior Championship in Clydebank, however there may only have been about six competitors.   At that time the running heroes were Emil Zatopek, Gordon Pirie, Chris Chataway and a newcomer, Herb Elliott.   The training “mantra” was “long, slow distance”.  This was the Percy Cerutty/Arthur Lydiard era.   This was the approach to becoming a distance runner.

The first person I met at Glasgow University who was a “runner” was Douglas Gifford.   I met him in the changing room of the old gymnasium across from the Botany Department at Glasgow University.   I think this may have been within the first few days of me enrolling at the University,   Douglas, or “Dougie”, was getting ready to go out for a run.   I introduced myself and we went out for a training “spin”.   He, of course, at that time was already well known in cross country running in Scotland, was in the top echelons of University cross-country running and he had also made his mark at National level.   Douglas was studying English and he was the first person I had ever met who had read “The Lord of the Rings”.

I joined the University Hares & Hounds at Douglas’s encouragement and quickly became friends with another mentor, Jim Bogan.   Jim was also a notable cross-country runner at both University and National levels.   Both he and Douglas were seen to be two athletes who would go on to achieve “great things.”   A really “class runner” at that time in Glasgow was Calum Laing.   Calum was a “Son of the Manse’, his father being a minister in Alness, which is in the “Black Isle” in Sutherland.   Calum had a barrel chest and quite long legs for a short torso, but he was able to beat all of the best University cross-country runners in Scotland on a weekly basis.   He was a very powerful runner and I certainly was in great awe of him.   Calum was studying agriculture, but I think at that time he was much more interested in running.   He was a humorous guy and a real “teuchter” with a wild sense of humour and much interested in the opposite sex as we all were.

The team was managed by Bill Diverty, a bald headed guy who always wore a long trench coat.   I never really figured out where he came from and what his qualifications were, but he seemed to be a force at least at the University level in terms of his administration and organising meets and getting us from place to place without losing people.   We never had a coach and all tended to train on our own or in the company of one or two others.   I mostly trained on my own and it was my habit to go to the gym every day about lunch time and run for about one hour and then spend another hour in the gym.   I was quite often out for a run again at night.   At one point I was running about 100 miles per week.   I did not participate a great deal in track, although I would go out in the 3000 metre steeplechase along with Jim Bogan who was coaching at the national level in that event.

Cross Country running with the Hares & Hounds was mostly a social event.   We had a helluva lot of fun and we did a lot of drinking.   We were frequently found in the Arlington Bar in Byres Road on a Friday night along with the football guys, and then we would all disperse to the various dances at the Men’s Union, the Women’s Union, the Art School, the Maryland Jazz Club and other great places.   On Sundays I would usually surface around noon and quite often go out for a long run.  On occasion we would head up to Fort William and stay in caravans there, climb Ben Nevis and go for long runs across the moors.   In addition to cross-country running, I participated in road races such as the Nigel Barge, and of course the wonderful Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay.   I ran in that I think twice for the University Hares & Hounds, and at least once, or perhaps twice with the Clydesdale Harriers.   This was a highly competitive event and certainly was of a very high standard.

The people that I particularly remember at University would include Gifford, Bogan and Calum Laing, as well as Dick Hartley, Cameron Shepherd, Allan Faulds, Barclay Kennedy, Ray Baillie, Brian Scobie, Mick Rogers, Tor Denstad, Roger Clarke and many others I would have to dig deep into my brain to remember.   There were also some very good track athletes at Glasgow University during that period, these included Ming Campbell, Douglas Edmunds  and Dick Hodelet, who was also a classy road runner.   I quite often trained at Westerlands which was the University track at Anniesland at that time.   I would usually go there at lunchtime and would train with the likes of Lachie Stewart, whom I had run against with Clydesdale Harriers when I was a Junior, as well as Graham Everett, Gordon Pirie and Derek Ibbotson.

The highlight of the cross-country season were the trips we made to the other university campuses.   The one we used to enjoy the most was when we went to Ireland.   We would fly to Belfast to run against Queen’s University on a Saturday and then make our way down to Dublin on Sunday, usually very hungover, to run against Trinity College on the Monday, through Phoenix Park and along the “Banks of the Ould Canal”.   The Monday race was usually run in a very hungover state and even in the Sixties it was possible to find a howf in Dublin or in the countryside outside of Dublin and we were eager explorers in that regard.   There was usually a visit to the Guinness Brewery after the race and then a giant “piss-up” at Trinity College.   We would be loaded at Trinity College into rooms that had no running water and no heat.   The students at Trinity were usually “Anglo-Irish”.   These were Irish Aristocracy. with close affinity to England and they were there only   because they were not usually able to get in to Oxford or Cambridge.   However they were an eccentric and entertaining crew and always had large slabs of their mother’s fruit cake for us to eat as well as barrels of excellent “claret”.   I remember spending time with the Shillingtons and one of them, I think Colin, was a very good miler and I think ran closeto four minutes for the mile during that period.

The other trip we used to enjoy was the one we made to Aberdeen in January.   We usually stayed at the Men’s Hostel down by the Docks which we shared with the local vagrants.   We would sleep in  these large rooms with multiple small beds, however the “fry up” in the morning was worth the price of admission.   Some of us would “take the plunge” into the icy harbour waters on the Sunday morning.   We would not normally get in to the Hostel until quite late at night and often about one or tow o’clock in the morning after we had finished seeking out the Aberdeen girls at the “Union Dance”.   Our arch rival, of course, at that time was Edinburgh University and Fergus Murray and Calum Laing frequently “battled to the wire” and certainly in the early Sixties, Calum was usually the victor.   Edinburgh University eventually had a much stronger team and towards the end of my period with the Hares & Hounds, Glasgow was no longer a “strong force”.

I gave up cross-country running at Glasgow University when I started working in the hospital in Glasgow as a Resident.   Residency training at that time took up twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.   I did continue to run, but did not compete.   I moved to Canada in 1969.   I continued to run and competed in several marathons, including the Boston Marathon, which I ran in 2:32.   Eventually I gave up running for “climbing” and for the next twenty years of my life I climbed all over the world, usually with a guide.   When I was 50 I climbed the Old Man of Hoy and I was also able to tackle the North Face of the Eiger in winter with an American guide, Charlie Fowler.   I climbed in China, Tibet, Nepal, all over the USA, Baffin Island and Antarctica.   Most recently I have taken up sailing and I have taken three trips to Antactica in a sixty foot sail boat; I have also sailed frequently around the West Coast  of Scotland as well as in Hawaii and in Georgian Bay, Ontario, where I now live.

Although I never attained the heights of Olympic competition, as did Fergus Murray and Donald Macgregor, nor have I had the athletic triumph that Lachie Stewart had when he won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970, beating the world’s best distance runners at that time and running the third fastest 10000m of all time, I was lucky enough to be selected on four occasions to be a Team Physician at Olympic Games.   The first time being in Montreal Canada in 1976, and I was Team Physician for Speed Skating Canada for ten years, attending Olympic Games in Albertville, Lillehammer and Nagano.   I did have the good thrill of being present when my athletes won Olympic medals including several gold medals as well as many World Championships.

I have been an Orthopaedic Surgeon for over forty years in Canada but I have never forgotten the great pleasure I had when I ran across the hills and fields of Scotland in my black vest with the yellow piping as a proud member of the Glasgow University Hares & Hounds as well as an equally proud member of the Clydesdale Harriers.

I noticed that Colin Youngson’s recollection failed him with regard to races at the new Heriot-Watt University in the late 1960s. Hardly surprising – the “Watt” was an upgraded college, both smaller and less prestigious than Glasgow’s RCST / Strathclyde, but belonging to the same cohort of 1960s promotions of technical colleges to increase the number of UK universities. The “head office” was in Chambers Street; otherwise the new Uni was housed in a number of redundant former school and other buildings in central Edinburgh. In the early 70s came the Riccarton campus, at first nicknamed “Colditz” for its lack of totty…but I digress.

To the best of my knowledge, the new Heriot-Watt Uni XC club was a one-man band, in the shape of no less than Adrian Weatherhead – who will reappear in this tale. Their pre-Riccarton sports ground was at Patie’s Road, almost opposite the Redford Barracks, and Adrian had devised a race route in the nearby Pentlands which was a precursor of some of the hill race routes of today. I can only recall one inter-Varsity race on the course, which Adrian (I suppose) had devised – and led.

Fast forward a decade into the mid-Seventies, and my years of running (with dubious elegibility) for the H-WU XC club. I had been appointed a lecturer in Structural engineering at the School of Architecture at the Edinburgh College of Art, which School awarded “external” H-W. U. B.Arch. Degrees. Although I had been competing with Edinburgh AC, I fancied a return to the student lifestyle, at least in the matter of cross-country running, so joined up without any questions asked.

(I reckon they must have been desperate to make up numbers in a young club?). Anyway, there was a jolly core of about half-a dozen regulars: Gordon Bell, me, Doogie MacDonald, Graham McIndoe, and our star Ian Orton, ex-EUH&H, who was on a postgraduate course at the Heriot-Watt. By now Riccarton was an established campus, but several of us still toiled in central Edinburgh. We decided to set up lunch-time runs from a modest changing facility in a building owned by Heriot-Watt Uni in a courtyard off the Grassmarket. It was there that we encountered an irate Adrian Weatherhead, ten years older, but still churning out a daily schedule of laps round the Meadows.

(I might comment on the extreme disparity of styles of two of the top runners of the period, both of whom favoured the Meadows: Ally Blamire with his flat-footed pit-a-pat, and Weatherhead, who always seemed to run on tiptoe, as if dodging broken glass). Anyway, the latter was far from chuffed to have our jolly company, and was somewhat proprietorial about “his” changing facilities.

Three events stand out in my memory of the H-W years – and they were good years. Above everything else was one of the first Easter running festivals on the Isle of Man, dreamt up to increase tourism. I think our visit there was in 1980, and I took our team of four in my wee A40 car down to Liverpool  for the ferry to Douglas. There followed three days of running and boozing; the festival had attracted a number of Scottish club and Uni teams, notably the new Edinburgh old boys club, now the legendary “Boggies”, aka HBT – Hunter’s Bog Trotters. We found ourselves in a substantial guest-house on the prom in Douglas with about a dozen or so Edinburgh Uni runners, present and past, with one brave token lady – Violet Blair – in their midst. At some point on the first evening, the lustful posse decided on a game of strip poker, but since Violet was the only wumman this was going nowhere fast. Around midnight, some ten frustrated runners decided on a beach streak. Our Maltese host begged us to cool it, or he’d lose his license!

Next day came the first of three consecutive road races. I can’t recall exact details, except that one was a relay race, and that by the end of proceedings I was seriously knackered. Three tales merit  re-telling from the weekend – one was Willie Day of Falkirk setting out to eat a vindaloo curry, while claiming he’d never tried curry in his life. If you remember Willie, he had a baldy head, which turned purple as he ate…but he managed to finish his plateful. The second tale is of the Boat Race, a boozy challenge where a team of four sit with pints of beer round a table pitted against a rival team.

The challenge is: first man swallows his pint, and to prove it, inverts his empty pint glass over his head, whereat second man follows suit. This goes through rounds like any such tournament. The amazing winners were a team from Manchester, I think (Alehouse Academics) whose team completed their four pints in 13 seconds. The third recollection I’ll leave to your imagination: it involves two local lasses cowering in a phone-box and a “flash of inspiration” by a kilted Boggie.

On our return to Liverpool, the extent of my knackered-ness became evident. While I managed the 200+ miles’ drive back to Edinburgh, I could scarcely manage the four flights up to my flat! I had a swollen knee-cap which kept me out of racing for the best part of a year.

Second recollection is of the Scottish Universities’ XC championships in the early 80s(?) which Heriot-Watt Uni offered to host. We had fun working out – and marshaling – the race round the Riccarton estate. In those days, Riccarton had an ambitious director of sport, one Mike Fitchett (Fitchett by name, Fit Sh*t by nature) whose enthusiasm put the growing Uni on the sporting map.

Finally – and this led to the only pictures I have of my years’ running with Heriot-Watt – there were the Scottish Cross-Country Championships, held at the Jack Kane sports centre in Niddrie, on the tough ex-mining fringes of south-east Edinburgh. A fellow H-W Uni XC runner from the Art College, Graham McIndoe – who (as we know) has progressed to a successful career in photography – took a couple of shots of me in the course of the Senior race.

 Here’s a fine song I composed for the H-W U XC club, I think following our trip to the Isle of Man?  The tune is “Song of the Isles”, as sung by Kenneth McKellar  – and parodied by Billy Connolly:

 1. I was running round the Meadows in my grotty running kit

When somebody whistled by me like a shot

When I looked again, the fellow (who was wearing blue and yellow)

Must have been a runner from the Hairy Watt.

 Chorus

For we’ll rout them out at Riccarton, and we’ll smash them at Strathclyde

And at BUSF we will beat the bloody lot

So here’s a hearty bellow for the boys in blue and yellow

For we’re the runners from the Hairy Watt!

 There follows a sequence of ill-remembered and unrepeatable satirical verses about the exploits and weaknesses of various club characters (Gordon Bell, Doogie MacDonald, Ian Orton, me…)

Graeme Orr; Perth Relays, 1967

How I first joined the Hares and Hounds at Glasgow University as a fresher in 1965 is somewhat sketchy.   I think that even in pre-UCAS days the sports clubs would be on the look-out for young recruits and I think that either Ray Baillie (captain 1965-’66) or Marshall Prentice (Secretary) contacted me as 12th finisher in the Glasgow Schools’ Cross Country Championships.   I didn’t take much persuading and was soon pounding Great Western Road from the New Stevenson gym to Westerlands at lunchtime or doing shorter interval runs in Kelvingrove Park.

The Hares & Hounds, like the Men’s Union, was an all-male club.   There were about 20 of us in the club in those days: Ray and Marshall were the sensible face that the club  presented to recruits, but the club was more notable for its ‘good old boys’: Jim Bogan, Douglas Gifford, Barclay Kennedy and Calum Laing in particular.   The fellow-recruits from my year included Willie MacDonald (later to become captain), Ian Mcfarlane, Stuart Polwart, Alan Irvine, Alistair Reid, Alistair MacPhee, Alex Turnbull and Jim McHardy the following year.   We had a few recruits from other clubs (Dick Hodelet from Glenpark; Bill Bailey, a cyclist; Sandy MacNeil, a boxer; Andy Gillespie, a half miler)  a few remarkable Ulstermen (John Hickey and later Dave LOgue, ex-Edinburgh University), and of course the ever present club manager, Willie Diverty.

I recall the races, courses and personalities from my first year as vividly as if they were 30 days ago and not 30 years ago.   One early event, with a necessary conclusion in the Union Beer Bar, was a visit from Queen’s (Belfast) University team.   IO still remember the scorn shown by the Belfast boys for my Coke drink.   “Sure, that’ll do you more harm than the Guinness!”   They were right ….      I’ve switched now.   Those were the days before the Troubles, and I recall the Catholic in their team singing “And it’s on the twelfth I DO NOT wear … ”   We had a return trip to Belfast with some folk travelling on to Dublin.   The outward trip was by ferry from the Broomielaw, as I recall.   Three recollections stand out from the Irish trip:   the hospitality; Queen’s campus, which looked like a redbrick Gilmorehill; and the course which was a veritable peat bog.

You soon got to know the other Universities by the quality of their Union Beer Bar, their hospitality and, not least, the fiendishness of their cross-country course.   In each of these regards, Newcastle must stand out as near supreme.    First there was the drive down there and back by car – down via Peebles, and back by the old military road which follows Hadrian’s Wall in a switchback.   Then there was a Bacchanalian evening in the Union where a Geordie with a powerful voice regaled one and all with his rendition of the Lambton “Woam.”   We all picked up on the chorus:

“Hoosh lads, sheet your gob,

I’ll tell thee aal an awful story.

Hoosh lads, sheet your gob

I’ll tell theee ‘boot the woam.”

Oh, and the course, near Heddon-on-the-Wall, was a tough one, including a gluey ploughed field.

National, 1967

The other Scottish universities were a varied bunch.   Our old rivals, Edinburgh, had a wonderful hilly cross-country course which would be difficult to organise nowadays: up to the Braid Hills from KB along farm tracks, completed by a downhill dash which could be hazardous in snow!   In those days Edinburgh University H&H were an even more elite team than today: they had two Olympic athletes in Fergus Murray, the barefoot prodigy, and Gareth Bryan-Jones.   The rest of the team were no less industrious, including Alistair Blamire, the Wight twins, and later “Andy Machine” aka McKean.   Together they made up a formidable team in the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay – most memorably when Fergus MUrray ran 31 minutes and a few seconds for the 7 mile 6th leg.   This supremacy had its down side however; on one occasion, an inter Varsity race, the Edinburgh Hares & Hounds omitted to mark the course, reasoning that they would be leading the charge (correct), but expecting the rest to keep within sight (wrong).   Again they were perhaps less welcoming than other teams: or were we overawed?

The fixtures calendar had a different appearance in those days.   Many of the races were inter-varsity and there was no hill-running or marathon running for the ordinary club runner.   Orienteering began to appear through the Norwegian students studying in Scotland, and for a while that became a sort of “Upper House” for runners whop had abandoned competitive running.   Perhaps the high point of the calendar was the E to G relay.   In November 1967, in my year  as Club Secretary, I picked myself to run the long fourth leg.   I had the humiliating experience of losing two places, and recording the slowest time for that leg for the day.

Aberdeen was a good away fixture, with a lively night scene around Marischall College and the Union, and choruses of “The Northern Lights” vying with “I Belong To Glasgow” or “The Sweetest Of Songs Is The Song Of Strathclyde”.   Strathclyde was a very new (and slightly suspect: they were rumoured to accept you without Higher English!) University in the 60’s.   Their Union was like its denizens: no frills and not even a suggestion of a gentlemanly atmosphere.   The Glasgow ladrs referred disparagingly to “The Tech” while they called us “Strathkelvin” as a riposte.   Somehow I managed to keep in contact with Strathclyde runners rather longer than my old Glasgow team-mates.

The exceptions are worth mentioning.   Alistair MacPhee had been the butt of many a rude remark during his Hares & Hounds days on account of his ungainly running style, best described as a straddle-legged waddle.   Alistair had a girlfriend (later to become his wife) who used to come to our races long before the Hares & Hounds became mixed!   She was a homely sort, but she must have made a man of him.   Next time I came across Alistair he was running for Paisley Harriers and he could whip his waddling gait up to some speed.   I think he has some creditable marathon times to his credit.   The other reunion with a Glasgow team-mate happened 10 years ago in the 1985 Glasgow Marathon – the year it rained non-stop.   Around the mile mark, someone asked, “Is it Graeme Orr?”   I turned and there was Alex Turnbull, my old rival.   For the next 20 miles, we slugged it out, shoulder to shoulder, until I managed to pull away and in fact broke the three hour barrier.

No account of the Hares & Hounds would be complete without a mention of Willie Diverty, our constant companion and “manager”.   I insert the inverted commas because I never recall Willie discussing tactics or giving hints on training or style.   He was a cheerleader and administrator par excellence, however my mother still remembers the Saturday morning phone calls from Willie  “Is Graeme running?”

Some things have changed from those innocent days.   Gone are the communal baths, and the “party songs” in the Unions took on such an edge that they’ve been banned.   Songs, then and now, don’t have to be ribald or obscene to catch on.   The main criteria is that the air should be repetitive, have a chorus, possibly with accompanying gestures; be suited to be being sung at the top of one’s lungs, and perhaps refer wittily to the defects of one’s opponents or their womenfolk.   Happily the camaraderie and reek of liniment remain.   It’s still sport for amateurs, in spite of the ludicrous cost of running shoes.   Back in the 60’s, you bought a pair of Onitsuka “Tiger” canvas shoes for 10 bob, and they’d last you for a season.   If you wanted some style, you splashed out three quid for a pair of Ripples which skited all over the place in the mud.   Nike Air Shoes hadn’t been invented, vests were of cotton, as were track suits.   One item of sporting wear that I still cherish from that period is my Colours blazer, gained not for any particulart prowess over the country, but for regular appearances for the first team.   It has garish green and white braid and would not look out of place in the Parkhead boardroom.

Attitudes to women have changed, with the cross-country clubs having been mixed for so long that it’s hard to remember that it was not always so.   The transition, which began in the 70’s, was marked in the runners’ songs of the period, at first ribald, then overtly sexual, as the first pioneer women runners made their appearance.   The songs these days appear twee and politically correct; the ladies have tamed our tongues.   Our Hares & Hounds team pf ’65 – ’69 were a shybunch for themost part.   Ian Macfarlane was one notable exception:   “Hi darling! … Ah, ya puddin’!” as he’d shout from the car or bus on the way to races.   Dick Hodelet, a married, older student, brought a confident manner towards the opposite sex that we could only admire.   As for Jim Bogan, I think the man was born suave and sophisticated, with a laid back, worldly wise manner which impressed us younger runners.    I recall the shock which I felt in reading of his death in “Avenue”.

Before studying at Edinburgh, I had met two classy runners from St Andrews while with Dundee HH….Alistair Barrie and Allan Beattie but it was at Edinburgh, sharing digs with Chris Elson where my ideas were developed. Chris was a club-mate of Alan Simpson,  a noted sub-4  miler from Rotherham AC . So, training started in earnest.

The H&H stalwarts of the 60’s were the medics like Doug Dingwall, Mike Hartley, Alistair Mowat and Tony Yates with our most obvious rival being Glasgow with the likes of Calum Laing, Jim Bogan  and Allan Faulds. Club teams like Shettleston and Bellahouston were well over the horizon and I remember in early races finding the leaders already a field ahead after about a mile….the likes of John Lineker (Pitreavie) and Steve Taylor (Aberdeen).

Individual results  have nothing like the memories of the Team successes where a group of us trained better and better and after a year or so, started to get results. Highlights must be winning the Edinburgh – Glasgow road relay in record time, the Imperial Colleges Hyde Park Relay, National XC  Championships at Cross Country for both Senior and Junior  and having 15 in the first 16 home in the Scottish Universities Cross Country first and second team races at Aberdeen.

Many of us stayed in the south side of Edinburgh and met in the evenings for a fartlek road session and the whole Club met at Kings Buildings on Wednesday afternoons for a 10-12 miles fartlek session. Over a coffee, the Committee then discussed the forthcoming teams  and wrote up the previous weekend’s races.  We never raced each other in these sessions, but rather stretched each other. On Sunday, up to a dozen of us met up outside the Geology Dept, leaving our tracksuit on the steps and then going on the long run through the Pentlands……….21 miles (no kit was ever stolen…………probably too smelly).

In the summer for 3 years, I joined Ilford AC staying with the parents of Dennis Plater (a GB marathon International) and  Frank Gamwell and Alistair Blamire came to stay too. We benefited from plenty quality track races and much warmer weather than in Scotland.

In the mid 60’s, Alistair Matson got the lease for a large house in Morningside for 3 years and six of the Club stayed there. On the kitchen wall a chart listed the personal mileage for the week and the aim in the winter months was for 600 miles…………on an occasion, one member was sent out on a Saturday evening to get a further 3 miles completed. It wasn’t all serious and several notable parties were held there……….largely well-behaved………….as was our celebrations at the Hyde Park disco after  our memorable win where after a few beers, we ended on the stage before finally making our way to stay with Frank Gamwell’s uncle, a senior policeman, in Essex. Another leading Team member, Ian Young, used to go back home to Kirkintilloch after the Saturday race to run a disco enterprise he managed.

In my early years , Chris Elson organised a week training at a cottage near Skateraw where we tried to replicate the training regime of the World icons of the era, Percy Cerutty (Herb Elliott) and Arthur Lydiard and his New Zealanders,  Peter Snell, Barry Magee, Murray Halberg. I am not too sure how beneficial they were but it was certainly Spartan and a good for camaraderie.

Another great supporter of the University running was the chemistry Professor,  Neil Campbell,  who along with many others, with hindsight I now reflect  how generous they were with their time, came out snow or sunshine to officiate the race

 Distractions in the 60’s combined with a much simpler lifestyle,  allowed  hard training to be combined with significant academic effort. Faculties represented went from medicine, law, architecture, science, forestry, agriculture, business, engineering, dentistry to languages. All achieved a degree with several  becoming  Professors in their speciality and others building successful businesses.

Fifty years on, many of us from that era are still in regular contact, some still managing the occasional run together. We rarely recall the races against each other but do remember the fun we had. I know this to be the case with many of our friends south of the border in Clubs like Coventry Godiva,  Birchfield and Ilford  to name a few.

*

That’s where Fergus left his comments but they were seen by former team-mate Alistair Matson who added some of his own.  He repled to Fergus:

“Shettleston Marathon.     Did you remember that 15th May was the 50th anniversary of our first marathon?!   You had a great battle with Alastair Wood while I was delighted just to finish.

 Pre season training camp.     You mention Skateraw.  I wasn’t there but I do recall a very enjoyable week near Cockburnspath, staying in old coastguard cottages virtually on the beach.  This was from 6th to 11th Oct. 1964.  There were daily early morning runs, beach relays, sand-dunes and woodland running.  

Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay record.  If you haven’t already got it, the attached cutting from the Glasgow Herald with Dunky Wright’s report in his own inimitable style gives a dramatic account of the race.  

Pentlands 21 mile run.   During our time at the ‘Zoo’, I think all our Sunday 21 milers were from there.  With GPS and other latest technology,  I think we would find the distance to be short of 21 miles!  My times were regularly under 2 hours 10 mins.  I find it hard to believe in view of quite a bit of the route being off road that we could maintain near 6 min mile pace!

 There was one occasion when we nearly were over ambitious.    On 9th April 1967, we decided on a variation to the route.  Instead of following the reservoirs down to the main road, we took a more westerly track through the hills bringing us out at Carlops (according to my training diary) (I’ve just traced it on the OS map).  There is a pub there which I think we hoped would be open but wasn’t. We then went back through the Pentlands to return via Balerno. You, Gareth B-J, Don, and Alex were with me.  I remember well that both Don and I approaching Edinburgh were nearly at the point of collapse – dehydration and exposure.  You all went ahead while Don and I very luckily found a tap at some toilets in a park we passed and that drink was just enough to see us home.  I’ve recorded that we – or at least I  – were out for 3 hrs 55 mins.! “

After turning 65, I wrote an article entitled ‘Running Every Stage’. Stage Two covered my time at university (between the ages of 18 and 23) and this extract follows. However it sounds a little vague, so a kaleidoscope of assorted memories will be added afterwards.

Stage Two: Gaining Speed.

You glean so much information about running during five years at university. For a start, the cross-country men form a proper club, with first and second teams, hopefuls and older chaps. There is a real tradition, a history. Previous members ran for Scotland or even Britain. Ahead stretches an excellent programme of races against different pairs of universities, culminating in championship events: Scottish Unis, BUSF, East District and the National itself. Plus the amazing Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay. Train or bus travel is fully subsidised.

By the mid-1960s, there are complex recipes for training (but which ingredients will prove healthy for you?) For example, aerobic and anaerobic running; sand-hill sessions (soon discarded as a form of torture which fails to improve fitness for anything else); and weight-training (similarly dumped since skeletal older guys remain much faster). The training week takes shape around academic studies. You gradually start to get out every day of the week, if only for a wee jog.

Wednesday afternoon is the club run (six or ten miles), and as fitness increases, you manage to hang on a bit longer to faster men and to outpace other ‘freshers’. Tuesdays or Thursdays might be the day for reps: either twenty times 220 yards (brisk but controlled) or four times 660 (lactic acid up to your brain). There are races nearly every Saturday, over many types of terrain. You discover that easier courses suit you, while mudlarks enjoy sticky, tricky land. Yet to gain a ‘blue’ is an achievable aim, so you try hard anyway. Giving up is a crime. After races, whatever the result, it is time for beer-drinking and badinage. Nonchalance is mandatory; swollen egos will be satirised mercilessly. By the end of First Year, you feel strong enough to take your Sunday morning hangover along to the long run, which is organised by the city’s best distance athletes. This pack session is fast from the start, and the normal loop is fifteen miles. Devil take the hindmost: when you are dropped, don’t expect anyone to wait for you. More sarcasm than sympathy is offered, which hardens resolve for future improvement, until you can be the revengeful, merciless, sadistic one!

Only about forty miles per week is averaged, but as the months pass, you do get better, as is proven during the short summer track season, when you concentrate on doubling up (one mile and three mile races) and post new best times. Then you enjoy the track events at Highland Games before going camping, youth hostelling and earning cash by working at a summer job. Due to the resilience of youth, injuries are seldom encountered. When they do occur, you simply rest a couple of days and then try to jog back to fitness. Physiotherapy is unavailable (and will continue to be absent or ineffective until the 1980s or later).

Your university first team is friendly, determined (in a cavalier fashion) and quite successful, but certainly not the best. You decide to increase training, hoping to compete properly with stars from bigger cities. Progress is not ceaseless. Sometimes you overdo the training and pick up some infection; or fall over in the mud; or hurt some muscle or pull a hamstring. You produce good, bad and average performances, goodness knows why. It is all experience and your training diary is frequently reviewed, to locate the magic formula for guaranteed success …..

By Third Year, you are a senior university runner – full blue, SU representative, club captain. Apart from the usual competitions, you take part in longer track races (including the Track Ten) plus occasional Highland Games road or hill races. Then, at the age of 21, it is legal to attempt your first marathon, which you complete cautiously but quite well. It is clear that road is your preferred surface; and it may be that in future the marathon may be your best event. But you are well aware that fitness over 5000m (yes, race distances have gone metric) is key to speed at everything from 1500m to 26 miles 385 yards (sorry, 42 kilometres 195 metres).

Swotting for that degree stalls athletic improvement but during your final, post-grad year the trend becomes favourable once again. When you leave university and start work, can you really produces what some call ‘lifetime bests’ (as if these can happen some other time) or have you run these already?

Motivation: ambition, improvement, achievement, targeted rivals, trying very hard not to let the team down (especially in the E to G), exploring different events.

ASSORTED MEMORIES

Joining Aberdeen University Hare & Hounds Club during Freshers’ Week and then receiving a letter of welcome from the Captain, John Aberdein, who remains a good friend almost fifty years later.

A few of the speedier, older Harriers did not condescend to speak to mere first years. I vowed to improve and beat them. Otherwise it was a friendly club, a mix of folk who just enjoyed running and a few who became addicted to training and becoming faster.

Entering our dressing room: bare wooden floor, benches, pegs and hot pipes, around which a few less hygienic runners wrapped their sweaty, grubby vests. The stench! Hot blackcurrant drink in the Art Deco pavilion café. Note that our racing attire involved blue shorts, and vests that were officially described as gold or amber, not proletarian yellow!

King’s College field 1966-1971. A hallowed stretch of turf, with pitches (according to the season) for football, hockey, rugby or cricket) and in summer a good grass track. We warmed up round the perimeter; ran 660 yard repetitions; or 220s either on the track or up and down the bottom straight. Scottish National Coaches John Anderson and then Frank Dick introduced us to the hell of 20-second runs! Lactic acid over your head.

Our home cross-country course. Starting by St Machar’s Cathedral, over cobbles, up an alley-way, right onto a road, left up a hill, right down some dangerous metal steps, over a swaying wooden bridge, right along the Don footpath, left up a steep bank onto Balgownie fields, right onto the road, a long swinging downhill to the Bridge of Don, shooting across and up a narrow dead-end roadway past Balgownie golf course, left over an undulating dune path, right onto the sand itself, trying to keep on the damp, harder surface near the North Sea, up and back along the roadway, shooting across the main road again, utterly ignoring traffic, right along a Don footpath, down a muddy hill, up over cobbles, through a green gate, onto another Don path, high over smelly emerald waters, down into Seaton Park, a long straight and then left again to sprint up a steep slope to the finish, back near St Machar’s again. In theory, six-and-a-half miles; probably a little less. Bill Ewing had the record (33.27); John Myatt of Strathclyde took a second off it; and in my final year, I got frustratingly close with 33.29 in the Christmas handicap!

Training. Those dreadful sandhill repetitions at Balmedie, soon abandoned, thank goodness. Mel Edwards pioneered a five-mile circuit from the pavilion right round the Beach golf course. (On one occasion I just managed to keep up with Mel on this route, due to typically non-stop vocal encouragement. However it transpired later that he was completing the course for the fourth time that day, with one more to do that evening!) Another popular five mile run was out King Street to the Bridge of Don, along the dunes to ‘The Boats’, and back via sand and pavements. Alternatively, golf course fartlek round the edge of Balgownie and Murcar, ten miles in all. An early move towards long distance efforts was the Scotstoun run, out the undulating road of the same name, and then taking an arc down towards the sea, finishing once again on golf course and pavement – thirteen miles, allegedly. Our own half marathon, for the unusual Sawfish Snout Trophy, involved two times round the cross-country course.

Before AU minibuses were invented, we took (subidised) trains and buses to cross-country races against either two or six other university teams (there were only seven, before Stirling was created). St Andrews (hilly, I needed a tetanus injection after vaulting a gate and spiking myself on rusty barbed wire). Dundee, either Camperdown or Caird Park. Glasgow, Westerlands might include canal towpaths or serious mud. Strathclyde, an even muddier course. Heriot-Watt, can’t remember. Edinburgh, from King’s Buildings, down a steep road hill, right up a farm track and then up, up and away to the top of the Braid Hills golf course before a nasty descent and a short uphill finish.

The green vests of Edinburgh University Harriers dominated lead packs during that period. Scottish and British Universities Champions, Scottish Senior National Champions, Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay winners. In 1967, Scottish Unis CC Champs took place over their KB/Braids course. It was misty near the top. Eight EU guys and John Myatt entered the fog; only EU returned (although John did survive the mugging to finish 9^th). In the Second Team race, Chris Elson (EU) won, in a time faster than Myatt’s in the First Team race. How’s that for supremacy? We seldom beat any of those men, but what an inspiration to train harder! Fergus Murray had left; leaving Gareth Bryan-Jones, Alistair Blamire, Ian Young, Dave Logue, Alex and Jim Wight and other top-notch athletes.

Strathclyde and Aberdeen vied for second-best team. At least Strath could drink as much beer as Edinburgh, or even more. We tried to down more but failed.

Friendly rivalry with Irish Universities: Queen’s Belfast; Trinity and UCD in Dublin. They visited us one year and we toured there next year. Irish Tours were always great adventures, but rather tiring, not only because of two successive races, but mainly because of the booze and lack of sleep. The Mursell Trophy was contested between AU and QUB. By the time I left in 1971, somehow I had succeeded in finishing first in that match, once in Belfast and once (by only 10 seconds) in Aberdeen. We usually won the team cup. Guinness tasted okay in Aberdeen, better in Belfast and wonderful in Dublin, especially once when we stayed in Trinity quadrangle after the race and our hosts supplied free barrels of the stout. Robin Orr (son of the manse in Ratho) and I, two comparatively limited imbibers, staged an inexpensive contest and accepted a tie after ten pints each. Not drunk, we assured each other solemnly, just full up! Once, AU runners were in a Belfast pub. Someone suggested a fast pint competition. Charlie Macaulay (good runner from a rural background) won in about three seconds, although he seldom drank alcohol. “How on earth did you do that, Charlie?” “Pretended I was back home, drinking fresh milk!” I seem to remember Merv McIntyre organised a minibus Irish tour along especially strict guidelines: one bag per person only, which had to be put on the roof-rack; and inside only runners, sleeping bags for sitting on, plus food, booze, newspapers and commando comics!

Another bright memory was when Donald Ritchie, Charlie Macaulay, Bob Masson, Kerr Walker, Brian Templeton and I competed in Nos Galan, a wonderful Welsh four-mile road race that started ten minutes before midnight and finished in the New Year of 1971. Kerr was already in Wales, but the rest of us drove down in a crammed car, with the boot full of running kit, beer cans and three bottles of whisky. Snow was encountered from Aberdeen to Stonehaven and then later in Snowdonia but fortunately not between those points! Amazingly we ran well and won trophies for third team. Dave Bedford broke the record. 231 finished and the top 100 had their names read out, raised an arm and had a blood-red Nos Galan vest thrown at them from the stage! Then we annoyed various Cornish and Englishmen in the hostel by staying up drinking until 6 a.m.

A major event every November was the Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay. AUH&H usually ran fairly well but the highlight was in 1970, when we squeezed into the top ten to finish ninth from the 20 invited teams. Not bad, considering that all the best Scottish runners took part. Our lads that day, in running order, were: Don MacIntosh, me, Charlies Aithie and Macaulay, Jim Rough, Don Ritchie, Robin Orr and Merv McIntyre.  There was a good competitive spirit amongst the first team; but the wilder lads in the second team (i.e. ‘The Rearguard’) usually took the lead socially.

(Some of the 1970 First Team and Rearguard posing for an action photo)

The best AU cross-country runners during my time were: Dave MacFarquhar in 1966; Bob Hay in 67; Jim Maycock in 68; and then, when I became Captain, bloody Donald Ritchie arrived! He was running more than 100 miles per week even then, while I could only manage 40, so he beat me over the country, while I occasionally got past him on road or track. So I never won the Championship Cup, boo-hoo. Donald went on to become one of the world’s finest ultra-distance runners. Despite all those defeats in the mud, I still consider him a very good friend, along with Innis Mitchell, of Aberdeen AAC, and Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities.

Scottish Universities fielded an eight-man team against other regional ones in the British Universities CC, which seemed to be always run through mudbaths like Graves Park, Sheffield or Parliament Hill Fields in London. Every December, SU also ran against the Scottish Cross-Country Union Select, usually near Glasgow or, latterly, at Stirling University. At least it was a chance to see just how good Lachie Stewart and Dick Wedlock actually were.

In summer, we ran for AUAC, wearing a blue vest rather than a yellow one. Once again, it was a case of matches against two other universities or all seven. I once led a 1500 metres (yes, in 1969 we had gone metric!) until thirty yards from the tape, when a very young Frank Clement (future Olympic finalist) whizzed past. SU once cobbled together a team against Irish Universities and Belgian ones in Dublin. The annual highlight was the Rowland Trophy meeting in Durham, where we competed against lots of English universities as well as Scottish ones. Then there was our own AU sports day. I organised it in 1971 and included a paarlauf mile. Bob Anderson and I took considerable pleasure from recording 3.57!

Club reports, in ‘Gaudie’, the AU student newspaper, were usually witty and always disrespectful, as were the yearly sections in ‘Athletic Alma’. Unless you could take ridicule, or dish it right back, it was best to remain studying in the Library.

Filling out Blues Forms was an art in itself, involving working out your average position in races against each individual rival university, plus placings in SU or BUSF or East District or Scottish championships. For Athletics, you had to pay attention to Scottish Standard times in various events. To obtain a Blue for cross-country was comparatively straightforward, if you managed to defeat nearly all your own men plus most from weaker universities. Athletics was more difficult. During my post-grad year, in a final effort to attain Full Blue status, not only did I run 1500/5000 doubles, but also the steeplechase, 10,000 metres, Ten Mile Track and marathon! Only Bill Ewing, sartorially elegant, had the nerve to sport the exotic powder-blue blazer. Yet several of us liked to wear SU or Blues ties or even scarves, embroidered in white by Esslemont and Mackintosh. Entirely unfashionable nowadays!

In April 1970, eight of us tried to make the Guinness Book of Records by running a sponsored relay round King’s field for three whole days and nights, completing no fewer than 636 miles, 1320 yards. Sadly, Norris McWhirter turned us down but at least he sent an autographed letter. At that time, the reward for raising £100 for the Student Charities Campaign was a barrel of beer. Since we contributed more than £300, our problem was trying to consume three barrels (i.e. 244 pints) at one party. Donald MacIntosh’s speciality was standing on his head, feet against the wall, while drinking a pint upside down!

A final memory is of AUH&HC AGMs at The Mill Inn, eight miles out the South Deeside Road. Traditionally, the pre-meeting run involved a mazy wander over uncharted fields and hills. Frequently we became lost and struggled back after 13 miles or more, so the review of the year and voting for club officials took place in a tired, beery haze.

Aberdeen University gave me not only a good education, but also a successful apprenticeship, which developed more confidence in social circumstances as well as in my chosen sport. Most of the time, what fun we had!

Willie Diverty, second right, middle row

Willie Diverty was a well known figure in Scottish athletics circles for many, many years as a first class organiser with a very friendly manner and – of course, first and foremost perhaps – for his connections to Glasgow University.    He died on 1st December 1969 in Killearn Hospital, having been admitted in October.   He was involved in track & field, cross-country and road running almost exclusively for Glasgow University and was particularly associated with the well-established University Road Race.  He was a member of the Scottish Cross-Country Union and was President in season 1968-’69 when the World Cross Country Championship was held in Clydebank in Scotland.   Like everything else that he was involved with, it was a tremendous success.  Some say that he was originally a member of Victoria Park AAC and certainly his son Graeme was a member, but there seems to be no real evidence to support this and for most of us he first appears at GU H&H AGM in season 1956-’57.  Like many of his generation, such as Jack Crawford of Springburn,  he was always very well turned out with collar and tie, well pressed trousers and shoes properly shined.   He was President of the Hares & Hounds from 1957-’58 to 1960-’61 and again from 1966-67 to 1969-70.

Willie became Glasgow University Hares & Hounds President in season 1956-’57.   The minute of the meeting says: “Professor Campbell then intimated that as sport kept him extremely busy, he felt that the Hares & Hounds would be better served by a new President.   Stuart McFarlane then proposed Mr William Diverty, who had been present at the meeting.    He was introduced to the Hares & Hounds by Andy Galbraith and subsequently elected both as President, and as Midland District representative.”   He was re-elected the following year and his involvement with both Glasgow University and the SCCU was to continue to benefit both for some time to come.   His progress was easily seen in his being given more and more responsible tasks to fulfil – eg in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay, he was a coach stewart until 1960, then a place judge working mostly with Jim Morton and Walter Lawn, and then from 1966 – 1969 as Vice-President and then President of the Union.   His affiliation, where it was not ‘SNCCU’ was always Glasgow University.

During season 1958-’59 there had been difficulties with the University allowing a Youth (Under 17 runner) to race for them, when it was not allowed for under SCCU rules.   At the AGM at the end of that year, “The President, Mr Willie Diverty, mentioned “various points of difference of opinion between the Hares and Hounds  and the Scottish Cross-Country Union which had occurred during the season, mostly concerning the running of Jim Bogan (a Youth) in distances greater than three miles.   There then followed a discussion about whether the Hares and Hounds should run Youths or not.   A discussion which became extremely spirited and long drawn out.”   The verdict?   Stan Horn proposed that Youths be allowed to run subject to jurisdiction by the Committee and that proposal was carried.   Willie was subsequently re-elected.

The question of the relationship between SCCU and the Scottish Universities did not go away and at the AGM in 1960, “Mr Diverty then spoke of the seemingly habitual friction between the SCCU and the Scottish Universities.   He mentioned a letter from Jim Bogan to the aforesaid body, and requested that “those with complaints should consult himself beforehand so that he could act in his capacity as the Hares and Hounds representative to the SCCU.”   At the end of the meeting, ‘Mr Bill Diverty’ was re-elected President, with Douglas Gifford Secretary/Treasurer.

Early in the meeting at the 1961-’62 AGM, Willie spoke about a notable success from the previous season: “Mr Willie Diverty, who was present at the meeting, congratulated the Hares & Hounds for winning the William Ross Cunningham Memorial Trophy for being the most outstanding club of the 27 in GUAC during the 1960-’61 season.   The immediate past year had also been most successful with the Hares & Hounds winning the Scottish Universities Championship and coming fifth in the British Universities championship.”     There were other matters of importance to be discussed that evening and Willie was involved in several of these.   The  club had often turned out two teams and on one occasion three, Mr Diverty wondered about a cup for the second team in the Scottish Universities Cross-Country Championship.   Then “Under AOCB it was proposed that Mr Diverty should deliver a formal protest to the SCCU about the types of courses used for Championship races.   Of particular concern ere the Midland District course at Renton, which involved a number of dangerous barbed wire fences, and the National course at Hamilton which was considered by many to be tool easy to be deemed as bona fide cross country.   Jim Bogan undertook to prepare details of possible additions to the course at Hamilton, which would be submitted by Mr Diverty to the SCCU.   (When the issue was subsequently raised at the AGM of the SCCU, however, the Hares’ and Hounds views were not sympathetically received.   The National Committee considered that the types of National Championship courses were now geared to those used in international events where the emphasis was on speed.)”   At this AGM, Mr David Johnstone was elected club president but the change didn’t affect in any way Willie’s activities on behalf of the club and he continued on the SCCU Committee as club representative.

At the 1963 General Meeting, the continued progress of the Hares and Hounds was detailed and it was noted that a championship tankard had been presented by Mr George Esslemont, the City Chamberlain of Glasgow, and one of the Hares and Hounds vice-presidents.    Bill Diverty was re-elected as vice-president and in 1964 it was agreed that the Esslemont Tankard be awarded to the first University man home in the Universities Championship and Calum Laing was the winner in its first two years.   Another trophy was presented to the club: Craig Sharp donated a trophy to be known as the J McCulloch Award in memory of his friend and it was to be awarded as a result of a points contest for races in which the Hares & Hounds took part – the first winner was Allan Faulds.   At the 1964-’65 AGM “Mr Diverty  (Vice President and the club’s Midland District representative) then spoke.   He mentioned how he served on the SCCU General Committee and presented all the Universities views there The SCCU were now demanding 16 athletes to compete in a Scottish Universities’ Select against a SCCU team.   Not all the Universities agreed to this, and the matter would need to be finalised at the next SCCU meeting.   The Hares and Hounds believed that 12 was the maximum number that could be raised.”  

The club had three vice-presidents – George Dallas, George Esslemont and Willie Diverty – and all were present at the 1966 meeting and Willie was again elected President.   The Glasgow University Road Race had been going for several years by then and Diverty suggested the incorporation of a team event.   The meeting however felt that this was an event for individuals, it was almost unique in Scotland and that it should not be changed.    President Diverty went on attending meetings and presiding at General Meetings in his usual manner but at the meeting at the end of the 1967-’68 season

“In his Presidential report Mr Diverty launched straight into an attack on the year’s worst performance, ie the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay Race.   He hoped that the Hares and Hounds would qualify for next year’s event, as he said it would be most embarrassing for him  (as President of the SCCU) if his club’s team was not represented.   However, he expected Paisley Harriers to drop out, thus improving the Hares and Hounds chances of competing.   Willie Diverty emphasised the importance of the Edinburgh to Glasgow race, saying it was the major event of the season – being even more prestigious than the National Championships.    Mr Diverty said that he had point out to his fellow SCCU officials how the Universities were at a disadvantage when it came to picking teams for races early in the season, as they did not know the form of their new members.   As a consequence of his intervention, the Midland District relay had been put back to the first weekend in November, however this would require an alteration to the date of one of the Hares and Hounds own races.”   

He was however re-elected as President and then when Graeme Orr proposed a joint tour of Ireland with Strathclyde University, “Mr Diverty however was of the opinion ‘that Strathclyde has a disreputable element and that the tour might disintegrate into a brawl.’   Members strongly disagreed with this although it was pointed out that numbers would be so great as to pose a great burden on the hosts.   Finally at the end of the meeting it was agreed to prepare a letter for the start of the new season in 1968-’69 describing the club’s activities and Mr Diverty would write a welcome to the club.

Willie Diverty as team manager at the Cross des Capitals  with John Myatt and Gareth Bryan Jones

The meeting in 1969 was held while Willie Diverty was President of the SCCU and he remarked on it in his review of the season.   “In his Presidential report Mr Diverty said that he was extremely honoured to become President of the SCCU  and it reflected greatly on the Hares and Hounds.   In fact, only once before (in the 1890’s) had a University supplied a SCCU President – he had been from Edinburgh.   Mr Diverty reported that the International Cross-Country Championships held at Clydebank had gone very well .   Mr Diverty had also approached Dr Charles Hepburn (Honorary President of the ICCU for 1968-’69 and a Hares & Hounds vice-president) regarding a trophy for the University Road Race and he had been delighted to provide the club with one. “   Of course, as President of the national governing body, Willie Diverty was re-elected president of the club.

All seemed well but Willie was admitted to Killearn Hospital in October 1969 and died on 1st December that year.   It was a shock to everybody who knew him – and that meant just about all involved in the organisation and administration of the sport in Scotland at the time.   The history of the Glasgow University Hares & Hounds includes the following in the minutes of the AGM on 9^th March 1970.

“The Secretary’s report began on a sad note with Alasdair Reid expressing his deepest regret on the death of the President Mr Willie Diverty. Alasdair said that one of Willie’s major achievements on behalf of the Club was the University Road Race which had gone from strength to strength. The former Captain and Secretary Ray Baillie had written to Dr Charles Hepburn in Canada, and suggested that the trophy which he had donated for the Road Race be a memorial to Mr Diverty and named after him.”

What has been reproduced above from the Hares & Hounds history covers his time with them but for what Willie was like, we can look at what has been said after his death.

He was the regular correspondent for Scottish news and results in ‘Athletics Weekly’ and after they had published a short obituary on 13th January, the following letter was published in the December 20^th   issue:

“Dear Sir,

May I be allowed to join you in your expression of deep regret at the untimely death of your Scottish Correspondent, Willie Diverty?   I met him many times in the last few years, both here in the south and in Scotland. Indeed, I had the pleasure of accommodating him during the week-end of this year’s AAA Championships, when he seemed in excellent health. It is hard to realise that we shall see him no more.   His was a cheerful, friendly, extrovert personality and his obvious pleasure in ‘having a word’ with all and sundry in the world of athletics and his gregarious good-humour invited one to reciprocate, which was easy in the face of such disarming enthusiasm for the company of his fellow man.

His notes in your columns for so many years were concerned with facts, figures and people rather than with the projection of his own personality and we in the south interested in Scottish Athletics will sadly miss the name of Willie Diverty each Friday. He would have been the first to wish his successor well and hope that he enjoy the job as surely as he, Willie, did for so long.

                                                            A.Glen Haig,

                                                            New Malden, Surrey.

Glen Haig was one of the best known officials in British athletics at the time.

Graeme Orr who was a working member of the Hares & Hounds and had been their secretary in 1967-’68, tells us that “No account of the Hares & Hounds would be complete without a mention of Willie Diverty, our constant companion and “manager”.   I insert the inverted commas because I never recall Willie discussing tactics or giving hints on training or style.   He was a cheerleader and administrator par excellence, however my mother still remembers the Saturday morning phone calls from Willie  “Is Graeme running?”

Colin Youngson from Aberdeen adds the following comments:

“I first ran (rather poorly) for Scottish Universities against SCCU Select in December 1967, in my second year at Aberdeen University.   I still have the friendly selection letter that Willie Diverty signed then; and once again in 1968. More importantly, he is mentioned in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Race booklet as SCCU vice-president; then in 1968 as President. He features as a timekeeper at the 1968 SU Athletics Championships at St Andrews.

On Saturday 22^nd March the International Cross Country Championships (Cross Des Nations) was held in a hilly public park in Clydebank, Scotland.    AU runners went down in a minibus and thoroughly enjoyed spectating.    There was a smiling photo of Willie Diverty in the programme, since he was ‘Le President’ of the ‘Federation Ecossaise de Cross’.    After a great battle, Gaston Roelants (Belgium) defeated Dick Taylor (England), with Scotland’s Ian McCafferty outkicking England’s Mike Tagg for the bronze medal.    Dave Bedford (England) strolled away with the Junior International title.    It was a memorable, thoroughly successful day, and Willie Diverty must have received many congratulations, due to his committee’s excellent organisation.

I remember Willie as a cheerful, chatty Glaswegian who exuded enthusiasm and encouraged all young runners. He certainly contributed a great deal to University athletics, on track, road and country. Alex Johnston took over from Willie as Secretary/Organiser of the Scottish Universities Athletics Board.”