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George McCrae

Alastair  Douglas (Victoria Park) was one of the best Scottish runners of his generation  and he got in touch about one of his relatives who was a professional runner in  the early 20th century.    His name as a ped was George McCrae.     Many, if not  all professional runners used false names right up to fairly recent times: not  as glamorous as in the 18th or 19th  centuries when they used false names and  had nicknames such as the Gateshead Clipper or Crowcatcher.  Read on until the  final paragraph where some information from Alex Wilson, a real student of the  period, in included.    Alastair continues with the story:

“George  McCrae was a postman from Banknock who was one of the best distance runners of  his time – he was running at the time of the First World War and the 1920’s and  he held the title of World Professional 10 Mile champion.       His real name was Gavin Sorbie and he was born in 1893.   During the war he was  working in the mines, which explained the fact that he was not overseas on war  duty.   He was a professional long distance runner, although a lot of the best  distance runners were amateur.   He used to compete in front of huge crowds  although the crowd was sometimes there for a football match.   People would  place bets on the outcome of races between these ‘pedestrians’.   He was the  first Scottish winner of the Powderhall Marathon and was champion 6 times.    Powderhall was a famous professional athletics meeting in Edinburgh and the  ‘Marathon’ was actually a 10 or 15 mile track race.   He also competed in many  handicap events (usually from scratch) and in several head-to-head encounters,  often over 10 miles, against other British or European long distance running  stars.

Lining up against RE Cole of  England at the start of a 10 miles championship at Powderhall Grounds on August  2nd, 1924.   McCrae won in 52:39 to retain his title of “World Professional 10  Mile Champion”.

1918 was  his best year in athletics.   That year at Powderhall he broke the world  professional 10 mile record (also breaking the 8 mile record during the same  race.)   The report on the race states that he would probably have broken the  amateur record also if the financial inducements had been worthwhile!       It  was common practice in those days to take a competition name.   Although most of  the top runners of the day were amateur it sounds as if he was probably still  one of the best distance runners in Britain, amateur or professional, at that  time.   His times are still respectable today.   He ran his last race when he  was about 30 and was forced to retire after an injury that I am sure he would  have been treated for nowadays.   Indeed he could have gone on in his 30’s to  better his times.   When he retired from athletics he became a football trainer  with Heart of Midlothian FC and eventually died in 1971.”

Alastair also  provided this link to a video clip which showed a brief glimpse of him winning  the Powderhall Marathon in 1923 where he led from gun to tape beating Willie  Kolehmainan of Finland (no relation to the 1912 Olympic champion) and Hans  Holmer of the USA.   His time was 1:20:30.        www.britishpathe.com/video/powderhall-marathon/query/Edinburgh

George McCrae winning at  Powderhall in 1915

There is a lot  to interest us here including the reference to the fact that in 1918, after he  set new world professional record, he could have broken the amateur record had  the reward been high enough.   ‘Peds’ went for the victory every time, after the  money of course, the contest was the thing rather than the time hence the fact  that in reports of many races no time was given.   Reading about the amateur WG  George racing the professional William Cummings from Paisley and other  professional matches, once the opposition was broken, there was no need to push  on too hard..   Alastair also mentions races where the principal attraction on  the day was a football match.   When I came in to the sport there were many  athletics sports meetings at football grounds and they almost invariably  included five a side football matches.   In the very late 20th century, Frank  Horwill of the BMC was  claiming a first for having races held at half-time in  big football matches.

Powderhall was  a purely professional meeting and was the highlight of the year for most  Scottish peds.  All the best men turned out there and to win the championship  there was a real mark of a man’s talent – George won six times!   I well  remember in the 1960’s many wanting a race between the Powderhall Champion Ricky  Dunbar and the SAAA champion WM Campbell but it was not to be – amateurs could  not race against pedestrians!   In addition professionals used to on a ‘prep’  before the meeting.   This often meant the runner going to stay with his coach  or trainer for several weeks of concentrated preparation for the race: no food  was consumed without the trainer having a spoonful first to ensure that it was  cooked properly; it was bed at the same time every night (often as early as 9:00  pm); training two or three times a day and daily massage.   It was said that a  man after such a ‘prep’ had a glow about him when he removed his sweats or  tracksuit; that he walked differently and had an air of confidence about him.    There’s no evidence that McCrae did it but it is an indication of how seriously  this meeting was taken.

Although this  is a website dedicated to the amateur endurance athletes of Scotland, we have  already a page dedicated to Paddy  Cannon who  was also a professional although slightly before McCrae’s time and it is felt  that George McCrae is a worthy addition..  Finally, Alastair has been a VPAAC  runner all his days, and although George was running before Victoria Park were,  have a look at this picture

Alex Wilson  from Fife, currently employed in Germany, who is writing a book about this  period has this to say about George.   “The  Sorbies were a famous family of distance runners from Draffan and today Gavin,  or George McCrae, is the best known of them.   I believe that a Sorbie won the  famous Red Hose Race in the mid 1800’s but I can’t say for sure.   He was  coached by his Dad who himself had apparently been quite a useful runner in his  day.   There are a couple of pictures of him in ‘Powderhall & Pedestrianism’ .   He won the Powderhall Marathon for the first time in 1914 the distance then  being 15 miles.   The Evening News finally gave him a trophy to keep in 1919.    His 10 mile world record of 50:55, set at Powderhall in 1918 was pretty amazing  given the circumstances.   He was lucky to have been in an essential occupation  or he would have been running from bullets.   He had a great race with John  Lindsay in 1923, winning just yards from the finish.   By 1926 the writing was  on the wall and he was eclipsed among others by Allan Scally who never got  anywhere near his times but who is better known today.”    He  went on to say, “Historically  I’d put him down as the successor to William Cummings and Paddy Cannon and the  last of the truly great Scottish professional distance runners.   He had a very  light frame and ran with a pitter-patter stride, a little reminiscent of Jm  Dingwall.   You can see that on the Pathe News film that Alastair recommended.    He moved to Edinburgh and took up a coaching post with Hearts.   Within a year  of him taking up the reins, Hearts did the double against the Rangers in the  League which back then was an amazing achievement.   After George/Gavin quit  running, his Dad emigrated to Canada and took up a coaching post there.   After  the War he ran a confectioner’s and tobacconist’s shop in Tynecastle with his  son John.”

Frank Stevenson following Suttie Smith in the 10 miles championship of 1930

Frank Stevenson was one of the best runners in the country in the late 1920’s and early 1930s and he went on competing for his club (Monkland Harriers) when he was well past his best right up to the start of the Second World War.   The Coatbridge club was comparatively strong at the time with Intenational vests being won by to more of his colleagues at the time.   He was good on the track with gold, silver and bronze medals in the SAAA Championships defeating such good runners as J Suttie Smith, Dunky Wright and many others; he won silver and bronze in the Scottish Cross-Country Championships and even led the Scottish team home in the International Championships in 1927; and although it probably came too late for him, he ran in three Edinburgh to Glasgow Relays turning in the fastest time on his stage in 1930 and having two third fastest runs.    Nor did he just hang up his spikes when he had, as Emmet Farrell said in a different context, ‘shed his silk’ – he ran right up to 1939 in the national finishing twice in the 40’s and twice in the 60’s.    He sounds like a ‘runner’s runner’ to me!

He first appears in the prize lists on 18th April, 1925 when at Celtic Park he was third in the SAAA Ten Miles championship behind Dunky Wright and John Mitchell.   The ‘Glasgow Herald’ reported as follows: “The 10 Miles championship was an interesting race.   Twenty two out of an entry of twenty nine faced the starter.   Soon it was observed that the race would resolve itself into a tussle between D McL Wright (Shettleston), James Mitchell (Mauchline) and F Stevenson (Monkland), a comparatively new recruit to distance running.   Wright and Mitchell eventually got clear of the field and despite repeated efforts on the part of Wright to shake off Mitchell, the latter refused to be dropped  on the way.   At the bell, Wright piled on the pace and still Mitchell clung on.   Coming into the straight the latter was unable to withstand the final burst and Wright ran home a winner by nearly 10 yards in the time of 54 mins 2 3-5th secs.    F Stevenson (Monkland), W Plant (Monkland), A Pettigrew (Greenock Glenpark), ME Anderson (Shettleston), W Stewart (Paisley Harriers) and D Mussell (Aberdeen University) succeeded in getting inside standard time.”    This bronze was the first of seven consecutive medals that he would win in the event.

On 6th Match 1926 he ran in the National Championships where he finished third and Colin Shields describes the race: “After a long absence the 1926 National championship returned to Hamilton Park Racecourse where a flooding River Clyde prevented the use of the grassland between the river and Hamilton Palace with the result that the race distance did not exceed 9 miles.   The rapidly improving James Micthell, now running for Kilmarnock H, had just finished 10 yards behind Dunky Wright in the previous summer’s 10 miles track race, quickly went into the lead.   At half distance Mitchell had Wright (Caledonia AC) on his heels, with Frank Stevenson (Monkland) and WH Calderwood (Maryhill) a fair distance behind.   Over the final two miles, Mitchell powered clear from the defending champion  to win from right by 14 seconds, with Stevenson winning the Junior title in third position. ”   The run gained Stevenson his first international cap with the race being run in Brussels and he was 16th finisher and the team was third.  

In 1926 the Ten Miles track championship was again held at Celtic Park and this time he gained another bronze medal, this time behind Dunky Wright and D Quinn.   “At the start champion D McL Wright was content to maintain a forward position without actually assuming the lead.   For the first three miles F Stevenson made the pace, but when another half-mile had been covered, Wright forged ahead and thereafter the issue was never in doubt.  At the tape the margin in favour of the title holder was but a few yards short of a quarter of a mile.   Wright’s time last year was quicker by some 16 seconds but on that occasion he was chased all the way by James Mitchell, Kilmarnock Harriers, whereas on Saturday he did not have to exert himself unduly.   Mitchell who last month deprived Wright of his Scottish cross-country title, was an absentee owing to a foot injury sustained after the international in Brussels three weeks ago.    Result:   1.   D Wright   54:25; 2.   D Quinn, Garscube Harriers,   55:48.6; 3.   F Stevenson, Monkland Harriers,   56:13.4′  4.   J S Smith, Dundee Thistle Harriers,  56:43.2.   The foregoing were the only competitors to complete the distance within the standard time of 57 minutes”.   On 26th June he had a good run in the SAAA Four Miles where he finished behind WH Calderwood but turned the tables on Dunky Wright who was third.   Wright had run in he AAA marathon just two weeks before had probably not helped his cause.

In the 1927 National held  at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh on 6th March, he was second.   “Three times National Champion Wright led from 6 miles followed by Frank Stevenson and West District champion CH Johnston.   On the final lap he opened up a 50 yard gap over Stevenson to win in 60 minutes 23 seconds – the slow time reflecting the heavy going over the tough country which slowed him to one of the slowest winning times over 10 miles since the race was inaugurated,  ”    was how Shields reported on the event.    He goes on to report on the international race “The International Championship was held at Caerleon Racecourse in Newport and, as so often was the case at this Welsh venue, the weather was appalling.   Frank Stevenson had the best run of his career when finishing fourth, just beaten by two seconds in the finishing sprint for third place with H Gallet (France).    With the rest of the Scottish team performing without merit Scotland took third place behind France and England in the five nation competition.” Stevenson’s  team mate WC Plant (fourth in the 1925 SAAA 10 miles championship) was also selected for the Scottish team and finished forty second.

Later that year, on 16th April at Celtic Park, he turned out in the SAAA 10 Miles and defeated two really outstanding runners at whose hands he suffered many defeats –  Suttie Smith and Dunky Wright.  The ‘Glasgow Herald’  report read as follows.   “Duncan Wright, Maryhill Harriers, last year’s 10mile champion had to country strong opposition from which CH Johnstone, Glasgow University, was a notable absentee.   At the end of the first mile, A Mitchell, Maryhill Harriers, led the field, Wright being second in 4 min 58.2-5th sec.   From this point until being dispossessed of the lead in the final mile, Wright fulfilled the duties of pacemaker.   The order practically throughout was Wright, F Stevenson (Monkland Harriers) and J Suttie Smith (Dundee Thistle Harriers), all being in close succession, with A Pettigrew (Glenpark Harriers) temporarily on the lead in the third mile.   Except those mentioned none of the eighteen starters at any stage appeared likely to disturb the leaders and with Pettigrew also dropping back in the sixth mile, the race resolved itself into a contest with Wright, Stevenson and Suttie Smith.   The last named headed Wright at nine and a half miles but had in turn to give way to Stevenson whose sustained effort over the last 600 yards carried him to the tape some 20 yards ahead of the Dundee runner with Wright 35 yards behind Smith.  

Result:   1.   F Stevenson (Monkland Harriers) 53 min 31.1 sec;   2.   J Suttie Smith (Dundee Thistle Harriers)  53 min 35 sec;   3.   D Wright  (Maryhill Harriers)   53 min 43 sec;  4.   A Pettigrew (Greenock Glenpark Harriers) 55 min 33 2-5th sec; 5.   W Stewart (Paisley Harriers)  56 min 41 3-5th sec.   These all qualified for standard medals.”   

In the SAAA Championships at Hampden on 25th June Suttie Smith regained the initiative when he won the Four Miles Championships.   “Smith ran a well-judged race.  He allowed Stevenson to make the pace and still had sufficient speed left in reserve to win with something in hand.”   

In the National in March 1928 he was again second.   Coln Shields chronicled the event as follows.  “Excellent weather with good, fast underfoot conditions welcomed 220 runners from 20 clubs to the National Championships at Hamilton Racecourse.   There were two one and a half mile laps round the button-hook race track and two large 3 mile laps sweeping out into the country at Low Park by the River Clyde.   The leading group of runners were together until the 6 mile point when Suttie Smith and Frank Stevenson, running together, opened up a 50 yard gap from WH Calderwood (Maryhill).   Over the final 3 mile lap, the Dundonian raced away to establish a winning 120 yard gap over Stevenson with Calderwood a similar distance behind in third position.”   His second second place in the National had him safely intto the International team for the match to be held that year in Ayr.    Stevenson was fourteenth.

 Into summer 1928 and in the Ten Miles at Celtic Park on , he split Suttie Smith (1st) and Dunky Wright (3rd) to take the silver medal.   It was a similar result at Craiglockhart in Edinburgh in the Four Miles when he was second to Suttie Smith with JF Wood behind him in third.   “Suttie Smith in the Four Miles had to extend himself to shake off his great rival, FL Stevenson who despite the fact that the Dundonian had beaten him every time they have met this season, always comes back pluckily to make a fight of it.   Smith’s time of 20 min 24 2-5th sec has been equalled only twice in the history of the championships.”

The 1929 national was held at Hamilton over a course with difficult underfoot conditions – a slight thaw the previous night making footing difficult.   Stevenson was only one of several who had to drop out following a heavy fall.    He was nonetheless selected for the International to be held in Paris where there were ten countries competing.   Stevenson finished in twenty first place to be a scoring runner for the team which was fifth.

On the 20th April 1929, the Ten Miles was held at Hampden Park and he was again second to Suttie Smith, who had had an unusual off day at the international, with H McDonald third.   It was some race and the ‘Herald’ was quite excited about it!   “SUTTIE SMITH’S NARROW WIN FROM STEVENSON.”   was the headline and the article read “At Hampden Park on Saturday an exciting race between J Suttie Smith, Dundee and F Stevenson,  Monkland, for the ten miles championship of Scotland resulted in four Scottish records being broken.   In winning the race Smith broke the record for the distance.   Over seven miles he created a new record and Stevenson set up new records over eight miles and nine miles.  For the ten miles Smith was 26 3-5th seconds inside the record established at Celtic Park in 1920 by James Wilson of Glenpark Harriers.    The detailed report followed  “once the field had settled down, it was seen that a repetition of last year’s duel between  J Suttie Smith (holder) and F Stevenson (winner in 1927).   These two great rivals were of a class apart, and soon there was a wide gap between them and the rest of the field.   Smith was invariably in the lead but Stevenson was always in close touch with the champion and kept him from taking things easy had he been so inclined.   Thus the miles were reeled off until at half-distance it was obvious that there was a prospect of  some records being broken.   Smith’s time at six miles was only a couple of seconds slower than the record, but when another mile had been covered it was found that the old figures had received a bit of a shake-up.   The further they went the better the time returned, new figures being set for 8, 9 and 10 miles, the time for the full journey being almost half a minute inside the old record.   A better race has not been seen in Glasgow for a long time, for not only was the issue in doubt right to the end, but the form of the two leaders that they are just about the best pair of ten milers Scotland has produced.  

While Stevenson failed to regain the title – there was little more than ten yards in it at the tape – his was nevertheless a glorious failure, for besides placing the Scottish records for his credit, he also had the satisfaction of knowing that his time for the full distance, even if 3 1-5th seconds slower than Smith is considerably faster than anything recorded in the past.   The old and new figures follow (old figures bracketed).  

7 Miles: J  Smith 36 min 01 sec (36 min 7 3-5th sec);   8 Miles :  F Stevenson  41 min 17 sec (41 min 29 3-5th sec); 9 Miles: F Stevenson  46 min 30 sec (46 min 48 3-5th sec); 10 Miles: JS Smith 51 min 37 4-5th sec (52min 04 3-5th sec).     The old records stood to the credit of James Wilson, Greenock Glenpark Harriers,  and were set at Celtic Park nine years ago.”     The rivals met up again  in the Scottish Championships in June in the SAAA Four Miles at Hampden.   The ‘Herald’ had little to say of the race only that it surprised them that Suttie Smith had eighteen rivals in the four miles.   He won comfortably in 20:25.4 from Stevenson and JF ‘Ginger’ Wood.    –

In the 1930 National cross-country championship, he was third – not a bad record – two seconds, two thirds and a dnf (injured) in five years.   This time Suttie Smith won by 150 yards from Robert Sutherland with Stevenson a further 150 yards down.   The International at Royal Leamington Spa was run in front of a huge crowd of 30,000 spectators.   Stevenson was twenty second in this race which was notable for the tough finish in which Robert Sutherland was second to Evenson of England (look at the picture in Sutherland’s profile on this website).

 There are many rivalries in sport where an excellent athlete continually finishes second to the same victor time after time with very few exceptions – Mimoun behind Zatopek, Lincoln behind Elliot are two that spring immediately to mind – and Frank Stevenson certainly finished second to Suttie Smith very often.   It was no different in the Ten Miles of 1930 at Hampden Park when he was behind the great man once again after a race in which he actually led Smith by over 50 yards.  “Twenty six of the twenty eight entrants faced the starter and 16 of them finished the course.   Suttie Smith, the holder jumped into the lead right away and, with FL Stevenson at his heels, rapidly drew away from the field.   The pair ran together until five and a quarter miles when Smith had some trouble with one of his shoes.   Ere he had this adjusted Stevenson had gained a lead of 60 yards, but before the seven miles ark had been passed, Smith was in front again.   The pair ran together until the ninth mile when Smith began to draw away from his rival, and eventually broke the tape 60 yards ahead.   Stevenson put up a plucky fight but was beaten for pace in the final half-mile.   It had been pointed out earlier in the report that a strong wind was blowing from one end of the field to the other and that during the ten miles there was a heavy shower of hailstones.   The times were irrelevant and the race was all.   For the record, Suttis Smith ran 53:17 and it should be noted that JF Wood and RR Sutherland both failed to finish.       In the Four Miles at Hampden on 28th June, there was no Suttie Smith in the field and after a hard race, Robert R Sutherland won from ‘Ginger’ Wood with Frank Stevenson third.   The Edinburgh to Glasgow eight man relay was first run in 1930 and Stevenson ran on the eighth stage into the finish in Glasgow – he set the fastest time of the day and it was a record that would last for many years.

In 1931, he did not run in the National, and there were to be no more international appearances for him – his run of five consecutive appearances ended in 1930.    He had more medals to win on the track however and in the Ten Miles at Hamden on 18th April he was third behind JF Wood and DT Muir.  His time of 55 minutes 04 seconds was almost a minute behind the winner. In the Edinburgh to Glasgow that year he was ‘promoted’ to the long sixth stage where he held on to sixth position with the third fastest time of the afternoon.

Finishing twenty ninth in the National, he was not even in the running for the international but his club mate P Peattie was fourth and was called into the Scottish team to be the third from Monkland Harriers in the team in four years.   In the Edinburgh to Glasgow later that year he was equal third fastest time on the eighth stage to start a winter that would lead to him finishing fortieth in the National in 1933.   Edinburgh to Glasgow details for the years 1933, ’34, ’35 are not available for Monkland Harriers although they were in the race in each of these years,  and they were not included in the event between 1936 and ’19 inclusive.

He went on running in the National and finished  twenty ninth in 1934, twenty fourth in 1935, sixty fourth in 196 when the Monkland team was seventeenth, forty sixth in 1937 running as an individual and sixty fifth in 1938 when his team was eleventh.

Frank Stevenson clearly loved his sport turning out year after year, on all surfaces, always with the same club, regardless of its fortunes, and was the kind of runner who garners respect from athletes of all generations.   He raced against the very top men of his generation and more than held his own.

Robert Sutherland

Robert R Sutherland of Garscube Harriers and Birchfield Harriers was probably the best unknown runner that Scotland has ever had.   Seven cross-country international appearances (first Scot to finish three times), two silver medals in the ICCU International, three silvers in the Scottish cross-country championships,  14 Army Championships, 5 inter-services championships, twice third in the English Cross-Country championships, three times fifth in the same championships, and as a member of Birchfield Harriers led them to the team championship seven times in eight years.    And he is not known at all in Scottish cross-country circles.    His problem?    He was running at the same time as Suttie Smith and Jim Flockhart.    In summary, his cross-country feats included twice second in the International Championships where he was first Scot to finish three times and seven appearances in ten years in the International team.   On the track he he won the Scottish four miles title twice being the only man ever to get under 20 minutes for the championship and third in the AAA’s championship, as well as winning the national steeplechase championship.

Sutherland on the right in the black jersey

Sutherland first came to prominence in the National Cross-Country Championship of 1928 where, finishing fourth, he won the National Junior title.   Colin Shields says, Lance-Corporal Robert R Sutherland of the Scots Dragoon Guards, running as an individual for Garscube Harriers, finished fourth and gained the National Junior title.   Sutherland, a Govan man, had own the British Army 10 mile cross-country championship just seven days earlier and was to run in the English National a week later for Birchfield Harriers with whom he was to win many English team honours.”   In the international itself he finished eighteenth and third Scot behind Suttie Smith (second) and Frank Stevenson of Monkland Harriers (fourteenth).

Sutherland missed the championships of 1929 and most of his running career came during the 1930’s and in the introduction to this period, Shields remarks: “The Thirties was by far the most successful period in international competition.   In the 27 years since the inception of the international championships in 1903, Scotland had won just five medals, together with placing runners-up in the team championship on just four occasions, all before the First World War when no more than five countries took part in the championshi

The Thirties were completely different with six medals gained –  one gold from James Flockhart (1937), three silvers from Robert Sutherland (1930, 1933) and WC Wylie (1935) and two bronze medals from J Suttie Smith (1933) and Alex Dow (1936).”   He goes on to mention that one of the two memorable high-spots was in 1933 when Sutherland and Suttie Smith finished second and third behind England’s Jack Holden.

The ‘Glasgow Herald’ described the 1930 Championship as follows: “The competitors were set to cover a course of fully nine miles in four laps, the first of one and a half miles, the other three of fully two and a half miles each.   When the first lap had been covered in 8 min 06 sec, the field was led by a group of a dozen of the strongest candidates, including of course J Suttie Smith and Frank Stevenson.   The next time round (time 24 min 51 2-5th sec), Smith and Stevenson were running together with Sergeant Sutherland 10 yards behind.   At the end of the third lap (41 min 49 1-5th sec), Suttie Smith was 60 yards ahead of Stevenson with Sutherland another 15 yards in the rear.   These three were well clear of the field.   Going out for the last lap, Sutherland who gained the junior title two years ago, soon passed Stevenson but the champion kept well in front.   He doubled his lead to run out a splendid winner by 150 yards.   Stevenson finished a like distance in the rear of Sutherland.”

In the English National, he had come twelfth  and was a member of the winning Birchfield team.

The Herald reported on the international race in the edition of 24th March under the headline “Sutherland’s Fine Running” and commented, “Thirty thousand saw the big field cover the course of nine miles and the finish between Evenson (of England) and RR Sutherland (Garscube Harriers) was a fine finish to a splendid race.   …..   Sutherland began to pull up rapidly in the last mile and he challenged Evenson in the final hundred yards, the Scot being beaten by a matter of two yards …     From the Scottish point of view the most satisfactory thing was the forward place taken by RR Sutherland of Garscube Harriers.   Sutherland who was Army champion in 1927 and 1928 has finished second in three big events this season.   He was second to J Suttie Smith in the National Championship at Hamilton and to Lance-Corporal Broadley in the Army Championships last Tuesday.   On Saturday he defeated both but had the misfortune again to run up against another runner who just defeated him.”

The finish of the international; in 1930: see how close Sutherland was to Evenson, the winner.

(Picture from Alex Wilson)

Colin Shields reports that after running so well in these races (three quality long distance races in fifteen days), Sutherland was invited to race in an invitation race in Paris on 30th March.   There were 1600 runners and over 7 miles.   Would you believe it – Sutherland was second only one second behind the winner!   A superb season but he could be forgiven for thinking that it was not his year.   Calling him the great unsung hero of Scottish cross-county, Shields remarks that it had been a daunting programme but one that Sutherland repeated regularly over the next few years with great success but little recognition as he never won either the Scottish or English nationals or the international any of which would have won him eternal fame and inclusion in the cross-country record books.

In summer 1930, Sutherland won the first of his three Scottish titles over Four Miles in a time of 20:15.4.    Big and strong – look at him in the photographs with the Scottish team – he was demonstrating speed as well.   For this victory, he was awarded the Crabbie Cup for the most meritorious performance in the SAAA Championships.    He was also third in the English championship, one place behind JF Wood of Heriot’s.   The first ever Empire Games was held that year in Hamilton and he was the only Scot in the Three Mile event where he finished fourth only 0.4 seconds behind third place.    Maybe ironically fifth finisher was England’s Tom Evenson who had defeated him in the international!   This was an incredibly close finish with places and times being: 3rd 14:29.0; 4th 14:29.4; 5th 14:29.6; 6th 14:29.8!   The SAAA Championship was described in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ as follows: “The four miles was expected to be the race of the afternoon and anticipations were fully realised.   It was full of incident from the pistol, and was capped by as brilliant and spectacular burst of speed from Sutherland over the final 300 yards as has been seen on a Scottish track for a long time.   The earlier stages of the race were notable for a duel between Suttie Smith and JF Wood for the leading place and the Heriot man’s worrying tactics proved so disastrous for the champion that he dropped out at two and a half miles after losing the lead and being 60 yards behind.   They had no effect however on Sutherland, who continued to move with powerful stride and obvious reserve, and although Wood continued to contest the issue until the bell, he was left standing on the last lap.   On this running the soldier is in the first rank of British distance runnersand it will be interesting to see how he fares at Stamford Bridge on Saturday first.”

The National championships in March 1931 were again at Hamilton and Sutherland was second.   In the English Championships however, he was third finisher and led  Birchfield to the team title.   In the ‘Herald’ we are told that in the international, Sutherland was thirty fourth at the end of the first lap finished in eighth place.   Scotland and France were equal second.

Summer 1931 was another good one for him.   He again won the SAAA Four Miles title -this time in 19:59.8 which was the only time that twenty minutes was beaten in this championship.

The 1931-32 winter season was to be yet another good one for the consistent Scot.   The national was run again at Hamilton and was remarkable for the very fast start ‘for which JF Wood was chiefly responsible’.     Sutherland was not mentioned in the report of the early part of the race but towards the end when Suttie Smith was clear,  “Sutherland managed to get on terms with Wood, as did Stobbs, but the real struggle for second place was between the first two.   It was a great duel over the last few hundred yards.   Sutherland got in front at last and stayed there despite repeated challenges.  The result was in doubt until the last few yards, but in the end the soldier, for the third year in succession, filled the position of runner-up.”    Tenth in the English National championship, again leading Birchfield to team gold, he was unable to run in the international in Brussels as he was “prevented by Army duties from running.”

Season 1932-33 was the one which was to be Jim Flockhart’s big break-through season – Sutherland had been second to Suttie Smith since he came into the sport and here was another phenomenon!   It is probably not stretching it too far to say that those three – Smith Sutherland and Flockhart – were probably the best in Britain throughout the 30’s.   Some, including Alex Wilson would beg to differ and say that Jack Holden (who won the ICCU Cross-Country title four times between 1933 and 1939) was THE top man but they’re at least in very good company!Sergeant Sutherland was fourth in the National in March 1933 behind Flockhart, Wilson and Suttie Smith.   One week later and he was third in the English National and again Birchfield won the team race – for the sixth year in succession – and again Sutherland held back from the early pace and came through on the last lap to finish 14 seconds behind the winner.   The 1933 international was held in heatwave conditions and Flockhart injured his foot leaving the battle to Sutherland and Suttie Smith.   They ran the final two miles together with Sutherland proving the stronger and finishing second with Suttie Smith third.

In summer 1933 he again won the SAAA Four Miles title – this time in 20:24 – before heading into the 1933 – 1934 season.   In the National in March 1934, there was another silver medal for Sutherland who was 150 yards behind Flockhart.     In the English championship he was sixth individual, first Birchfield Harrier and the team again struck gold.    In the International Championship Sutherland was sixth and second Scot to finish but the ‘Glasgow Herald’ felt obliged to say “Sutherland obviously felt the strain of his mud-week race in the Army Championships, this being his fourth big race within the month.”    The Army 10 mile cross-country championship in the middle of the week leading to the international would hardly have been ideal preparation for the international championship.

In March 1935 he missed the National in Scotland and the International.    The reasons for this are not clear but he was back in 1936 and ran a very good National in March 1936 to be second to Flockhart.    Not mentioned in the exceptionally short ‘Herald’ report on the English National (which did mention that Birchfield who had lost their title in 1935, won it back again in 1936).    On a very warm day in Blackpool for the international Sutherland finished fourteenth after running in tenth for much of the race, to be second counting runner for the third placed Scottish team ahead of both Flockhart and Suttie Smith.

The SAAA Steeplechase championship had been first run in 1934 and Sutherland took part in and won it in 1937 in 10:59.9.   With his height, natural strength (4 major cross country championships in one month almost every March) and speed as demonstrated in some of the fast finishes and pace over the 4 miles distance, it might be thought that he would have been a natural for this event.   It would have been interesting to note what he could have done earlier in his career.    The following winter he was third in the National championship 9 seconds behind second placed Emmet Farrell: needless to say Jim Flockhart took the title.   In the International in Belgium, the big talking point was the Scottish victory by Jim Flockhart while Sutherland was twentieth and third placed Scot in what was to be his final cross-country championship in the blue of Scotland.

He had had a superb career – one that 99% of athletes could only dream of – with individual gold medals on the track and in Army championships, team golds in the English championships, silver and bronze individual medals in Scottish, English and international championships as well as several fine runs in other events.

International 1933:  Flockhart 25,  Suttie Smith 27 and Sutherland 28

I am indebted to Alex Wilson for the following information on Sutherland’s track career.

  “Robbie’s pb for the  mile was 4:26.4, set when winning the 1930 Army title at Aldershot; his pb for  the 2 miles steeplechase was 10:29.0, set when finishing runner-up to WC Wylie  in the 1937 AAAs; and his pb for 6 miles was 30:50.0, set when finishing  runner-up to Jack Holden in the 1933 AAAs. He was nothing if not  versatile!
I have in my notes (maybe from Birchfield historian Wilf  Morgan, I`m not sure!) that he was an Army PE instructor. His Army chores  were such that much of his time was spent in the gymn demonstrating and  lecturing on a variety of sports including boxing. 
Another little-known  fact about this little-known runner was that he also tried his hand at the  marathon in the twilight of his athletic career, when he ran 13th in his one and  only marathon – the 1936 Poly – in 2:51:01.”

Thanks, Alex

Robert Reid of Doon Harriers ran superbly wekk from the days when he was a Youth (Under 17) in Doon Harriers until after his last international appearance in 1952 winning track as well as cross country titles and was as Colin Shields says, “!the first runner whose lifestyle was lifestyle was to benefit from his running ability.”     Information for this profile has come from The Glasgow Herald, The Scots Athlete, Scottish Athletics by David Keddie but mainly from what is probably the best history of any athletics discipline in Britain, Colin’s “Whatever the Weather” which is a mine of information.   

 The first trophy of any sort won by Robert Reid was in 1937 when he won the Scottish Youths cross-country championship which he won from John Muir of West of Scotland.   He won the title again in 1938 but made the headlines that season for another race altogether.    I quote directly from “Whatever the Weather”:   “The National Novice Championship amply justified its title as the most popular of all the NCCU Championships when over 300 runners from 41 clubs lined up for the start of the 1937 race at Bothwell Castle.   The strange rules of the event were demonstrated when 16 year old Robert Reid of Doon Harriers, the National Youth Champion, lined up with rivals twice his age who had been trying for years to win the title.   Reid followed AT Peters (Maryhill) the British TA mile champion, round the early stages of the five mile course.   He went into the lead at three miles and, displaying power and stamina far beyond that expected for a lad of his years, crowded on the pace to win in 24:36, 18 seconds in front of Peters, who had just 3 seconds to spare from Jim Morton (Springburn).

Reid’s victory caused great administrative trouble for it was subsequently revealed that he was a re-instated amateur.   A clause in the championship rules stated that ‘Competitors shall be ineligible who have been reinstated to the amateur ranks.’   But this had slipped through the scrutiny committee and Reid had been allowed to enter.   He was disqualified  and the novice title awarded to the runner-up, AT Peters.   As a schoolboy, just a few weeks after his fourteenth birthday, Reid had won a nominal prize of just a few shillings in an unpermitted Coronation Sports Meeting, when totally unaware of the amateur laws but nevertheless losing his amateur status.   Doon Harriers appealed against his disquaification, and there was a great deal of sympathy for Reid who had been wrongly advised that he was eligible to compete in the National Novice Championship.   A special meeting of the General Committee was called to determine ‘whether it was meant that the law should have specified clearly that it was not applicable to members whose certificate of re-instatement stated that their offences were of a minor nature, carrying no extreme penalties.’     

General Committee by an overwhelming majority approved an amendment to the law in question which ensured that Reid, and all the other runners whose re-instatement came under the category of Minor Offences would be eligible for the National Novice Championship.   At the AGM in September 1938 the rule change was approved and made retrospective to the start of the 1937-38 season, so that Reid was duly recognised as the National Novice Champion almost exactly a year after the race.”  

I think it’s clear from the above which side Colin is on – he was always an athletes’ man – and I think that any fair minded person would have been on Reid’s side.    The fact that the governing body took its decision by a great majority is to its credit but this is yet another example of the difficulties of enforcing laws on amateurism that have bedevilled Scottish athletics since the 1880’s.       Reid had a very good start to the following cross-country season which he started by winning the South-Western District title with ease after leading from start to finish, and followed this up with victory in the Ayrshire championship.   He then went on to win the National title in great style, and it was reported in The Glasgow Herald under the headline:   “Cross Country Triumph: Reid Invincible at Lanark:   Imposing record of achievement” and read as follows:

“As was anticipated R Reid of Doon Harriers won both the Senior and Junior by finishing an easy first over a course of  fully nine and a half miles at Lanark Racecourse on Saturday.   It was actually the first time that Reid had raced a greater distance than seven miles and it was also his first test against the entire array of Scotland’s experienced distance runners.   But Reid surmounted these difficulties in the manner of a real champion, winning by 200 yards from PJ Allwell and 450 yards from the holder, JE Farrell of Maryhill.   As in all his previous races, Reid finished quite fresh.   His list of achievements is already formidable: Scottish youths cross-country champion twice; SAAA one mile youths holder once;   national novice champion (later title was declared void); South-Western, Ayrshire and now junior and national   champion.”    

This was only the fifth time in the 53 year history of the event that the junior and senior titles had been won by the same runner – his predecessors being P McCafferty (1903), T Jack (1907), J Motion (1921) and J Flockhart (1933).      The international championship that year was held at Ely Racecourse in Cardiff and was a big disappointment for young Reid.   He started off as usual by going straight to the front at a fast clip and was twelfth at three miles.    However as the race developed he dropped further and further back to finish 31st, out of the counting six for the team race and probably learned a lesson or two.

The war intervened and his next chance to redeem himself in the blue vest of Scotland in an international came in 1946.    By this time he was living in Birmingham and running in the colours of Birchfield Harriers.    Colin Shields describes the move: “Reid, who initially ran for Doon Harriers, was the first runner whose lifestyle was to benefit from his running ability.   A baker’s apprentice at Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Reid was just 19 years old when, as Scottish champion, he ran in the 1939 International championships at Ely racecourse in Cardiff.    Overawed by the occasion he finished outside the Scottish counting six but his obvious potential attracted the attention and patronage of CAJ Emery, the 1938 international winner who arranged a job for him in the BSA factory in Birmingham.   Once settled there, he joined Birchfield Harriers as so many other Scottish runners did before and after him, and gained athletic honours in Midland and English championships.”

Reid did not run in the Scottish championships, preferring to race in England but his form was such that he was selected for the international where he finished twenty sixth – a big improvement on 1939 but not quite as well as had been hoped from his racing south of the border.    He did not race again in the Scottish championships until 1950 but was running so well that he never missed an international, finishing 20th in 1947, 12th (and first Scot home) in 1948 and 29th in 1949.

The Glasgow Herald report on the 1950 championship read simply: “R Reid (Birchfield Harriers, Birmingham) a former member of Doon Harriers, won the Scottish nine miles cross-country championships at Hamilton on Saturday, when  his powerful finishing burst proved too strong for another Anglo-Scot, F Sinclair (Blaydon), the former Scottish Mile champion.”    Not a lot there, but as usual the report on the race in “Whatever the Weather” gives a lot more insight, adding, “Reid’s victory came 11 years after his initial win in 1939 and was only his second competitive appearance in the championships, having preferred to run each year in the English National, but turning in such good performances in England that the selectors made him an ‘ever present’ in the Scottish team.    Indeed this victory gave him a unique record in the Scottish championship – that of having won every race he contested!    He won both the Youth titles in 1937 and 1938, and the two Senior titles in 1939 and 1950. “

What a career – packed with incident and illustrative of so many aspects of Scottish athletics: the professional/amateur interface; unbeaten in the Scottish National; profiting from his running, not by winning money but by getting better employment and housing.    Had it not been for the War, his eight internationals might have been 13 or 14.