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Ian Lapraik

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Admin

There are those who say that distance running and marathon running teach people how to put up with pain: well, put them in the dentist’s chair and see how much the marathon running helps put up with what follows. It’s maybe more true to say that marathon and distance running bring out or display characteristics that within the man and which stand them in good stead later in life. In the case of John Neilson Lapraik I would suggest that this is the case. Good athlete that he was, there will possibly be more on his career after his athletics days were over than race details.

Born on 13th September, 1915, at Boroughmuirhead in Edinburgh, he lived most of his younger life in Glasgow and because he suffered from tuberculosis of the knee from the age of seven years, he was effectively crippled for five years, two of which were spent with his legs in plaster. Many of us associate tuberculosis with the lungs but it can and does affect other parts of the body including hips and knees. Treatment almost always used to, maybe still does, involve immobilising the joint, traction and possibly even surgery. He was educated at the High School of Glasgow between 1927 – 34 before going up to Glasgow University. Even at University he was thought to be too fragile for vigorous sports but he had built up his strength and was one of best men in Both the Athletics team and the Hares & Hounds squads. He captained the Hares & Hounds in 1936-37, 1937-38 and 1939-40, and got his Blue in 1937. It is on this period that we will concentrate and look at season 1935 to start with.

On 11th May, 1935, Glasgow University AC held their club championships at Westerlands and Ian Lapraik (known to other athletes as ‘Tod’) had three second places: in the half-mile he was beaten by J Dornan with only a yard and half in it, the winning time being 2:05.7; in the mile he was second to AW MacAuley whose time was 4:43 (Lapraik 4:45) with eight yards in it, and he was second in the Three Miles where a new University record of 15:32.4 was set by AW MacAuley, who was maybe better known as a steeple chaser. He seemed to go into hibernation at this point and was not on the card for any of the annual meetings, nor at any of the inter-university fixtures in May and June.

On 2nd May 1936, in the Atalanta v St Andrews University he won the half-mile, running for Atalanta, in 2:06.2 and also ran in the relay where he was second on the half-mile stage. Later that month – on the 23rd May – he won the invitation two miles handicap at Coatbridge off a 150 yard mark beating H McPhee. The report read: “Glasgow University One Mile and Three Miles champion JN Lapraik, with 150 yards to help him along, won the two-mile short limit handicap from H McPhee (Springburn Harriers). He had to call on all his reserves to head the Springburn man who had won the three previous races. Only two yards separated the men at the finish. McPhee did very well to give 45 yards to Lapraik and only fail.” Noted beforehand as a runner in the Atalanta v SAAA (Western District) on Monday 1st June, he did not in the event turn out. At the Glasgow High School Sports on 6th June he ran as scratch man in the half-mile handicap race where he ran a well-judged race to win on the tape from R McLean in 2:08.6. This set him up for the annual contest between the four Scottish Universities on 13th June at Westerlands, where he was timed at 15:14.8 to win the Three Miles. The report this time read: “In the Three Miles, JN Lapraik (Glasgow University) returned 15 min 14 8-10th sec to get 3 2-5th sec inside the 13 year old record of CH Johnston who was also a Glasgow man. In this effort Lapraik was forced to keep going at a smart gait by IH McDonald (Edinburgh), and gradually the pair drew clear of the field. To clock 4 min 52 and 10 min 4 sec for the one and two miles, Lapraik was in the running for the record. McDonald was nursing him well, but during the third mile he felt the strain and allowed the Glasgow man to open up a gap. Over the last lap, McDonald made a valiant effort to get on terms, and Lapraik had a few anxious moments, as he tried to look round as he entered the straight. McDonald could not maintain the pace he had set for himself round that lap, with the result that he eased well up the straight to allow Lapraik to win with about eight yards to spare.”

1937 was in many ways Lapraik’s best as a runner. Starting as usual in May, he was at St Andrews on the first of the month to contest the 880 yards and the Mile in the Atalanta v St Andrews fixture. The Mile provided a victory in 4:52.0 and he was second in the half, won in 2:06. The following Saturday, in Aberdeen for another Atalanta team which defeated Aberdeen University, he won ‘the best race of the afternoon’ – the mile – in 4:39.2. “For the first two laps, LW Carson, Aberdeen, set a strong pace. On entering the third lap, AWC Lobban, Aberdeen, and JN Lapraik , Atalanta, went to the front and ran neck-and-neck in the last lap. Lapraik gained a lead of four yards, and a closing burst by Lobban in the last 100 yards just failed.”

The Glasgow University championships were held at Westerlands on 23rd May and Lapraik ran in three events – 880 yards, Mile and Three Miles. The hero of the day was JAH Lees who won the half-mile in 2:02.6 from Lapraik and also defeated him in the Mile in 4:35.8. He had won the 880 by 13 yards and won the Mile ‘easily’. As far as the half mile was concerned, the report commented that ‘Ian Lapraik did not attempt to take the sting out’ with a fast first lap. In the Three Miles, he won ‘easily’ for the second consecutive year in 15:47.6. On Monday 1st June in the Atalanta v SAAA (Western District), Lapraik was forward in the Two Miles event where he finished third behind Emmet Farrell and Willie Donaldson of the SAAA’s. The winning time was 9:50.0 and he was clocked at 9:55 for third place. Being beaten by these two was no disgrace for any Scots athlete and Lapraik now had good times for 880 yards, Mile, Two Miles and Three Miles to his credit by 1st June.

Although Lapraik did not race at the Scottish championships, there was an announcement in the Press on Monday 28th June under the heading SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES’ SELECTION the report read At a meeting of the representatives of the four Scottish Universities held in Glasgow, the following team was chosen to represent them in Paris on August 22nd to 28th in connection with the Students Olympic Games. 100-200 metres: FP Seymour (Edinburgh), DM Pearson (Glasgow), GRRW Caise (Aberdeen); 400 metres: RB Wylde (Edinburgh), JK Watson (Aberdeen); 800 metres: JH Lees (Glasgow); 1500 metres: JAH Lees (Glasgow), GM Carstairs (Edinburgh); 5000 metres: GM Carstairs (Edinburgh), JN Lapraik (Glasgow).

His own race was towards the end of the meeting – 27th August – and he was timed at 15:49.4 when he finished fourth. It had been a good summer for Ian Lapraik but he still had two years of competition left to him before graduation.

May 1937 saw him start his track season on 7th May in a match between Glasgow University and Queen’s, Belfast, with two seconds – the 880 yards and the Mile. Two weeks later the Glasgow University Sports took place at Westerlands and Lapraik had a good effort at retaining his Three Miles title but could only finish second, 40 yards down on JD Binning who won in 16:03. He again finished second in the Mile which was won in 4:35 by J Muir who had a lead of 20 yards at the tape. On 21st May in a triangular fixture between Glasgow, Aberdeen and St Andrews Universities at the University grounds at Garscadden, Lapraik turned out in the half-mile which he won despite being second across the finishing line – J Anderson of Aberdeen won by 20 yards in 2:02.9, but the judges decided that he had benefited from “pace-making” by the Aberdeen team captain who had run alongside Anderson down part of the finishing straight. Lapraik got the verdict and the points for his win in 2:05. The annual match featuring Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews Universities took place in Aberdeen on 13th June and Lapraik was out in the Three Miles – that meant facing GM Carstairs (Edinburgh) who was in outstanding form at this point and he could only finish third behind Carstairs and JW Martin (also of Edinburgh) with the winning time being 15:20.5 and Lapraik 50 yards behind the winner. That championship seemed to finish his summer’s racing – he never seemed to appear at any of the open sports meetings, or at the SAAA Championships although he would probably have done well at them.

As for cross-country racing, the GUAC history records for the late 30’s and up to 1941 are missing and there seems to be only a note saying that the running of Ian Lapraik was outstanding during the late thirties. Again, his name does not appear in the Scottish or District championships and the Glasgow University team did not run in the Edinburgh to Glasgow.

In May 1939 he started his season in the match between Glasgow University and Queen’s University, Belfast, on Monday 8th May in the Mile where he finished third in a race won in 4:36.2. The University championships were held on the following Saturday (13th) and Lapraik regained his Three Miles titles in the absence of Binning in 15:58.3, and finished second to Muir in the Mile, won in 4:37.0. He had two races the following weekend in University fixtures and after a Three Miles in 15:59.0, he raced to 2:05.0 the following afternoon.

On 27th May, in the Glasgow University v Trinity College, Dublin, at Westerlands, he won the Three Miles by 120 yards in 15:59.0 from another Glasgow runner, TL McGlynn. He was not in action at the Scottish University championships on 10th June at Craiglockhart. The World Student Games (the Universiade) which were to be held at Amsterdam, were switched to Monaco where, in the febrile atmosphere of a Europe on the verge of war, GM Cartsairs won the 5000m in 15:20.2.

Lapraik’s athletics career, like so many others came to a sudden halt with the outbreak of hostilities but the real John Neilson Lapraik came to the fore and the personality characteristics which helped him overcome his childhood medical problems and become one of Scotland’s best athletes, produced a genuine hero.

I quote from the ‘Herald’ of 13th June, 1998: On the day war was declared against Germany (September 3, 1939), he enlisted in the Highland Light Infantry, and after attending the Officer Cadet Training Unit at Dunbar (renowned for its toughness) he was commissioned into the Cameron Highlanders. Posted to the Middle East he soon volunteered for the Commandos where he observed that in 51 Commando, which contained both Jews and Arabs, the two races worked in perfect harmony. Soon afterwards he was sent to Malta to train small parties of canoeists in coastal raiding. However, he was soon leading raids along the North African coast and the Aegean islands. His physical development proceeded apace: his chest expanded from 37 inches to 43. He once paddled a canoe from Malta to Sicily, a distance of 70 miles, and on one occasion even managed to control a canoe in a force-nine gale. Successful raiding depended on daring, luck, initiative and quickness. In their flimsy craft the canoeists were always liable to be blown out of the water and were well aware that they were usually miles inside enemy-held territory from which no-one could rescue them, and their survival depended on their own efforts. “

The GU history simply says:

“Ian Tod Lapraik was an outstanding athlete in the Hares and Hounds during the late thirties . Ian Lapraik ( a law student) organised red gowns for the trips to Dublin and kilts for the journeys south of the Border, often a chilling experience! Tod Lapraik was known as ‘The Black Scot’ and carried out on his own acts of sabotage behind the enemy lines.”

He even has a Wikipedia page which briefly describes his war service.

Lapraik enlisted in the Highland Light Infantry on 3 September 1939, the day that war was declared against Germany. After training at the reputedly tough Officer Cadet Training Unit at Dunbar, he was commissioned in the Cameron Highlanders in 1941. In the same year he saw action with 51 Commando in Ethiopia, then known as Abyssinia, and won the Military Cross and the Ethiopian Lion of Judah.

In June 1943, he joined the newly formed Special Boat Squadron (SBS), based near Haifa, commanded by Lord Jellicoe. In 1943 he commanded an SBS unit operating from bases in Turkish waters. Notable among his successes was an attack with the Greek Sacred Squadron on Symi, when the German garrison was decimated and all their installations destroyed. For this and other actions, he was awarded a bar to his Military Cross.

In 1944, the Squadron was expanded to Regimental status, though still part of the SAS group. The unit was now styled the Special Boat Service, and the three operational Detachments were likewise expanded into Squadrons: Major Lapraik commanded M Squadron. In 1945, he was awarded the DSO, in recognition of his courage and leadership.

He was then attached to the Greek Sacred Regiment Sacred Squadron, which had also been expanded from its original Squadron status, and remained with them until the end of the war. This was a very difficult period in Greek history and his service was further recognised by the award of Officer of the Order of the British Empire from Britain, and the Order of the Phoenix from Greece. He also received the Greek War Cross, 2nd Class (Β’ τάξεως) for his earlier operations.

His skill in watermanship was legendary. He once paddled a canoe from Malta to Sicily, a distance of 70 miles, and on one occasion even managed to control a canoe in a force-nine gale.

He was six times mentioned in despatches;

wounded six times;

captured three times but always escaped.

After the war, the SAS and the SBS were disbanded from the regular establishment, but in 1947 the SAS returned, as a unit of the Territorial Army. This unit was 21 SAS (V) and Major Lapraik now commanded B Squadron, whose senior ranks were composed mostly of veterans of the SBS. Between 1973 and 1983, Ian Lapraik was the Honorary Colonel of 21 SAS.

In his civil life, Ian Lapraik worked in publishing. He died in Buckinghamshire on 15 March 1985.

That is all very impressive, but to get the measure of the tasks he carried out we should look at one of the operations he was involved in. The Raid on Symi took place from 13th to 15th July in 1944 as part of the Mediterranean Campaign. Two allied Special Forces were involved – the British SBS and the Greek Sacred Band. who raided the German and Italian garrisons on the island of Symi in the Aegean Sea. During the raid, the German and Italian forces were overwhelmed and the Allies forces evacuated Symi as planned. In detail –

100 British men were involved and the Commanding Officer was Ian ‘Jock’ Lapraik. We can go back to Wikipedia for further description:

The British and Greek forces from ten motor launchers and supported by schooners and caiques landed unopposed and by dawn all three forces were overlooking their respective targets. As soon as light took effect the attack began, firstly on the harbor defenses with mortar and machine guns; the German garrison was taken by surprise. Two German barges which had followed the British boats came into the harbour only to be overwhelmed by gunfire, after which they were sunk.

The other objective was the high point known as Molo Point; SBS men took the hill without much opposition but they were counterattacked by a German force retreating from the main town. Running up the hill the Germans soon encountered heavy small arms fire and grenades. A Greek platoon below cut them off and as a result they surrendered

The last objective was the castle just above the harbor and fire was concentrated with Vickers machine guns and mortars opening up on the battlements. Whilst crossing a bridge SBS men became pinned down and had to stay there for a while. Fighting was bitter here and the majority of the casualties were taken in this area but mortar fire was concentrated on the castle. A captured German officer and a Royal naval Lieutenant seconded to the SBS called out for the castle to surrender and after three hours of further fighting an Italian Caraninieri unit walked out and surrendered.

Further in land the other German position in a Panormitis Monastery was attacked and the men driven out and only surrendered when they came to a promontory by the sea. The island was thus secured and mopping up was done on other possible strong points on the island.

With the consolidation the SBS began planting demolition charges, this included gun emplacements, ammunition, fuel and explosive dumps. Even the harbor wasn’t spared, altogether nineteen German caiques, some displacing 150 tons were destroyed. During this time the Luftwaffe made a number of attacks on the island but to little effect.

With all the objectives taken it was decided to evacuate the island and so the Greeks and the SBS withdrew with the booty and prisoners. A small section of SBS remained on the island until the last possible moment. Two German motor launches attempted to land but the SBS opened fire setting the two ships on fire as they tried to withdraw. The last of the men to leave on a barge ran into an E Boat but with enough captured weapons and ammo they were able to open fire and sink the vessel for no loss.”

That’s word for word from the encyclopedia and gives a good idea of what his war service was all about. There were also many acts of individual bravery – such as the sabotage mentioned in the GUAC history. He was a much decorated soldier and his principal honours and awards are noted below – note that these are the principal awards and the list is not exhaustive.

Honours and Awards:

*Distinguished Service Order, awarded 18 October 1945;

*Officer of the Order of the British Empire, awarded 9th August 1945

*Military Cross, 19 August 1941, and Bar 3 February 1944

*Territorial Efficiency Decoration, 14 September 1956

*Mentioned in Despatches, 25 January 1945

*Lion of Judah (Abyssinia)

*War Cross (Greece), 2nd Class, 14 October 1949.

There is really nothing to add to the story of Ian Lapraik other than to say, go and read more about him!

SAAA Ten Miles Track Championship: 1886-1900

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Admin

The SAAA Championships were first held in 1883 and after three years the Ten Miles track race was added. It was never held on the same day, or even on the same weekend, as the championships proper but the winners all received the same medals and status as the rest did. It appeared on the schedule before there was a 220 yards championship – or a three miles or a discus or a javelin come to that. Down through the years until it finally came to a halt in 1974 it was won by top distance men, be they track, road or cross-country specialists.

The first 10 miles championship was won by 26 year old AP Findlay of Clydesdale Harriers on 28th June at Powderhall Grounds in Edinburgh. This was two days after the championship itself, also held at Powderhall. He was the only finisher in the race and his time was 55:16.8. Earlier that year he had won the first ever Scottish Cross-Country Championship at Lanark Race course. George Dallas in his chapter on cross-country development in the ‘Fifty Years of Athletics’ describes the race thus: “The first Cross-Country Championship was held on Lanark Racecourse. It was a challenge match between the CH and the EH. The venue was unsuitable for the CH and out of fourteen nominations, only four contested the race. The EH had seven men forward. AP Findlay (by far the oldest runner in the field) won from DS Duncan , who was at that time considered the best long distance runner in Scotland. Findlay was a stone mason to trade and a very hardy athlete. When the news reached Ayr (his home town) preparations were made to greet him on the arrival of the train at 9:12 pmn. He did not turn up and a still larger crowd met the 11:20 pm train,but again there was no Findlay. At 7:30 on the Sunday morning, he arrived at Ayr, footsore and weary, having walked from Barrhead to Kilmarnock to catch the mail train for Ayr. He had no special preparation for the race, which had been arranged only three weeks before it was run.” The tale is worth repeating because it illustrates the calibre of man that Findlay was – won the track race three years in succession. The times in succeeding years were 55:21.6 in 1887 and 55:33 in 1888. Christened Archibald Peter, he was a bachelor all his days and died in 1905 aged 45.

In 1887, the event was part of a second day’s athletics by the SAAA and with about ‘only 1000’ spectators present, four men contested the race: AP Findlay (noted as Ayr FC although he ran cross-country as Clydesdale Harriers), WM Jack (EH and WCAC), J McWilliam (Kilmarnock Harriers) and W Henderson (Clydesdale Harriers). Findlay went into the lead at the start and won by half a lap from Henderson with the other dropping out. 1888 was the first year that the race took place in April – 7th April – and it was to stay on a weekday in April, well away from the championships. Findlay had won the Scottish cross-country championships again that year with a display of strength and stamina which must have daunted the opposition for some time to come. Held in Ayr, his home territory, Findlay went off the trail at the start and was accused of deliberately leading the field astray. The runners are said to have covered approximately 16 miles that day with some having to have their shoes cut from their feet in the main street in Ayr and others coming back in cabs. A couple of months later he won the ten miles from DS Duncan and P Addison. His hat-trick of wins would be equalled by his club-mate Andrew Hannah over the next three years.

Hannah’s first victory was on 12th April, 1889, at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Hannah would go on to be one of the finest distance runner his country produced, winning 5 cross-country championships, 6 track ten miles titles, 4 four mile titles and 1 one mile as well as setting numerous records. His victory in 1889 was timed at 55:30.4 and clubmate Charles Pennycook (Clydesdale Harriers and Arthurlie FC) was second. Later in the season at the SAAA Championships on 22nd June, Hannah was second to JW McWilliam in the four miles where the winner set a new Scottish record with Hannah taking more than three seconds from his own best. In 1890, Hannah went one better and won the four miles as well as the ten. His time in the latter was 55:39.4 to win from TIS Hunter (EH). A year later, 2nd April, 1891, at Hampden Park, he won in anew Championship Best Performance and Scottish Record time of 54:18.4 from WM Carment. It was his third consecutive victory and unfortunately he missed the event in 1892.

Hannah was back in 1893 however and won again in 55:12.6 from SJ Cornish (Edinburgh Harriers) and J Walker (Clydesdale Harriers) at Hampden Park on 27th March. Five runners started this time but only three finished the race which Hannah won by two laps. His fifth win was in 1894 at Powderhall on 2nd April where again there was a championship best performance and a new Scottish record of 54:02.6. Only three ran: Hunter and Cornish of Edinburgh Harriers being the opposition. Cornish was again second, some 460 yards behind Hannah. Hunter dropped out in the ninth lap. Hannah’s sixth 10 miles title, which completed a second hat-trick, was won in 53:26 – another best championship performance and another Scottish record. This was on 12th April at Hampden Park and he had taken 36.4 seconds from the previous record. W Robertson (Clydesdale Harriers) and A McCallum (Partick Harriers) were second and third and both inside standard time for the distance. He defeated Robertson the following year for a version of the Scottish title in 54:56.8 – ‘a version’ because at this point there was a split between the SAAA and Clydesdale Harriers who formed the Scottish Amateur Athletic Union and the two bodies held competing championships for the next two years before reconciliation. RA Hay had won the SAAA 10 miles track title in 1896 in 55:56.6.

While he was doing so well on the track, Hannah won the Scottish cross-country title – in 1890.1891, 1893, 1894 and 1896. A remarkable athlete who remained in the sport as an official and administrator being one of the time keepers at the London Olympics in 1906.

The title in 1897 went to W Robertson (Clydesdale Harriers) when he was the only runner to complete the event – his time of 56:19 was almost a minute and a half slower than Hannah’s last race at the distance and almost three minutes behind his Scottish record. Robertson won the event again the following year (9th April, 1898, at Powderhall) from DM Cameron and AR Blewes in 55: 10.8.

In 1899 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, the title was won by WM Badenoch – it was another race where no other competitor finished. His time was 58:04.2, which was the slowest time on record. In 1900, it was J Paterson who won from David W Mill and JJ McCaffrey in 57:32.2. It was one of the best and closest races of the series with Gibb (of Watsonians) winning by four yards from Mill (Clydesdale Harriers) and McCafferty. Earlier in the year Paterson had won the national cross-country title for the third time and Mill was to take it from him in 1901 and retain it in 1902.

John Myatt’s Photographs

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Admin

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Jackie Laidlaw’s Racing

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Admin

Jackie Laidlaw: Shettleston: 10 July 1937

1930	24 Jun	Hawkhill	Mile	4:44.2	1
1930	5 July	Easter Road	Mile hcp	4:27.2 off 100 yds	1
1931	23 June	Hawkhill	Mile	4:30.0	1
1931	23 June	Hawkhill	Half mile (Sco v Ire)	2:02.4	1
1931	6 June	Hawick	Mile hcp	4:33.0 off 60 yds	1
1931	22 May	Inverleith	Mile hcp	4:25.0 off 75 yds	1
1931	27 June	Hampden	Mile (Sco champs.)	4:35.	2
1931	26 June	Hampden	Half mile (Sco champs.)	2:03.8	1 heat
1932	16 July	Powderhall	Half mile (Sco v Ire)	2:02.9	2
1932	11 June	Hawick	Half mile hcp	1:59.6 off 16 yds	1
1932	24 June	Hampden	Half mile	2:01.0	2 heat
1932	25 June	Hampden	Half mile (Sco champs.)	1:59.0	2
1932	25 June	Hampden	Mile (Sco champs.)	4:29.	2
1932	8 Jun	Hawkhill	Half mile	2:05.2	1
1932	8 Jun	Hawkhill	Mile	4:38.0	1
1932	4 July	Inverleith	Mile	4:52.2	2
1932	7 May	Inverleith	Mile hcp	4:22.8 off 30 yards	2
1932	30 July	Powderhall	2 miles	9:59.6	1
1933	16 June	Meadows (Edinburgh)	Mile	4:28.2	1
1933	16 June	Meadows (Edinburgh)	Half mile	2:07.0	1
1933	27 May	Hampden	1000y hcp	2:16.8 full distance	1
1933	14 May	Inverleith	Mile hcp	4:20.0 off 20 yds	1
1933	13 July	Craiglockhart	Mile	4:28.0	1
1933	14 June	Hawkhill	Mile	4:25.8	1
1933	22 May	Hampden	Half mile hcp	1:58.4 off 8 yds (heavy track)	1
1933	24 June	Hampden	Mile (Sco champs.)	4:20.6	2
1933	8 July	Powderhall	2 miles team race		1
1934	3 July	Helenvale Park	2 miles team race	9:29.0	1
1934	21 May	Ibrox	3 miles hcp	14:46.4 off 40 yds	1
1934	13 May	Inverleith	Mile hcp	4:24.5 off 10 yds	2
1934	4 July	Craiglockhart	Mile	4:25.8	1
1934	16 June	Penicuik	Mile	4:36.8	1
1934	12 June	Hawkhill	Mile	4:27.8	1
1934	19 June	Hawkhill	Mile	4:32.6	1
1934	4 August	London	3 miles (Empire Games)	14:50.	7
1934	5 August?	London	Mile (Empire Games)		unplaced in h2
1934	26 May	Hampden	Half mile opening leg in relay	1:59.0	1
1934	23 June	Hampden	Mile (Sco champs.)	4:27.	2
1935	5 August	Glasgow	Mile hcp	4:20.4 off 20 yds	1
1935	29 June	Hampden	3 miles	14:44.8	3
1935	22 June	Hampden	3 miles (Sco champs.)	14:46.4	1
1935	1 June	Hampden	3 miles team race	14:59.4	1
1935	20 August	Helenvale Park	1 ½ miles hcp	6:46. off 25 yds	3
1935	20 May	Ibrox	3 miles hcp	14:31.0 off 75 yds	1
1935	4 June	Meadowbank	Mile	4:31.6	1
1935	27 July	Shawfield	2 miles hcp	9:16.2 off 45 yds	1
1935	22 July	Berwick	2 miles		1
1937	10 July	Carntyne AAC sports , Shettleston	2 miles	9:38.0	1
1937	12 June	Powderhall	Mile hcp	4:27.0 off 25 yds	2
1937	8 June	Hawkhill	Mile	4:30.2	1
1937	22 June	New Myreside	Mile	4:29.5	1
1937	8 July	Craiglockhart	3 miles	14:37.5	1
1937	30 June	Craiglockhart	3 miles	14:51.4	1
1937	15 June	Goldenacre	3 miles	14:57.5	1
1937	5 June	Hampden	3 miles	14:59.2	1
1937	8 June	Penicuik	Mile	4:40.2	1
1937	17 Aug	Helenvale Park	2 miles	9:21.5	2
1938	30 July	Shawfield	Mile hcp	4:21.0 off 14 yds	1
1938	31 May	Hampden	3 miles	15:00.8	1
1938	14 June	Craiglockhart	3 miles	14:41.2	1
1938	25 June	Hampden	3 miles (Sco champs.)	15:06.0	2
1938	7 June	Goldenacre	3 miles	15:06.6	1
1938	9 July	Dundee	Mile hcp	4:20.6 off 90 yds	1
1939	20 June	New Myreside	Mile	4:39.2	1
1939	28 Jun	Helenvale Park	1 ½ miles	6:58.0	3
1939	8 June	New Meadowbank	Mile	4:36.6	1
1939	13 June	New Meadowbank	Mile	4:35.4	1

Laidlaw was badly injured at a meeting at Firhill Park on 18th May 1936 and missed the track season.

1934 Empire Games 2 miles, The Scotsman:

„Scottish hopes in the 3 miles were raised by the excellent running of J.P. Laidlaw for about the first two miles. He was lying third at that stage, but the uneven pace and the hard track told heavily against him in the closing stages, and he fell behind to seventh place. His time was approximately 14 minutes 50 seconds.“

Many thanks to Alex Wilson for the photograph and the work done compiling this list.

Athletics in Yugoslavia

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Admin

There have been several references to Hugh’s stay in Belgrade but he himself wrote an article for a VPAAC magazine in June 1972. Colin Young, the editor of the magazine, sent me a copy and I reprint it here.

ATHLETICS IN YUGOSLAVIA

During a stay of nine months in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1969-70, I indulged in some athletics with the Red Star club. Members will have heard of this club in connection with European Football, but as in so many continental countries, the club is multi-sport with sections catering for football, swimming, basketball, athletics, etc.

When I was there, Red Star (Crvena Zvezda in Serbo-Croat) had a large incomplete stadium accommodating 100,000 spectators, one reserve football pitch, one blaes training area, and a ramshackle, pre-fabricated changing hut of immediate post-war vintage. The athletics stripping room and its lukewarm spray were shared by the men and the women but not simultaneously. Immediately after I left Yugoslovakia everything changed. A tartan track was laid(one of seven put down by a German firm in July-August 1970) and I imagine the changing facilities were transferred to a more suitable site in the main stadium. So much for my luck.

The athletics section of the club was immensely strong with many high quality athletes including several national record-holders. In 1970 they were the Yugoslav Club Champions, and they would certainly win the British League Championship. If you look at the following list of best performers competing for them in 1970, you will understand why.

10.3, 20.9, 49.0, 1:51.0, 3:46.0, 13:35.0, 27:58.0, 8:52.0, 14.9, 51.8, 7’0″, 13′, 26′, 50′, 62′, 170′, 180′, 235′ and they could put out two sprint relay teams clocking 42.3. With 56.4, I was the fourth fastest in the club in the 400m Hurdles.

Despite the impression given by my description of their dismal changing rooms, Red Star seemed to have plenty of money, enough to lay a tartan athletics track, pay for full time coaches, kit out their members, run training camps in distant localities and also to subsidise the diets of the “heavies” (to augment the usual Yugoslav diet of beans, yoghurt and sour cabbage) and to distribute direct “grants” to their very best athletes.

Dane Korica, who competed against David Bedford at last year’s British Games and later came fourth in both the 5000m and 10000m in Helsinki, received about £20 per month from the club – the same amount as he earned in his job as a motor mechanic. This is quite normal and the Yugoslavs were amazed, almosty disbelieving, when I informed them that the likes of Olympic champion David Hemery got no “grants”. Was their disbelief justified, I would note that I was accused of lying when I told them that in Scotland we had tp pay for our own kit, club membership, travelling expenses and 7/6 per event to enter our own championships.

I trained in the stable of “Chika (uncle) Atsa”, a small refined gentleman who was coach to the national team in throwing events. I found myself among a small group consisting of some first class sprinters (10.5 men) , another 400m hurdler with whom I had great verbal battles, all in good fun, and an assortment of aspiring middle-distance runners, distance runners turned hammer throwers, sprinters turned javelin throwers, and some rather promising girls.

There was a measure of rivalry between the various coaches and their charges.

As to the aspiring athletes mentioned above, I grieved for them, as they trained all winter with us in the nearby parks and in the national Army stadium, venue of the 1962 European Championships, and got no cmpetition when the summer came around. Only the very best athletes are adequately catered for in Yugoslavia. There are no inter-club matches where the less gifted can get a run out. The season for me was as follows:

6th & 13th May – Belgrade clubs meting; 26th & 27th May – Republic of Serbia Clubs Championships (best twelve in the republic in previous local meetings to compete); 30th & 31st June – Yugoslav Clubs Championships(best twelve from republic championship to compete). There were also, after I left, another Yugoslav championship (slightly different from above) and an individual championship. Add to these an international meeting in Belgrade , from which I had to withdraw because of illness, and you will see that the average competent athlete (stop flattering yourself boy!) can expect a total of six races a year. So despite the amount of money poured into the sport. domestic competition is in a poor state.

Victoria Park club members may take heart from the fact that athletics in Yugoslavia where some deal of money is available, is in a worse-off state than athletics in Scotland about whose shortcomings I could preach at length. But I’ll keep the preaching to another article and hope in the meantime that the vagaries of Red Star, Belgrade, have provided interest and amusement.

Hugh wrote that in 1972 and it is of real interest to note that in 1969 the athletes in Yugoslavia were being paid – it is even more eye-opening to see how little competition was available to the athletes.

Alex Dow

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Admin

Alex Dow should be better known than he is. He ran for Kirkcaldy YMCA in the 1930’s, won the SAAA 10 miles track race, ran for Scotland in five international championships and was always in the first three counters at a time when the Scottish team won more medals than in any other decade. The fact that his club was never ever right up there in the rankings or championships of course might have contributed to the ignorance of his career – nowadays he might well be recruited one way or another to a more fashionable club, but in his day good runners ran for their own clubs and were happy to do so. A native of Collessie, he lived in Dysart and died comparatively recently – in 1999 at the age of 92.

A local paper remarks on his start in the sport: “He had rather an amusing baptism in the sport. While with the Black Watch at Perth, he was sent out with a squad to the North Inch and told to run a mile. He won. After that, Dow won several races in the Army. After his discharge from the Army, Dow joined Kirkcaldy YMCA and speedily made his mark.”

He ran cross-country running in the winter of 1933/34 where he did well enough to win the Eastern District title and also took the Scottish Junior title. Colin Shields in “Whatever the Weather” comments that “Alex Dow (Kirkcaldy YMCA) ran away from his rivals to win the Eastern District title by almost a minute at Musselburgh racecourse, the first of many successes that included an ICCU international bronze medal just two years later.” Of the National he commented that he ran well to finish fifth and win the National Junior title. The international that year was held on home soil – at Ayr – and there were hopes for a Scots victory but according to Shields, they were simply ‘run off their feet ‘ after a fast start. Dow in 12th place was the third Scot to finish behind Flockhart (6th) and Sutherland (11th) to gain a bronze team medal.

He really sprung into prominence, however, on 14th April 1934 when he won the SAAA 10 Miles Track title. The “Glasgow Herald” reported on the race as follows: “J Suttie Smith, the champion was indisposed and did not defend his honour. A Dow, Kirkcaldy YMCA Harriers, the Scottish Junior and Eastern District Cross Country Champion, gave further evidence of his capabilities by winning rather easily. The champion was the only absentee of the 12 entrants for the 10 Mile Race. Once the runners settled down, it was seen that JC Flockhart, the Scottish Cross-Country Champion, A Dow, SK Tombe and JF Wood had the title in their keeping. They ran in the above order for seven and a half miles, at which point Dow went to the front for the first time. Flockhart and Tombe were close up at this stage but Wood had dropped back and seemed out of the running. Once in the lead Dow drew steadily away. Running strongly and in effortless style, the Kirkcaldy man went on to win his first SAAA title by some 200 metres. Tombe also finished strongly to beat Flockhart by 50 yards. The intermediate times were:-

One Mile 5 min 11 2-5th sec; Two Miles 10 27 3-5th; Three Miles 15 min 46 2-5th sec; Four Miles 21 min 07 sec; Five Miles 26 min 27 1-5th sec; Six Miles 31 min 32 2-5th sec; Seven Miles 37 min 13 1-5th sec; Eight Miles 42 min 36 sec; Nine Miles 47 min 51 4-5th sec.

1. A Dow 53:12; 2. SK Tombe 53 min 40 2-5th sec; 3. JC Flockhart 53:49.

Alex Wilson, who gave me a lot of the information for the profile (and who in turn owes a debt of gratitude to Don Macgregor, who is not only a great runner but an athletics historian), has been good enough to send me a copy of Dow’s own extract from the race programme with splits taken on the day by one of his entourage.

As Alex says, with splits of 26:27 and 26:54 he wasn’t a bad judge of pace. When it is borne in mind that his club did not have access to proper track for training, it is remarkable that the pace should be so even – the YMCA trained in the Beveridge Park, on grass, meetings were evidently held in Stark’s Park too in those days, but the harriers obviously didn’t have access to a cinder track.

In the following cross-country season, 1934-35, he won the Scottish YMCA championship, and then Dow was seventh in the National behind Wylie (Darlington), Flockhart, Suttie Smith, Freeland, C Smith and William Sutherland. Excellent company to be in. In the International on 23rd March in Paris, he was second Scot to finish when he crossed the finishing line in tenth place with only Wylie (second overall) ahead of him. Flockhart, Suttie Smith and the rest were behind him: the “Glasgow Herald” simply said “Alex Dow (Kirkcaldy YMCA and 10-mile champion) again rose to the occasion, gaining ground steadily to finish tenth.” The local paper described it as a “Splendid, judicious race.”

Into summer 1935 and Alex was again competing in the SAAA 10 Miles track championship: this time he finished third behind Willie Sutherland and Jimmy Flockhart. He gained another medal in the National Championship at the end of the cross-country season when, according to Shields, he was as far back as thirteenth at one point but came through to be third at the finish. About the International in Blackpool, we read , “Alex Dow in all his five Scottish international appearances in the 1930’s, was never outside the first three scorers for the Scottish team, displaying a natural ability that gained him many victories without any great training schedule or hard work behind him. In the 1936 international Dow was at his best over flat fast course with scattered artificial obstacles. He was part of a team that included three men – J Suttie Smith, RR Sutherland and WC Wylie – who had all finished runner-up in recent years, but the main Scottish hope lay with James C Flockhart who was undefeated all season. The race was run in blazing hot sunshine and Dow, accustomed toi the torrid heat from his Army service in the Far East, was more at home with the weather than his colleagues. Starting in tenth position after the opening rush, he was eighth at half distance, sixth at 6 miles, and a relentless surging finish brought him home third, just six seconds behind Jack Holden, a three times winner, with British 6 and 10 miles record holder William Eaton finishing a clear winner by a 150 yard margin.”

1936 International Cross-Country Championship: Dow is Number 55

A local paper at this time described his training: “Dow trains on Tuesdays and Thursdays over the road varying his distances from three to five miles, and covers seven miles over the country on a Saturday. Dow does not bother himself unduly about diet, and ha so far failed to set for himself any special course of training for big events – more proof of his natural ability. No present day runner covers the ground with less effort. If one carefully watches his striding methods, it will be observed that his leg lift is of the minimum height, reminiscent of the style of the great Arthur Newton of South Africa who holds many long distance road records.”

If his selection for international duty so far had been eminently clear cut, this was not the case for 1937. He finished 102nd in the National at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh and was selected to run for Scotland. It had been the case that the first six were automatically selected and I don’t know of any runner finishing outside the first 100 to be picked for the International. Alex Wilson has looked into this carefully and has this to say: I have found some interesting stuff on Alex Dow’s selection for the 1937 ICCU Championship. It seems that it was the subject of heated debate. Many felt that the running order in the national championships should be the sole criterion for selection rather than the, in part, discretionary selection method favoured by the SCCU. According to Athlon (an athletics journalist) ‘This year the Scottish officials accepted the first three men – Flockhart, Farrell and Sutherland – without discussion, but all the others were put to the vote.’

One item (source unknown) re the Scottish Cross-Country Championships states: ‘The most remarkable failure was that of Alex Dow of Kirkcaldy YMCA. During the season Dow has hardly shown the form expected of him, but few looked to see him fail to finish inside the first 100. The Union, by including him in the team for Brussels, have shown they keep their confidence in him, and certainly his distinguished service in the past gives a guarantee that his form on Saturday was a temporary lapse. Dow may make a good recovery at Brussels.’

Another item states: ‘One of the most distracting features of the Redford race was the running of Alex Dow, Kirkcaldy, who finished only 102nd. His loss of form seems inexplicable, but bearing in mind his brilliant running for Scotland in previous races, the selection committee has given him a place in the team again.’

Athlon wrote re the ICCU selections: ‘I do not think the team is open to much criticism. the selectors have evidently chosen A Dow on the strength of his last season’s running, when he finished third in both Scottish and International championships. I believe the Dysart man has been troubled by a leg injury, obviously he was not fit on Saturday, for more than a hundred competitors beat him. I am not finding fault with the Union selectors in finding a place for Dow, but I think they are being rather inconsistent. Only a couple of years ago they left out RR Sutherland because he only finished 26th in the national event. Last year however, they chose WC Wylie after he had run 44th in Lanark, and he did not let them down in Blackpool’.

The 1937 International team – Dow on the extreme left

So how did he do in the international after so much ink had been spilt over his selection? Second Scot across the line, in 17th position, beating RR Sutherland by three places! The story of the day however was not his return to top form but rather team mate Jim Flockhart’s victory. Read about it here. The “Glasgow Herald” after devoting almost all of the report to Jim Flockhart had a paragraph that said: “Alex Dow fully justified the confidence of the Scottish selection committee. In finishing 17th he was second counting man for his country, beating RR Sutherland by three places. JE Farrell “stitched” badly at one point of the race but hung on grimly and eventually finished 23rd and fourth for Scotland.”

Alex Wilson’s comment is that “in the 1930’s at least the Scottish selectors had an uncannily good hand. These were clearly people with their ears close to the ground.” My own perspective is that at present selectors find many ways to avoid actually having to select a team – automatic qualifications, rigid trials, etc – and the thought of picking a runner who had been out of the first 100 in the national would be a boldness too far!

1937/38 was Dow’s last year and the 1938 international was his last. The national was to be held at Ayr in 1938 and 30 prominent runners were invited by Captain WH Dunlop to go for a training run over the course to familiarise themselves with it before the actual race. The race was on the same day as the English national so RR Sutherland missed it as did WC Wylie. John Emmet Farrell won the title by 150 yards from ‘a fresh looking Alex Dow‘ and PJ Allwell (Ardeer). The international was held at the Balmoral Showgrounds in Belfast where the Scots all ran poorly. Dow was 27th and third Scot. Some Press reports said that he had been second in the national despite not having trained hard and the Glasgow Herald report on the international, after lamenting the poor form of the Scots generally and the disappointing team performance had this to say of Dow: “A Dow found conditions against him and, in extenuation of his failure, it is remembered that he rarely does well except in fine weather and on firm ground. The race at Belfast was run in driving rain.” That is consistent with the reports of his run in 1936 where it was reported that the hot weather and blazing sunshine had suited him after his Army service in the Far East. He was however third Scot to finish.

He ran in other races – eg two weeks before the international he ran a fast time for his club in the Perth to Kirkcaldy Road Relay – but his international career was finished. If you look at any of the team photographs you will see that, along with RR Sutherland, he was the tallest in the team – probably over six feet – and it is no surprise to find out that he was a policeman. He took up a post in Palestine in 1939 his running career, as far as we know it, was at an end.

Like many of his generation, Dow was a very talented athlete who had a short career – the length of which was dictated by his occupation, it was terminated by his occupation too. If we look back at his ten miles triumph in 1934, the pace judgment was immaculate and in most of his races he tended to run steadily throughout and come through dramatically when others were tiring. This was done without the assistance of pace training on a track although it is possible that his road runs were what we would today call ‘tempo runs’! The country was blessed with many fine athletes in the 1930’s – possibly a golden generation?

Some Tributes …

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Admin

Lynne McDougall

John Anderson has had many athletes pass through his hands and they almost universally have good memories and entertaining tales to tell, Some of these tributes are set out here – appreciations of help given and friendships made and maintained. I await more which will be added once I have seen them. First of all there is Dave Hislop who has known John since the early 1970’s. Dave ran for Edinburgh AC and Birchfield Harrierss with pb’s of 53.08 for 400m Hurdles and 49.25 for 400m flat. He ran for Scotland no fewer than 10 times between 1978 and 2004. Details of his career can be found at

http://www.scotstats.com/sats/uploads/ARCHIVE%202013/Final%20Profile-Men%20G-L.pdf

He says:

John Anderson -A Few Words! Perhaps a contradiction of terms but here goes…

I have had the privilege of knowing John for some 40 years during which time he has fulfilled a number of role in respect of me and my family ranging from coach, friend, employer, mentor, confidant, advisor, godfather to our son to mention but a few. He is undoubtedly one of the few people I know who is capable of carrying out all of the above and more…

Without his influence there is no way I would have achieved what I achieved in my sporting career or my professional career. John is the type of person who gives people the skills to enhance their life it is then up to them to take these opportunities.

The sheer number of international athletes John has coached not to mention those who may not have attained international level but who reached heights that they would not have achieved without John’s guidance, speaks for his prowess as a coach.

I could write a book on the experiences, as could the hundreds if not thousands of others, I have shared with him over the years and still continue to do so but this is not the purpose of these words.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly recognise the impact John Anderson has made on not only my life but the lives of my wife, Kay and son, Jordan. The world of athletics has certainly benefitted from his input to the Nth degree.

To finish then I would just like to say a massive thank you John for all you have done for me and my family and also from those who have been fortunate enough to have been part of John’s life.”

It’s a sound testimonial to John’s ability to inspire and educate in a way that is not narrowly focused on sporting success, but to go a wee bit further than that – or maybe a big bit further!

***

Second up is Lynne MacDougall whose career is documented at www.scottishdistancerunninghistory.co.uk in the section entitled The Milers.

“I first met John in Portugal at an International Athletes’ Club training camp in the spring of 1983. John had organised a paarlauf session on the cross country course for the endurance athletes there. As usual he was very enthusiastic about the session and turned it into a bit of an event. He has a very loud voice and used it to effect to encourage all of the athletes to work hard! John certainly made an impression on me that day.

At that time my coach, Ronnie Kane had just died and I was looking around for a new coach. Jimmy Campbell got in touch with John and asked if he might take me on.

John lived in Coventry with his wife Dorothy and I used to travel down to stay with them so that I could train with his group, which at that time included Dave Moorcroft, Judy Livermore, Eugene Gilkes, John Graham and the Australian 1500m runner Pat Scammell. I have heard critics of John say he only worked with ‘stars’ who came to him fully formed, but that is nonsense as he worked with many people from when they were young and unknown and also with many club athletes who were never going to become international athletes. However, he expected all of his athletes to be committed to training and to take a professional approach to their athletics whatever their standard. He and Dorothy opened their house to athletes and it was always full of people dropping in for advice or staying over to train. Dorothy is a wonderful lady who went out of her way to look after all of the athletes and make them feel welcome. I was just 18 when I first met Dorothy and being looked after like this when I was away from home meant a lot to me.

With John’s guidance I began to get on track with my training after having lost my way a bit after Ronnie’s death. In my view, John’s training is based around principles of specificity and speed endurance. There is no periodisation in the strictest sense, but training in the winter and competition seasons are different as in the winter the emphasis is on training and in the summer on competition. Typical sessions included 4x600m with 5 mins recovery; 8x300m with 3 mins recovery; 150/300m x6 with the same distance jog recovery; 10x400m and 4x1000m for 5k runners. I also did 10mile runs and ‘stepping stones’: runs which are runs where you run 1mile at, say, 6min per mile followed by a mile at 6.30min per mile for 4 or 6 miles. I also did 20min fast runs.

With this training schedule and the support from the group I made a lot of progress over the winter of 1983. John’s encouragement was a significant factor in this. He was always very positive and encouraging of his athletes and has a great belief in them. My belief in myself did not always match John’s and I guess this was the one difficulty we had in our relationship. But I think that the training system works very well and I based my training around it when I was coaching for a short time with good results.

In 1984 I took around 10 seconds off my pb for 1500m and made the Olympic team. I remember the Olympic Trials in Gateshead well. It was the first time my parents and sister met John. My 18 year old sister did not have a ticket, but this was no problem for John. He liked to play a game with himself involving getting into every stadium he ever visited free. He put his arm round my sister and walked her into the stadium talking intently but every once in a while shouting out hello to passers by. As he expected no one checked whether they had tickets or accreditation because he looked like he was perfectly entitled to walk through the entrance. Alison got one of the best seats in the stand!

John was one of the British team’s coaches in LA, with specific responsibility for multi-events. As a 19 year old it was great to have my coach in the Olympic village with me. One day I went with John and two of the decathletes in the team for a stroll in Venice Beach. Venice attracts a weird and wonderful crowd of people and it was probably one of the few occasions I spent with John where he was one of the least flamboyant characters around!

Mostly, though John was the centre of attention! Gradually all of his athletes got used to this and it was just what they expected of John. I saw this quality being used to great effect though a number of times. One night we were at a charity event part of which involved an auction. The bidding was very sluggish and items were being sold for very small amounts. ‘Watch this’ John said to me getting up and taking over the mike from a timid announcer. In the next 20 mins John got the whole room so enthused that the bids tripled in value. The crowning moment was when he convinced someone to pay £250 for a photograph of two gladiators from the show he was working on at the time! This anecdote highlights some important aspects of John’s character and why he has had such an impact on many athletes and coaches lives: he sees opportunities when others might not, he does not think something is ever a lost cause, he is willing to pull out all of the stops to make things happen and he keeps on going until they do.

John is also fearless. He made much of his upbringing in the tough and mean streets of Glasgow (which was firmly tongue in cheek to those of us actually from Glasgow!) to develop a certain reputation. However I did see this toughness on one occasion when we were on a training camp in Spain. One of the girls in our group came running in and told us there were thieves in one of the athletes’ rooms. John was out of the door faster than Usain Bolt heading to the room which was in another building. He single handedly grabbed the two thieves and held them both against a wall until the police arrived! The police also took John down to the station to investigate this citizen’s arrest as the thieves complained about his treatment! However he was released a short time after and the athletes got all of their stuff back.

I continued to work with John all through the 1980s at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and Auckland where he was an England Team coach. I stopped competing for a time in the early 1990s but then in 1995 I decided to start training again more seriously. I had a couple of people who helped me but eventually I got in touch with John again. He was living in Dunfermline and so I was able to see him again regularly. As I was older it was a different sort of relationship. It was more about chatting through ideas. It was great to have John and Dorothy’s support again and to know there were other people I could turn to when I had problems. John helped me train for the 5000m and I had a fairly successful season in 1997.

My track career did not end very well. I dropped out of the AAA’s 5000m and I felt that I was done with running. However, I started to run more on the roads and began to enjoy it again. Once again I went to speak to John about coaching. As I said earlier he does not give up on lost causes and suggested I train for the marathon! Despite having no background in distance running (I had never even done a half marathon) and my not exactly successful career to date he believed I could make the Olympic team!

Training for the marathon involved longer runs, but was still built a lot on ‘speedwork’. For example I did the ‘stepping stones’ sessions – but they were 9 miles long; a common session was 5miles fast/five steady/five fast; track sessions were about 10km in length; long runs were about 15miles to 20miles once a week.

In the end I ran 3 marathons. I did not get the Olympic qualifying time but was selected for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. However, I developed a back injury and could get no-one to treat it effectively. I felt I had lost too much training and gave up my place in the team. I think John was disappointed about this decision as he believed I could have competed. I retired soon after.

I will be ever grateful for the time John gave me and his support over the years. I am glad that through this profile a wider group of people will get to know about and develop a better appreciation of John’s contribution to athletics. ”

Hamish Telfer

Early in his career he coached Hamish Telfer and his friend Cameron McNeish. Cameron went on to become famous as a climber and hill-walker with many books and publications to his name and Hamish became a top class coach in his own right. If you want a review of his career go to

http://www.theleisurereview.co.uk/events/HamishTelfer2.pdf

Hamish sent some of his recollections of his time with John and they are presented below, just as he worded them.

“I understand John was born and brought up in Govanhill, Glasgow. He attended Queens Park Senior Secondary School which was then in Battlefield before its move to Toryglen. I think he may have a sister but I am uncertain. I also understand that he was a fairly competent all-rounder at sport while at school and represented Scottish Schoolboys playing alongside Ally MacLeod. I believe he played centre forward. He may also have played for amateur Scotland. He was also a reasonable gymnast.

He attended the Scottish School of Physical Education at Jordanhill College, Glasgow. I am uncertain as to how many schools he may have taught at, but I certainly remember him telling me he taught at a pretty tough east end school in Glasgow where, to instil some discipline into his charges, he started a gymnastic club which went on to do well at either the full Nationals or the School nationals (possibly winning something). It was at this time in his career that his ambitions coincided with track and field athletics and he got involved as you know with Maryhill Ladies (in all its various early forms). I recall him telling me that in order to realise the ambition of getting to the top of the pile in about 5 years he had a simple dictum. If a parent brought their kid to be coached, they had to do something for the club. John had worked out very early on that he couldn’t get to grips with coaching if he was also the club secy., treasurer, dogsbody etc . He seemed quite ruthless in this demand, as I remember him telling me that there were a number of times that parents took kids elsewhere and he had to watch undoubted talent prosper at other clubs when he would have wished they were with him and his team of coaches. It was around this time that he applied for and got the Scottish National Coach’s job. Maryhill went on to develop and prosper further under the fantastic Jimmy Campbell (as did my own coaching career). [NB: Jimmy had been brought into the sport by John when he was coaching his daughter Mary at Maryhill Ladies AC]

I can’t remember exactly when I first met John but I suspect it was about the time I was 15 (1965). I trained with Cameron McNeish and we were good friends. Cameron was a sprinter long jumper as was I, but he was much better and it was in Cameron that John took an interest. We were members of the now (sadly) defunct West of Scotland Harriers (who also had Ian Walker make it to a Scottish vest at 400 – now a folk singer) and he took over Cameron’s coaching form the coach at the club who was John Todd. In doing so, he also took on me. Much later in my life on one of the occasions when I asked John why he took on a ‘good’ but not really talented athlete, he responded by telling me that apart from the fact that he knew I was a committed athlete (more of that later), he knew that to split up the training partnership could be detrimental to both of us. Cameron and I thus joined John’s ‘National Squad’ at a very tender age. This being the case, I remember John sitting us both down and ‘telling it like it was’ with regards to conduct. If we even sniffed any alcohol (John was, and I think still is, an abstainer), we were out on our ears. Same applied to smoking. We even got lectured about manners and conduct to others, especially women as well as our appearance. We were left somewhat traumatised by the experience but left in no doubt who was boss. I think he did this as he recognised we were very young and he certainly didn’t want anything getting out of hand. Application and hard work also had to be applied to school too.

He was very strong in his views about egos. He encouraged us to believe in ourselves and to feel that there was nothing we couldn’t achieve with hard work and application but he had no truck for big heads (although he did coach David Jenkins which, given David’s ability to appear grandiose on numerous occasions, seemed slightly at odds). He had numerous ways in which he could deflate athletes who believed their own hype and I saw it in action on a number of occasions. I later found out, much to my embarrassment, that my mother, concerned that I was spending considerable amounts of time seemingly with a stranger, sought him out ( I have no idea how) and grilled him. He told me later in life that he could now see the funny side of it but at the time my mother who was a small, slight woman of only 4’10’’, really put him on the spot, especially with regards to training interfering with my school work.

As soon as we joined the squad our training patterns changed under John’s direction. He arranged for us to train with Maryhill Ladies mainly in the winter and I well remember the Friday night sessions at Westbourne School (Madge Carruthers was head of PE there). In addition there were the (mainly winter) sessions at the (newish) Grangemouth Stadium. He also encouraged us to train with the better women sprinters in his charge, and I spent some considerable time training with Avril Beattie and in effect acting as her training partner. She worked in a bank I think, but would get changed at work and meet me near the Queens Park and we would do rep sessions in the park at least once a week in the dark and having to climb over railings to get in and out again. Cameron and I also trained with Anne Wilson (a PE teacher) who was a Scottish International at sprints and LJ. Anne was terrific fun and was the instigator of mischief as well as all of us getting T-shirts bearing the legend ‘Nohj Squad’ (she always addressed John as Nhoj and got away with it). The squad took great pride in its identity and identification with John. Some of the other names I remember were Hugh Baillie, Bob Lawrie, Dunky Middleton, Stuart McCallum, both Jenkins brothers, Lindy Carruthers, Moira Kerr (with whom I did weight training twice weekly at Springburn Sports Centre). There were undoubtedly others but I am uncertain whether they were the core group or simply joined us: Fergus the steeplechaser from Edinburgh Uni, Dougie Edmondson, Lawrie Bryce, McPherson another thrower, Hugh Barrow, Ruth Watt, Adrian thingymabob who was a miler/1500, John Lyle etc etc. My memory needs jogging as to who was around at the time.

John held sessions at Springburn Sports Centre every Tuesday in the winter which was a combination of weights and conditioning. They were hard graft! I remember one occasion when John was called away to the phone at the start of the conditioning session and we wondered what to do as more than 10 mins had elapsed and he hadn’t returned. We decided to carry on (Dunky Middleton was one of the ones in the session so it was a mixture of senior and youth athletes). When John came back 50 mins later we were still going! Knackered but still going. Cameron and I would walk from our schools in the south side of Glasgow to get to these sessions as we only had enough money for a fare one way, so decided to get the bus for the homeward journey. We called in to my Gran’s flat in Springburn often after the session where she would feed us both with bacon and eggs.

John also used Cameron and myself as ‘athlete demonstrators’ on coaching courses both during the week and at weekends and have particular recollections of him picking me up and taking me to Ayr, Inverclyde and various places around Glasgow and Edinburgh. Quite exciting for a young, impressionable athlete. One of the reasons that he was able to do that was he had a firm belief in all-round conditioning for all his young athletes (not the case with the Seniors who he took on). All youngsters in his squad had to master all decathlon events and when the Scottish Schools Easter Athletics Course was under his control, part of the week was dedicated to two days of decathlon competition. This was part of his philosophy that although we start out in one event we may of course end up in another.

Other anecdotes stand out. Cameron and I used to sing in the showers at Grangemouth and this started something of duel between the women in the next changing room who could hear us and the rest of the male squad. It became a standard feature of sessions for a while as to which changing room could outdo the other and John would join in although not so good with the falsetto part in The Righteous Brothers ‘You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling’.

Three other incidents stand out.

When Cameron and I were about 18 or so, we bought motorbikes to help us get around to training. This made it easier to get to John’s house too. We often went over to his place at Hamilton to help him splice films for his Specto analyser which he used on coaching courses. This allowed us unparalleled access to his knowledge and to quiz him and to see repeated footage of the likes of Eddy Ottoz going over hurdles. This was without question where I started to chart my career path, as I realised I had a thirst for this and indeed, something of an aptitude. John must have been a bit sick of never being able to get away from us but never complained and his then wife Christine (who was a lovely young woman) must have felt we were like contraceptives. In one particular incident however, I remember going to John’s to get picked up to go to Grangemouth early one Sunday morning. It was in the depths of one the coldest winter spells and it was well under zero in temperature and i was on my small 50cc motorbike. By the time I had got to John’s from south side Glasgow to Hamilton I was more than a bit cold. I got off the bike (just) and made it to his back door and then must have collapsed against the door with hypothermia. I remember nothing until coming round laid flat out in front of the fire in the front room with my head on Christine’s lap. While she was concerned, John wasn’t! He got me up as quick as he could, bundled me into his car (a Volvo after his little VW beetle) and with the heaters in his red Volvo going full blast, we made it to Grangemouth where his only concession was to ‘allow me’ to miss the morning track session substituting it for a 10 mile run (to warm me up again) and then into the afternoon track session.
John took Cameron and myself down to Cosford to run indoors when we were about 16 or 17. While I can remember one visit entailed staying at the student halls in Loughborough sleeping on the floor of the rooms of the likes of Mike McKean, Mike Varah and co., I also remember one trip undertaken in dense fog either on the way there or back. On the trip with the freezing fog ……. John asked Cammie and me to get all our clothes on; everything we could put on that we had. Perplexed we obeyed. He then put me in the back with Cammie and then he instructed us to open the windows (one of us on each side) and lean out a bit and give him instructions as to when he might either cross the white line or hit the verge so he could drive a bit faster. I remember these trips usually entailed us getting to John’s the night before to sleep over in order to get up at something like 3am to set off. My life with John always seemed to have theme of ‘cold’.
On which note – John was proud of a particularly vicious session he used to inflict on us called 20 second runs. Usually reserved for the Grangemouth sessions, it was indiscriminate in its(his) ability to reduce quality athletes to crawling about the track barfing up what was left in their stomachs. I remember Hugh Baillie being left prostrate on more than one occasion as was Bob Lawrie. The one that sticks in my mind was the session he sprung on us on Christmas Eve one year (which happened to fall on a Sunday, hence Grangemeouth). Thinking we would have one of his fun sessions of a continuous relay with all events involved for fun, he sprung the 20 second run session on us. It was also snowing very heavily. I still have memories of crawling on to the infield after ‘hitting my mark’ and seeing a pair of snow covered feet in front of me and hearing him bark ‘make or not?’ When I responded ‘only just’, he simply bawled, ‘go again’ and moved on to the next victim. We never saw him through the snow in that sheepskin trade mark jacket of his, but we heard him. We were wearing vests and shorts!

Cammie had left athletics by the time he was about 20 as by then he was in the Police Force and the shifts were difficult to fit in and he had also met his future wife and got married at 21. I got a bad injury at PE College and stopped competing in 1970 too. However without a doubt John, for all his faults (and he had many – temper, pig headedness, obstinate, argumentative) was a wonderful influence on me and I owe virtually everything in my career to John’s influence. Indeed it was interesting to hear some people remark that I was a mini version of John when I taught and coached. I would not have had the career I did without John’s help and encouragement.

Later on when I left PE teaching in Scotland in 1975 to take up the post of National Technical Officer (National Coach) for the Royal Life Saving Society, I was then the youngest full time National Coach in any sport in Great Britain. I have since been a GB team coach in Wild Water Canoeing (don’t ask) and also back in my own sport of athletics for cross country. At the top in 3 sports and much of it down to John and his grounding in confidence, learning, knowledge and hard work.

My final ‘memory’ was of the only time John paid me a real complement (this from a man who once described my start from the gun as ‘like watching milk turn’ in terms of ‘response’!) and in true Anderson fashion it came when it mattered; in front of my peers. I was heavily involved in the British Association of National Coaches in the middle part of my career and was one of the ones charged with considering moving the Association forward from its rather elite membership of past and present National Coaches to meet the demands of widening audience of coaches who needed a ‘Coaches Association’ to get their voices heard (we are still waiting!). We invited John as a speaker to our annual conference one year. At this point John and I had not been in contact for some time. We briefly chatted before his session before he went on to talk to the assembled National Coaches from all sports. The talk was about the ‘coach athlete relationship’ or something along those lines. There were just over 100 in the room.

He started his session by saying ‘There is someone in this room who epitomises what a hard working, committed athlete is. Without such athletes, coaches such as yourselves cannot achieve the highest levels of success since talent alone seldom, in my view, is enough without the ability to work hard. That person is Hamish Telfer.’ I can remember it almost verbatim and was quite overwhelmed as I knew it was not in his nature to say things like this. In typical John fashion he had his punch line however. He continued by saying (I suspect in order to lighten the moment) something like … ‘Without a doubt he was the hardest working athlete I have ever coached but unfortunately for Hamish he possessed not a grain of natural talent.’ I still felt quite chuffed but do remember when the laughter died down saying ‘and it’s taken you 20 years to tell me I was crap then Anderson?’

Despite the flaws he inspires fierce loyalty and when I talked to Cameron that is what he remembers too. “

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Finally, Eric Simpson from Fife paid a wonderful tribute to John and I simply quote it in its entirety.

John and I first met when I did my Senior Coaches in London a few years ago at least 25 years ago. There were 5/6 of us on the course and from the 1st minute John and I hit it off. There are so many stories but relevant to John ,from the beginning I realised that with John you either loved him or hated him a bit of the MARMITE man. I loved him because I always felt he was honest , he called it as he saw it, it might not be politically correct but hell great athletes and coaches are not made by being P.C.

I always considered John my mentor and if I needed help he would always be there on the end of the phone he was working in London at the time. I managed to get through to him in his office one day and he started laughing because he wanted to know how I had conned his secretary into putting the call through. John was the reason I got my chance to work with the G.B. squad in Birmingham and plans were in place for me to be developed in this area. Then as usual politics got in the way and I think it was B.A.F. went “tits up” I still was invited to work with Adrian Thomas on the G.B. Junior squad and this gave me a great insight into the working of the sport at the top end. Again John was always there in the back ground.. When Katie Skorupska came on the scene John was the catalyst in getting her sponsorship with Nike, in his house one day (he had moved to Dunfermline by this time,) telling the Nike rep on the phone that he had better get her now because a year down the line he would get no where. He duly said o.k. a pair of trainers just because it was John . A year later she had a “gold” card with Nike and all that entailed.

Johns 65th Birthday party when he turned up at his house in Dunfermline totally oblivious the people waiting to greet him, some of the top people in the country administrators , athletes and coaches.

John can be an abrasive character but he doesn’t suffer fools gladly. The 1st Senior international that Kt was picked for at 17 caused all sorts of fuss. John was adamant she was going to run and I know he forced it through selection , He had approached me at Birmingham the week before and asked if I thought that Katie was ready for a 5k I said it was planned for at least one that year, and how did I feel about her running the international. I think people were hoping that it would blow up in his face instead she ran brilliantly to win it and set a mark for the seniors to beat, which they did not. John and I crossed sword occasionally but my respect for him never waned and I missed him badly when he moved back South but will always consider one of the major influences in my life, John never gave you the answer as a young coach , he told you were to go and find it then come back and discuss it with him. I have used this technique with the young coaches that I mentor now and tell them how lucky I was to have John as my guide. I travelled a round trip of over 1000 miles to see John when he lived in London , I learned more in the seven hours I spent with him than I had learned in the previous seven years , an inspiration and a great person in my eyes. Like few of the coaches now gone we will NOT see his like again because John is very much a ONE OFF: get him and TOM McNAB together and you will have a master class in Bloody minded , single minded fantastic coaches who don’t care for niceties, but get the job done and the people who matter, the athletes, hold in the highest regard.

I have more stories but this is turning into a novel. I would be grateful if you could forward Johns e mail A wee story to finish which shows the man. One day at Meadowbank during a meeting John is walking across the track carrying a bag………” Hi John, is that you been relegated to carrying the bag” sharp as a tack he replies “Aye, Eric but I’m the BEST bag carrier” Brilliant this is the man to a tee only the best was good enough.

Back to John Anderson

Dunky Wright Correspondence

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Admin

The DM Wright/Dunbartonshire Cup Saga

When Dunky Wright resigned from Clydesdale Harriers in 1923 he took with him the Dunbartonshire Cup. There is a whole series of letters, claims, etc that are detailed to some extent in Colin Shields’s book “Whatever the Weather” but much more completely on the linked page on this website/

The correspondence here covers the ‘end game’ of the quest for the trophy with Dunky having the final say in a funny letter – part bitter, part humorous – bringing the sage (it lasted for four years +) to an end. It is however clear that he was not happy in being ‘found out’. Mr Millar, referred to in the letters and postcards is Tom Millar, club secretary.

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