Category: Coaches

Bill outside the Old Clubhouse restaurant in Gullane in 2012.

BILL WALKER is known throughout the UK as a top class coach: a quiet and friendly man, a former athlete and committee man, he is relentless in his pursuit of success (however you define it) as a coach on behalf of his athletes.   Generous with his time and with a rare sense of humour he is deservedly popular.   However because of his quiet and unassuming nature, he is not as well known as he should be, despite the fact that he has had a very successful  career in the sport.   He has received many awards including life membership of Scottish athletics and as recently as last year he received a special award from UK Athletics for his services to the sport and was also the subject of an edition of ‘Surprise, Surprise’ where no one was more surprised than he was!

Richard Winton wrote the following in the ‘Herald’ in 2012 when Bill had won the Winning Difference Award and was about to be presented with it at the Kelvin Hall.

“Bill Walker equates coaching to painting the Forth Bridge; just as he has finished guiding one athlete to the peak of their performance, another talented youngster emerges demanding his attention and expertise.

It is the reason why, 52 years after taking his first session, the septuagenarian can still be found at Meadowbank Stadium six days a week, gently cajoling elite performers, kids and those with a disability alike to shave one more second or inch from their previous bests in pursuit of their own personal glory.

It is also the reason why he will spend tomorrow afternoon at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, awkwardly stepping into the spotlight at the Aviva International Match to be presented with Winning Scotland Foundation’s annual Winning Difference Award ‘in recognition of his exemplary achievements and significant and lasting contribution to Scottish sport’. Walker scoffs at the suggestion he might mark the occasion, insisting that it is more cause for concern than celebration.

“I’m worried that by getting this they maybe think I’m about to die or something, that’s the danger at my age,” he says, judiciously ignoring congratulations.

Instead, he insists, his reward comes from the success of those in his command. And how rich that reward has been. Some of Scotland’s finest have come under his tutelage over the years, most notably Alan Wells, who worked on his starts with Walker in the months leading up to his 100m gold in the Moscow Olympics.

“A coach is only good if they’ve got a good athlete and Alan was never satisfied and always looking for improvement,” recalls Walker, clearly more at ease when not talking about himself. “He always felt he couldn’t be perfect so he was self-motivated, which served him well when he went out and beat every American afterwards after people tried to talk down his achievement.”

The increasing paucity of world-class Scottish competitors in the intervening years means winning a track-and-field gold in London later this year is unimaginable. As much as it pains Walker to acknowledge as much, the fact is that athletics struggles to attract the most gifted youngsters in the face of more financially appealing disciplines, such as football, tennis and golf, amid an ever expanding sporting spectrum.

Consequently, the standard has dropped – “at one time I had two part-time 800m runners doing 1.45/46mins who would be superstars now” – despite the prevalence of sponsorship deals and development of more appealing facilities affording young Scots a better chance than ever to reach the top in their chosen event.

“It’s still feasible if they are prepared to work but I think it’s a different animal now,” Walker says. “Kids don’t have the mobility and range of movement they once had because they are always sitting down playing on computers rather than being outside. Sure, we are working on identifying those weaknesses and working on them but without those basic motor skills we are starting from a lower level and their technical capabilities are limited because of that.”

We can come back to this article later but to begin at the beginning, Bill Walker like so many very good coaches started out as a runner.   Like all of his generation he was called up to do two years National Service in the Army.  Starting in Bath, he was transferred to Leuchars in Fife where he managed to get his 440 yards time down to 49.1 – and on grass at that.   National Service was brought to an end in 1960, so Bill’s running was in the 1950’s.  The time above would have placed him twelfth on the Scottish ranking lists in 2015.   In other words his time on grass would have been beaten by only eleven Scottish runners on tartan more than 50 years later!   He is quoted as saying “There weren’t enough jobs for everybody so I was pushed into sport to get rid of me,” he explains. “I ended up running with them and basically getting a big skive because I was practically a full-time athlete. In fact, it was so good that I signed on for an extra two years.”

The  Braidburn Junior Champion trophy being presented to Ronnie Browne

When he did finally leave the RAF, Bill worked at electrical engineering firm Ferranti before going to Heriot-Watt University as a physics lecturer.   He had also joined Braidburn AC, a club with several very good runners such as Neil Donachie and Bill Linton, by then and was training with Tom Drever.   It was at Ferranti that he began coaching, setting up sessions for colleagues who had spotted him training alone. That continued when he moved to Heriot-Watt.    Incidentally, one of the younger members at Braidburn was a  boy called Ronnie Browne (related to Peter Hoffman as it happens) who discusses his time at Braidburn in his autobiography “That Guy Fae The Corries”  and ‘Big Tam Drever’ is mentioned fairly often – the book even has a picture of a young-ish Bill Walker presenting the club’s Junior Champions Trophy to Ronnie.

When Braidburn merged with several other clubs to form Edinburgh Athletic Club, Bill and Tom joined the new outfit. Bill later married Tom’s daughter Kay.  Another Ferranti employee was Eric Fisher who also joined Edinburgh AC.   They became friends and competed for the club as individuals but also in league matches for the team.     Eric remembers travelling with Bill as part of an Edinburgh AC team trying to qualify for the British Athletics League.   Bill doubled up the 400m, 400mH, steeplechase and 4 x 400 while Eric doubled up on the steeplechase and 5000m!

While working at Heriot-Watt Bill was also involved in their athletics activities setting up coaching sessions for his colleagues who joined in with his sessions.     Doug Gillon, now well known as one of Scotland’s best ever and most respected sports journalists joined Edinburgh AC in 1964 and trained alongside Bill, becoming a firm friend.   He remembers the time, the training and the friendships well.   He recounts that

“I first met Bill when Jack Macfie and I joined EAC in the autumn of 1964.   We knew nobody, but Bill (and Claude Jones and John Convery) made us very welcome. Because my girlfriend (now wife of 45 years) lived in the next close in East Claremont Street, Bill frequently gave me lifts home, to her house.   He was still competing then, but was very helpful with racing and training advice, though he was never my coach in any formal sense.

John Fairgrieve (later first paid SAAA secretary), was the same vintage. At that stage I had no formal training schedule – I was absorbing the methods of Lydiard, Cerutty, and Stampfl, and picking bits out of each in a completely haphazard and ill-considered manner. I would turn up and do whatever session seemed best – no structure at all.

Club nights at Ford’s Road usually, for Jack and I, and as I recall, John Fairgrieve, would mean tackling a track rep session, usually with Bill lending advice and encouragement, and holding the watch.   I do recall him joining in 200 and 400m rep sessions, but not the most savage: a 6 x 660 with a 2-min interval.    At our best, the peak target was 90 seconds. Bill would be holding the watch for these. Jack, John and I would lead out two each, alternating every 200m, then free-for all on the last 200, attempting to make the time, with Bill shouting encouragement, and the seconds as we went through. The format of switching every 200m was Bill’s.    It was possibly not coincidence that Jack, John and I finished in that order in the mile at the Scottish Schools the following year. In hindsight, I reckon these tough track rep sessions, drawing each other out, played a part in our modest success.

When I went to Heriot Watt University, after a year at EAC, Bill was in charge of the electron microscope. He was also in charge of the athletics and cross-country teams.     He was always a great enthusiast and motivator. In winter, at lunchtimes, he oversaw weight training in the university’s mining engineering dept in the Grassmarket. Generations of athletes would have learned or been introduced to the sport, and conditioning, by him

Bill selected the teams for track and cross-country matches – always seemed involved in every aspect, up to laying courses. Not every university was as disciplined. I remember a match on a poorly-marshalled and marked course at Caird Park in Dundee. Adrian Weatherhead was about 100 yards in front of me and took a wrong turn. I put in a desperate mid-race sprint, yelling at him to come back – which he did, and still won!

For track meetings it would be much harder to put together a team. He could be compellingly persuasive: I think that’s where I first heard the philosophy of: “just go round for the point”. In hindsight I wonder how he managed to fit in the day job. 

He would give lifts to highland games, explain the pleasures and pitfalls of handicap racing, and how it taught pace judgment.

*

He continued to coach his athletes and Eric Fisher tells of the first night back at the club after the successful Commonwealth Games  when there were 129 children down at the track, most of them for the first time.   In the midst of this, Bill was trying to do a session with Adrian (mile time in 1970: 4:00.7).   At that point Eric and he had a conversation in which Eric agreed to work with the younger athletes in the club and pass the best of them on to Bill.   It was a system that worked well.   Bill was recognised as one of the best coaches in Scotland at the time.   Frank Dick was the National Coach and the individual coaches included Eddie Taylor, Alex Naylor, George Sinclair, Gordon Cain, Sandy Ewing and Bill.

If we want to see how good Bill’s athletes became, it is instructive to look at  some of them.

* Norman Gregor was SAAA 400m hurdles champion in 1974 and had 5 second places in that event as well as at 400m flat.   He had personal bests of 21.8 (200m), 48.4 (400m), 16.1 (110mH),    51.56 (400mH) and 1:49.4 for 800m.

Peter Hoffman

 * Peter  Hoffman had been a very good sprinter who became a very good class 800m runner.   His career at the top lasted from 1974 to 1982 and he competed in Olympic, European and Commonwealth Games, won gold silver and bronze at British and Scottish championships, and had pb’s of 10.8 (100m), 21.8 (200m), 34.7 (300m), 46.76 (400m), 1:46.63 (800m), 2:24.8 (1000) and 54.2 (400H).    He was an outstanding athlete by any standards.

* Paul Forbes:   Bill and Paul always had a close contact although John Anderson also had some input.   Paul started out with EAC and was coached by Eric Fisher before training with Bill.   Paul had pb’s of 47.69 for 400m, 1:45.66 for 800m and competed in three Commonwealth Games, and won gold at both UK and Scottish championships.   In 1983 Paul ran 1:46.83 which would have been a Scottish Native Record but he was denied the honour because he was not wearing a club vest;

* Peter Little was a top class young sprinter who competed between 1976 and 1981.   He had best times of 6.84 (60mi)10.6 (100m), 21.5 (200m), 48.49 (400m) and won gold, silver and bronze  both north and south of the border, winning GB championships indoors at a time when there was no Scottish indoor scene at all.

* Roger Jenkins won the SAAA 400m twice, one second, and was third in the AAA’s 400M.    Competed in the European and Commonwealth Games and had pb’s of  10.5 (100m), 21.3 (200m), 46.49 (400m) and 51.66 (400mH).

* Ross Hepburn was a high jumper who was originally coached by Tom Drever.   I quote directly from the SATS website: Talented young athlete who set world age bests at the age of 13 (1.88m) and 14 (2.04m).   He represented Scotland at the age of 14 years 334 days  v  England and Wales, then represented GB  v  Russia aged 15 years 316 days.   This made him the youngest male athlete ever to compete for Great Britain.   AAA Youths champion but retired from the sport through injury while still in his teens.

He has also worked with others such as  Graeme Grant,  Ann Dunnigan and Mary Speedman .

The Edinburgh AC club record for 4 x 400m relay is a magnificent 3:08.9 and was set by a team of Peter Hoffman, Paul Forbes, Norman Gregor and Roger Jenkins: all coached by the same coach – Bill Walker.

Norman Gregor

Several of the wonderful athletes mentioned above were in action at the same or similar distances at the same time and yet another top class athlete – Adrian Weatherhead  – spoke of some of them and Bill’s sessions.

“I first met Bill when I was an undergraduate at Heriot Watt University.    I was just starting my athletics career and Bill was very keen to organise a Heriot Watt athletics team using his expertise from his days in the RAF where he had been a 400 metre runner.    When he left the university to take up a post of Assistant Manager at Meadowbank he rapidly accumulated a very successful squad of athletes with whom I trained a number of times each week.
Many of the sessions had an all GB international line up ( Pete Hoffman, Paul Forbes, Norman Gregor, Roger Jenkins and myself) and were of the most murderously high quality where each individual had some dominant quality which he could impose on the others.
Bill has continued his excellent coaching and has inspired young athletes over the decades.   I am proud to relate that he has many times over the years given some shock therapy to some of his protégés by informing them of the quality of the sessions attained by the GB training squad of the 1970s!!”

*

Bill was also very active in the club away from the track and as well as organising club coaching, he served on the the Committee and progressed through the system until in 1969 he was elected on to SAAA East District and General Committees as the Heriot Watt representative.   By 1977 Bill was the fourth longest serving member of the SAAA General Committee, with only Oliver Dickson, John McClurg and Eddie Taylor having been longer than he had on the 43  strong body.   He had progressed to being on the  Joint Coaching Committee and had qualified as a Senior Coach for Sprints.   As an official he was  a Grade 1 for track. jumps and throws, a marksman and Grade 3 Timekeeper.   He had come a long way in a relatively short time.

The Commonwealth Games of 1970 had been a great success and sports promoters started to bring the best athletes in the world to Scotland.   There were three tracks of a high enough standard for these meetings, Grangemouth, Coatbridge and  Meadowbank, which was not just a track but a stadium with memories of the great athletes and performances at the Games.    Athletes like John Walker, Irene Szewinska, Steve Scott and many others from Europe, the Antipodes and America  were mixing it with the best of British and Frank Clement, Geoff Capes, Allan Wells and David Jenkins.    On 19th August 1978 the Glenlivet Highland Games took place at Meadowbank and many of the Scottish athletics top brass were involved as was Bill, by then assistant manager at Meadowbank, in the organisation of the meeting.    On the following day the Coca Cola Meeting took place at Coatbridge – this was not the first time that the two meetings had followed one on the other and athletics fans loved it.   Almost all the same athletes turned out: Capes, Wells, Clement, Black, etc were all there.   Everybody knew that these athletes were being paid, at the very least generous ‘expenses’ were on offer.  The European circus was just starting up and payment of athletes was an open secret.   Unfortunately details of some athletes expenses from Meadowbank became public and the SAAA Committee started to ferret out the truth of the situation.   Attention finally focused on Bill Walker and his team.   The investigation did not take place until after a police inquiry had been held.   The police found no reason to proceed any further. As has been said, Bill was on general committee of the SAAA and a special meeting was called.    The upshot of that meeting was that he was suspended.

This provoked an uproar in the athletics community.   Andy Arbuckle of Fife AC acquired the signatures of the requisite number of clubs to call a Special General Meeting of all clubs with the intention of having the suspension lifted immediately.   The result was the lifting of the suspension.   There is no doubt that Bill’s reputation and the high regard in which he was held made a great contribution to the final decision.   The whole affair was a blot on the record of the SAAA.   An interesting side light on the affair was that an attempt was made to investigate the expenses paid at the Coatbridge meeting.   However at the meeting at which the decision was taken to lift the suspension the following appeared in the minutes:   “On 24th May 1979, a letter was received from Monklands District Council, stating that the information requested would only be made available on condition that an inquiry would be held into all International Sports Meetings held in the UK, Europe and America in 1978.”   There followed a correspondence with the Council but no action was taken with regard to Coatbridge.

It should be pointed out though that there was general support for Bill from the Scottish athletics community, and two British international stars spoke out on his behalf – David Jenkins and Geoff Capes – at a time when it could have ruined their careers as sportsmen.   In addition, the spotlight shone on the proceedings by journalists such as Doug Gillon made sure that nothing that happened was exempt from scrutiny.   It was nonetheless a very difficult time for Bill and his family.

The surprising thing is that Bill went on coaching through it all.  He kept producing top class athletes despite the toll that the whole affair must have had on his family life as well as on him personally.   A look at the names above indicates that he was working with  Adrian Weatherhead, Peter Hoffman, Peter Little and others – none of them suffered at all.

What was he like as a coach?   What did he expect of the athletes?   One thing they must do, he said in an interview, is demonstrate an appetite for work.   He continued,  “It keeps me young and, as long as the athletes are giving me everything, I’m happy,” explains Walker, whose science background led him to dabble in photo finish and electric timing technology years before it became popular. “If they are committing themselves, they deserve the same commitment back but I won’t tolerate skiving. If they are wasting my time I will tell them, no matter what level they are at. With that attitude, I think they’ll have to carry me off the track in a coffin in the end but that would maybe be quite a nice way to go.”

Bill has a reputation of being a very strict coach who thinks that athletic clubs should not spend their time with those who come along not prepared to do the work.   His sessions all start on time and there is the tale of an occasion when there was no athlete ready to go at the appointed starting time.    Bill called “Go!”, started his watch and after the non-rep rep went to the cafeteria.   A late arrival turned up in the cafeteria only to be told, it was over!    At another time, an international sprinter was to practice sprint starts: she had three faulty starts and Bill told her to go home.   When she protested he told her that’s what would happen in a competition, so – go home, we’re finished for tonight!    The same man stands up for his athletes – who always come first – at times to extremes.  As at the time when he encouraged his women runners to move from Edinburgh AC to their city rivals Edinburgh Southern Harriers because the demands being made of the athletes in team competition were against their better interests.

Many coaches and athletes remain friends long after the athlete’s career in the sport is over and Doug Gillon says “In my career as an athletics journalist, I have lost count of the number of athletes who have sung Bill’s praises, who talk of his selfless help, generosity, and integrity. His good humour and enthusiasm is unfailing, and remarkable after so long spent as a  coach.”  

Bill on holiday at Lake Konstanz with Ross Hepburn

Ross Hepburn , for whom Bill was a friend and advisor, remains a good friend to this day, decades after Ross’s retirement from high jumping.   He says:

“I was at Fords Road when Mr Jones (Claude) and Mr.Carrigan (Jimmy) suggested when l was 12 years old that l go to Meadowbank to improve my talents as l was more a jumper/sprinter, with needs regarding training other than what was possible at Saughton. There, l was to meet a Mr. Walker.

Bill introduced me to his father in law, Tom (Drever), who started me off on my road as a high jumper. I remember Tom and Bill taking me in 1974 into the Meadowbank weights room to test me at sit-ups, pull-ups etc. I can still see them both giving me a nod of approval. Later Bill would allow me to join in one or two winter sessions with his athletes – sessions like 20 x 200 with a walk back recovery – l never saw the end of a session, and Bill would just smile at me saying l told you that you still have a long way to go – and l decided l’m not going that far – l think he knew that anyway.

I left for Germany at a young age (17) but when l came home every other year for a visit l instinctively headed for Meadowbank. Bill would be pleased to see me and always found time for a cup of tea in the cafeteria, and he would insist on paying for it, and to enquire how l was doing. Or we would go for lunch together and he would inform me of what was going on … this has gone on now for the best part of 36 years!

During these years l did run into one or two of life’s tests and troubles, Bill was someone l could rely on for good advice. Last year I visited Bill at his home in Edinburgh, and was physically moved to see a large photograph of Tom hanging in his hallway, a great man! And I recall a nice demonstration of Bill’s commitment to the sport. I remember hearing a story of Bill driving past Meadowbank with his family in the car, and one of the kids in the back said: “Look mummy, that’s where Daddy lives” …… you can’t describe dedication much better than that!

Three years ago Bill came over to Germany and stayed with me for a week. This was great for catching up on old times, and l was astonished at how fit he was for his age when we walked up a hill one day. If l ever reach his age then (late seventies) then l’ll try that hill, and probably see Bill saying “You still have a long way to go!” 

I hope there are many more years ahead for our yearly or twice-yearly lunches together!”

*

When addressing new coaches, Jimmy Campbell, another master coach, used to take the chalk, hold it sideways to maximise the size of the letters, and write on the board the single word   DIVORCE, before saying that that was where they might be heading if they did the job properly.   Bill never had that problem.   His family were all involved in the sport and that support must have been invaluable to him throughout his career.  His son Clint has followed Bill into the area of electronic timing.   Ross looks at this and says

In 1976 Tom moved to Limassol, Cyprus, after he lost his wife. Once settled in he invited his grandson Clint (Bill’s son) and I to visit him for Christmas / New Year ’76/’77. It was a great trip for two young lads. Bill later used this Cyprus connection for a few years, taking athletes to warm weather training. Bill also organised the Christmas party and dance for EAC for a while. One story Bill enjoys telling was when he had 16-year-old Clint helping at Meadowbank during an international match. Clint’s job was to guard the outside door from the track which led to the concourse and stairs up to the cafeteria and office area. You could not get through unless you had a pass. Well along comes TV commentator Archie McPherson. Clint, being a bit like his dad – very straight and correct – asks him for his pass. Archie didn’t posses one, and was kindly told by Clint he can’t get in. No comment as to what Archie said. 

Clint later followed his dad into the field of electronic timing. I remember Bill always was technically strong, and tried to set up the best possibilities for athletes regarding timing. Bill mentioned to me how Clint was fascinated by this. He later went on to programme the most complicated systems and worked at many major Games for a Swiss timing company. Sadly, last time I visited Bill he had had a lot of his equipment stolen. Thieves had put a small child through his small living room window and got the gear out that way. Being Bill, he periodically checked the local pawn shops and was able to get some of the stuff back!”

Staying on the topic of timing where Bill’s expertise is generally acknowledged, Doug says that he remembers Bill and Clint working on the photofinish/timing at stadia all over Britain. “They invariably seemed last of the technical guys and officials to leave. And in a media context he was always singularly helpful, in contrast to the majority of the blazer brigade. He always struck me as an “athletes’ man” rather than an “officials’ man”, in much the same way as I always regarded Raymond Hutcheson and Bob Stephen, and many of our other coaches . . . the kind of folk who never forgot what it was to be an athlete, and what was important to them.”

He also discusses fitness levels in the community at large in the article by Richard Winton quoted from above and which can be accessed at

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/13045776.Local_Hero__the_Walker_who_just_keeps_on_running/

Bill has taken part in many activities fostering sport in the community and has received several awards for this.   He almost always passes on any money raised to athletics causes, either to the club or to another related cause.   See this article from Deadline News of 12th March 2012which as about efforts to assist a young sprinter come back from Gambia to Scotland.

http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/03/12/scots-coach-raising-funds-to-fly-gambian-sprinter-back-for-commonwealth-games/

This interest in Community Sport was the key to getting him to the television studio in Edinburgh in August last year when he was the  subject of a “Surprise, surprise!” sting.   Old friend and club mate Eric Fisher lured him to the studio on the pretext that they were to take part in a discussion about sport in the community where he was duly surprised!

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/city-olympic-hero-s-coach-on-surprise-surprise-1-3600837

Finally, we have tributes to Bill and his work from three coaches who know him well – Hamish Telfer, Eric Simpson and Frank Dick on a separate page which can be seen by clicking    here

Jim McLatchie is well known as a talented and hard, no nonsense runner who never gave anyone an easy race in their life.   You can read about his time as a runner by simply clicking on his name.    He is not as well known here as a coach because it was almost all done across the Atlantic.   His record includes British and American senior internationalists as well as the many high school winning teams he has coached – and is still coaching – since he retired.   He is however a very successful coach indeed having worked with club runners and champions up to and including Olympic standard.

One of the questions that always comes up is “How did you get into coaching in the first place?”  In Jim’s case it goes back to the beginning, right back to his days in Muirkirk in the mid-1950’s.   He started a training group in the Community Centre which met twice a week in winter and they would go for a couple of miles easy run then get into some circuit training in the Centre.   Most Sundays they would go for a cross-country run but only about 4 miles.  For most of his running career he was self coached – I refer you to the link above about his time as a runner – and also when he was at college in the States he helped  all of his college guys for events between 880 yards and three miles.   When he was in Luton between 1965 and 1968 he worked with Tony Simmons.   Tony was a Welsh and British International runner whose personal bests included 3:41.1 for 1500m, 13:21,2 for 5000m and 2:12:33 for the marathon; his world half-marathon record of 62:47 which stood for 16 months after he set it in 1978.   They did two track sessions a week aimed at the mile and the rest of the week was mainly steady runs.   Jim reckons that Tony ran a 4:03 mile as a teenager.   Tony was trained for a while by Harry Wilson so there would be a lot of conversation between them about training too.   And of course as an athlete he was at times in teams with Frank Dick and his good friend Brian Scobie, both of whom became well known coaches.

When he was living in Scotland he did weight training twice or three times a week with a lot of hill running.   He says that at that time he did not know what drills were – but in Scotland (maybe even in Britain) not many did know about them.  As he has got older, he has gone back to hills and weights but has incorporated Drills and other Core strengthening exercises.   And he also believes that athletes of the same ability should train together – the girls train with the boys.

That’s the background story of  runner who was always interested in conditioning and training and who gradually made the transition into a successful coach.

Three months into the winter of 2015, a wee run down of progress this year: September 12th, 2015, Ash Creek  5000m Boys:  1st Summit  33 points;  2nd Camas  75 pts;  5000m Girls: 1st Summit 54, 2nd Camas 58; 3000 Novice Boys: 1.  Summit 31; 2. Camas 51; Girls:  1.  Summit 29;  2.  Camas 30.   There were 24 teams in the Boys race, and 20 in the Girls event. September 19th, Oregon City Cross-Country Invitation 5000m JV Boys:   1.   Summit  15;   2.   Glencoe  75.    5000m Varsity Boys: 1.   Summit 15;  2.  Southridge 91;   5000m JV Girls: 1.  Summit 27: 2. Glencoe 62;   5000m Varsity Girls:  1.  Summit 28;  Oregon City 87;  Nike Portland Cross-Country:   1.   West Torrance 147;  2.  Mountain View  151;  3.  Summit 153.   24 Teams competed. Oxford Classic, October 2nd 5000m Junior Varsity Girls:   1. Summit 24;  2.  Mountain View 43;  5000m Junior Varsity Boys:  1.  Summit   16; 2.  Mountain View  63;   5000m  Varsity Girls:  1.  Sheldon  51:  2.  Summit  66; Boys:  1.  Summit 44  ; 2.  Capital 113 George Fox Cross-Country Classic, October 10th 2015 5000m JV Gold Girls:  1:  Summit 33; 2.  Camas 36;  5000m Girls Varsity Gold:  1. Camas 46; 2.  Summit  76;  5000m JV Boys Gold:  1.  Summit 23; 2.  Camas 52;   5000m Varsity Boys Gold:  1.  1.  Summit 41;  2.  Camas 118. 5A-4 Inter Mountain Conference Championships: October 23rd, 2015 Girls 5000m 1.  Summit 17; 2.  Mountain View 49;  Girls Junior Varsity: 1.  Summit  15; 2.  Mountain View  54;   Boys 5000m: 1. Summit 20; Bend 61;  Boys Junior Varsity:  1.  Summit View 16; Mountain View  61. State Championships – Oregon 5A, October 30th. Team Scores, Girls:   1.   Summit  23;   Mountain View 49;   Boys:  Summit 32:  2.  Crater 36

… and the early Christmas present for them was that the boys were ranked number 10 in the entire United States by the authoritative “Runners World” at the end of November 2015!    The 2015 Summit results will continue to be published   here  and the summer 2016 are at this link  Finally for this post, on 2nd September 2016, athletic.net published results from the start of the new athletics year’s cross-country.   They are to be found at  http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=115210.   I have started a new page for the 2016 cross country results at this link.   while the 2017 performances are here, here, and the most recent are here

2018 summer results are going up now, the first two are here

You will know by now that he is not the only coach in the family – Carol is a considerably good coach – a fact that has been recognised by the national association.   At the ens of 2016, she was nominated the High School  Coach of the year for their home state.    After the girls had won ten straight State Championships, and they were going for their eleventh in October 2018, Jim had a stroke and was hospitalised.   He was allowed out on the Saturday for the race and the report here is a wonderful tribute to the man and his teams.

Summit Girls Win 6A Title, Emboldened By Recovery Of Coach

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE — The Summit (Bend) OR girls soared into national contention during a month when there was deep concern for coach Jim McClatchey behind the scenes.   The Storm have risen to No. 2 with a deep lineup that was on full display on Saturday at the OSAA Cross Country Championships at Lane Community College. Summit was entered in the Class 6A race after more than a decade of dominance in Class 5A.   And with junior Fiona Max leading the way in 17:29 — just three seconds off the state course record — the Storm scored 39 points to unseat 2017 champion Jesuit, the No. 8 team.

But the most important part of the afternoon for Summit was that McClatchey was there. The coach with the Scottish brogue and white beard suffered a stroke in mid October and spent the second half of the month in the hospital.   McClatchey coaches the team in partnership with his wife, Carol, but it is the one who writes the workouts.   “Even in ICU, I asked him ‘What are we doing on Wednesday?’ and he was (rattling off workout details),” Carol McClatchey said.

Jim McClatchey is up and mobile again and his mind and humor are as strong as ever.   A girls cross country team that is as deep as any in Oregon history had moment of deep concern as the momentum of the season began to build.   “It’s 100 percent a humbler,” Max said. “It gives us a moment to take a step back and realize that everything has to be lined up perfectly for us to have our best meets. We take a breath, realign and realize that we’re here for each other, we care about each other and every (opportunity) is special.”

Max and a handful of teammates visited McClatchey in the hospital.   “That man’s made of iron,” she said.   One of Summit’s seven assistant coaches, Dave Sjogren, stepped in to take a bigger role day to day with the team as Carol monitored Jim’s progress.   McClatchey’s recent health scare is related to a heart attack he survived five years ago.   The girls on the team have seen first-hand that time is precious.   “He’s our dad,” Max said. “It definitely added to the stress of the past few weeks. He just got out of the hospital and was at our workout on Wednesday. It was great to see him back on his feet and swearing again. We pushed past it as a family.”

Max was followed across the finish line by freshman teammate Teaghan Knox (18:01 for fifth), Isabel Max (18:13 for eighth), Kelsey Gripekoven (18:16 for 11th), Azza Borovicka Swanson (18:27 for 14th), Jasper Fievet (18:38 for 22nd) and Stella Skovborg (19:01 for 28th)

Captured at the 6A Mountain Valley District Championships on October 27, 2018 by Matthew Lasala

2018 was a superb year for Summit and the icing on the cake was when the girls won the National.   Read Carol’s Review of the year  at this link

   It was also notable because Jim had a stroke.   BeingJim he got a Saturday pass from hospital for the next race.   For his account of the stroke and the rest of the season  go here

Jim was a very good coach from early in his career but for all the information about how he trained himself, and the work that selected athletes did, then go the page entitled  Training with McLatchie

This is the work done by Justin on his run in to the Olympic Gams in 2004: first the work done leading to the selection for the GB team and then the 21 days leading up to the Olympic race.   Jim has generously passed it to us for information but we can get more than just information if we look at it properly.

March 2004 

Ø1        2 mile – 10.00/ 5MR/ 1600 – 4.52/ 3MR/ 800 – 2.20

Ø3       20 x 200 with 30 sec rest 33-34

Ø8      4x 1600 in 4.40 with 3 min rest over 4 hurdles per lap

Ø10    4x 800 – 2.24 with 2MR/ jog 5 min/ 4 x 800 – 2.26 1MR over 2 hurdles

Ø15     5x 1k – 2.50 with 3 min rest over 2 hurdles per lap

Ø17     1600 – 4.40/ 1200 – 3.27/ 800 – 2.16/ 400 – 62/ 3 min rest

22        3x 1k – 3.10 with 30SR/ jog 400/ 2x 1k – 3.05 with 30SR/ jog 400/ 1k – 3.00 over 4 hurdles per lap

Ø25     8x 400 – 64-65 – 90SR over 2 hurdles

Ø29     400 – 63/ 1200 – 3.26/ 400 – 62 with 4MR over 4 hurdles

Ø31     16x 200 – 31-32 with 30SR/ jog 5 min/ 800 – 2.05

• over 4 hurdles

 April 2004

• 4 – 14 – 16 MILES EASY
• 5 –     1 HOUR WITHJ 2X 4 MIN PICK UPS
• 6 –   1K – 2.50/ 500 – 85/ 1K – 2.48/ 500 – 84/ 3 MIN REST
• 7 1 HOUR EASY WITH DRILLS
• 8 1500M TIME TRIAL –
• 9 20 – 30 MIN WARM UP WITH A FEW STRIDES
• 10 HILLS
• 11 10 – 12 MILES
• 12 3X 1K WITH 2 MIN REST – 2.47/ 2.49/ 2.45
• 13 1 HOUR EASY
• 14 4X 400 – 68 PACE WITH 400 JOG
• 15 20 –30 MIN WARM UP WITH A FEW STRIDES
• 16 MT SAC RELAYS – 3000M – 8:36.29 (3rd)
• 17 HILLS
• 18 10-12 MILES EASY
• 19 1 HOUR EASY
• 20 1600 – 4.35/ 1200 – 3.25/ 800 – 2.14/ 400 – 60 3 MIN REST over 2 hurdles
• 21 1 HOUR EASY WITH DRILLS
• 22 20 x 200 with 30 sec rest 32-33 secs
• 23 45 MIN EASY
• 24 HILLS
• 25 10 – 12 MILES EASY
• 26 1500 – 4.20/3 MR/ 1K – 2.50/ 1MR/ 500 – 80 over 2 hurdles
• 27 1 HOUR WITH 2 X 4 MIN PICK UPS
• 28 45 min easy with a few strides
• 29 20 – 30 min easy with a few strides
• 30 Stanford Invite 3000M S/C 8:24.88 (1st)

 May 2004

Ø2       10 – 12 miles easy

Ø3       1 hour easy with 8 min pick up

Ø4       3x 1k with 30 SR/ 2.55/2.56/2.55 jog 400

Ø           2x 1k with 30 SR/ 2.55/ 2.56       jog 400

           1x 1k – 2.46       over 2 hurdles

Ø5       1 hour easy with drills

Ø6       1 Hour easy

Ø7       1 hour easy

Ø8       HILLS           

Ø9       12 – 15 miles easy

Ø10     1 hour with a 8 min pick up

Ø11     1K – 2.50/ 1MR/ 2K – 5.55/ 2MR/3K – 9.13/ 3MR/2K –5.55/2MR/

1K – 2.48 – over 2 hurdles (9K of running)

Ø12     1 hour easy with some drills

Ø13     1 hour with a 8 min pick up

Ø14     1 hour easy

Ø15     HILLS

16 –      14 miles easy

17 –      1 hour with a 9 min pick up

18 –      1K – 2.43/ 3MR/ 400 – 62/ jog 5 min/ 1K – 2.43/ 3MR/ 400 – 59 over 2 hurdles per lap

19 –      1 hour easy with drills

20 –      1600 – 4.36/ 800 – 2.10/ 1600 – 4.36 with 4MR/ hurdles 1st & 3rd lap

21 –      1 hour easy

22 –      Hills

23 –      1 hour with a 9 min pick up

24 –      800 – 2.09/ 1600 – 4.30/ 800 – 2.07 with 4MR: hurdles 2nd & 4th lap

25 –      1 hour easy with drills

26 –      8x 200 – rest = 1.45/90/75/60/45/30/15 ave 31.4

27 –      1 hour easy

28 –      45 min easy

29 –      45 min warm up few strides

30 –      30 min warm – hamstrings sore – withdrew from Steeple – Stanford

 May 31st withdrew from Stanford Invitational – slight strain of hamstring

June 2004

June 1 – June 7          – Therapy plus light jogging

8 –        1 hour easy

9 –        2K – 5.41/ 1K – 2.49/ 3K – 5.40 with 3 MR

10 –      1 hour with a 5 min pick up

11 –      45 min easy

12 –      Hills

13 –      12 mile run

14 –      1 hour easy

15 –      1 hour with 3 x 4 min pick ups

16 –      1 hour easy

17 –      5x 1K with 2MR – 2.46/2.47/2.45/2.46/DNF over 3 hurdles

18 –      30 min easy with a few strides

19 –      5K road race at 6500 feet – 14.42

20 –      12 miles easy

21 –      1 hour easy with a few drills

22 –      1600 – 4.33/ 1200 – 3.19/ 800 – 2.10/ 400 – 60 with 3MR over 2 hurdles

23 –      1 hour easy with a few drills

24 –      800 – 2.07/ 8MR/ 600 – 91/6MR/ 400 – 57/4MR/ 200 – 28

25 –      45 min easy

26 –      Hills

27 –      12 miles easy run

 June-July 2004

                   14 Days before UK Trials     June 28 – July 11, 2004

1 – 1500 – 4.08/ 3MR/ 1K – 2.42/ 2MR/ 500 – 77 over 2 hurdles

2 – 1 hour easy (Travel to London)

3 –   4x 400 over hurdles 65 pace with 400 jog between

4 –   600 over hurdles 65 pace

5 –   45 min easy with a few strides

6 –   3000m S/C – Birmingham – 1st – 8:30.52 (2nd place 9:06)

7 –   1 hour run

8 –   1600 – 4.15/ 3MR/ 2x 200 – 29, 30 with 200 jog/ 3MR/ 1600 – 4.14

9 –   1 hour easy

10 –   4x 400 over hurdles with 400 jog ave 65

11 –   1 hour easy – supposed to have been a 600 at 65 pace pouring rain

12 –   45 min easy with a few strides

13 –   30 min warm up with a few strides

14 – – UK Trials – 1st – 8: 33.69 (2^nd place – 8:39.44)

        July 2004 (continued)          

 12 –     Travel to Colorado Springs

13 – 16            Easy running

17 –      5K road race – 15.30 at 7000 feet

18 –      14 miles easy

19 –      1x 1k – 2.45 – quit workout still tired (5x 1k 2.50 with 1MR)

20 –      1 hour easy with some drills

21 –      8 x 400 with rest = 1.45/90/75/60/45/30/15 over 2 hurdles

            64/63/63/63/64/63/64/63

22 –      1 hour easy with some drills

23 –      45 min easy

24 –      Hills – 20 x 35 sec – jog back

25 –      12 miles easy

26 –      1 hour easy with some drills

27 –      2K – 5.38/ 5MR/ 1K – 2.45/ 3MR/ 500 – 78 over 4 hurdles

28 –      1 hour easy

29 –      400 – 60/ 1200 – 3.19/ 400 – 60 with 4MR over 4 hurdles

30 –      45 min easy

31 –      Hills – 20 x 35 sec – jog back

 ***

21 Days before Olympic Race August 1 – August 21

 1          12 miles easy

2          1 hour easy with a few pick ups

3          800 – 2.12/700 – 1.54/600 –96/500 – 79/400 – 62/300 – 45/ 200 – 30 with 3MR over 2 hurdles per lap

4          1 hour easy with some drills

5          1600 – 4.26/ 800 – 2.07/ 1600 – DNF with 4 min rest over 4 hurdles 1st and 2nd laps

6          45 min easy

7          Hills 20 x 35 secs – jog back

8          14 miles easy

9          Travel to London – 45 min easy run

10        London – 1 hour with a few strides

11        Cyprus – 30 min easy

12        1 hour easy

13        1 hour with 6 x 150 pick ups (50 stride/50 accelerate/50 sprint)

14        2K TT full set of barriers – 5.26 (63.8/65.6/65.8/66.1/65.1)

15        4x 400 over hurdles 1MR – 62.2/61.9/61.5/61.7

16        45 min easy with 2x 200 pick ups

17        1 hour easy

18        800 over hurdles – 65-66

19        45 min easy with a few strides

20        20-30 min warm up with a few strides

21        Olympic Games – 8:28.35 5^th place in prelims

Tony Chapman was the first ever Scottish National Athletics Coach.   He was not there to coach athletes but to coach coaches.   He also raised the status of coaches – not least by travelling round the country at the invitation of clubs to do some work with their athletes but more importantly to help club committees, coaches and trainers to improve their skills.   Unlike some of his successors, his car did not break down at Ingliston – he often made it all the way across the central belt and we saw him working at Scotstoun with Victoria Park members and also, on a different night, at Mountblow Recreation Ground with Clydesdale Harriers.   Any club that invited him was visited.   He died in 2010  and the following obituary by Sandy Sutherland, and the accompanying appreciation by Frank Dick, appeared in the first ever issue of PB in 2011.   Sandy’s obituary first.

It was the late John Rafferty, that doyen of Scotsman and Observer sportswriters who memorably borrowed a line from Keats’ famous sonnet  “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer”  to describe the impact HAL (Tony) Chapman had made on a young athletics coach back in the Fifties, who had previously been more interested in football.   That coach was AH (Alec) Dalrymple, the man who inspired me to take up athletics, having had his passion for athletics kindled by one of Chapman’s inspirational lectures.   But in truth Chapman, in his 12 years as Scotland’s national Athletics Coach, from 1949 till he resigned in 1961, set alight a whole generation of Scottish coaches and physical education teachers whose influence on the sport in the following decades is immeasurable.

Hugh Anthony Ledra Chapman was brought up in Plymouth (his father was a Rear-Admiral), attended Wellington School in Devon and saw service in the Royal Tank Regiment when his education was interrupted by World War II.   Author (he wrote “Track and Field Athletics” which appeared in 1961 to the contemporary acclaim of ‘quite possibly the best pocket book yet written on athletics’), coach, demonstrator, educator, lecturer and no mean discus thrower, having represented the Army in Hanover in 1946 where he threw 140′ 3″, this chunky but suave Englishman was endowed with great personal charm which helped him to implement the ground-breaking National Coaching Scheme.

I, like so many others, some of whom have kindly added their personal tributes to this sadly inadequate appreciation, also went on to benefit directly from Tony’s truly mind-opening talks at Scottish Schools coaching courses at Inverclyde and he continued to have an avuncular interest in my personal and athletics well-being long after he had moved on to pursue a career first with the Scottish Council for Physical Recreation (SCPR) and later with the Scottish Sports Council, from where he continued to assist the sport in various ways.

Frank Dick adds

Tony Chapman established our National Coaching Scheme as the first ever Scottish National Athletics Coach (and the second ever National Coach in any sport after the AAA appointed Geoff Dyson).    A giant of a man from Scottish Schools Easter Courses to teacher and coach development, to personal coaching excellence, he changed how Scotland thought about athletics and how it performed.   My personal debt to him was in his coaching when an athlete and his mentorship and guidance when following John Anderson as national coach.

Sandy Robertson one of Scotland’s longest serving and most experienced senior coaches, who interrupted his teaching career for a time to become National Coach for Malawi, maintains that he would never have achieved that post but for Chapman.

“He had tremendous proficiency as a lecturer, his explanations were marvellous and I’ve never seen clearer course notes – I spent a week at Inverclyde where he covered every event and it was a complete and utter knock-out.   I remember him bringing a 3’6″ hurdle into the small lecture room and then  going over it – I’d never seen it so close up.   He introduced me to PFI testing and the Harvard Step Test and brought in all of that interesting science.”

*

It seems a shame that after all the work done by Chapman, Anderson and Dick in particular but not excluding such as David Lease and Meg Stone to set up and encourage coach development that the present system of coach qualifications is held in rather less esteem.   As for Chapman’s coaching qualifications – well, I remember in the days when the route was from Assistant Club Coach, via Club Coach to Senior Coach there were those who criticised the necessity to have a rudimentary knowledge of all events at ACC level before starting to specialise in an event or event group.   It should be noted that the scheme implemented by Chapman and his staff included a qualification of  ‘Club Coach – All Events’.   That was where I and many other coaches started – the content was comprehensive and delivered fairly locally.   It was practical with an indispensable theoretical aspect.

Brian Scobie winning at Westerlands, Glasgow, in early 60’s 

Brian Scobie (born on 16th May 1944) was a very good runner who represented  Maryhill Harriers and then ran for Glasgow University AC in the 1960’s, before becoming a very highly regarded and much respected coach in the 1980’s, 90’s and into the 21st century.   Brian ran while at school and his father was also interested in athletics.   Living in Milngavie, he was eligible for the Dunbartonshire team in the Inter-Counties Youth Sports which was an annual athletics contest between the young athletes from local government authorities and was not a school or club based competition – athletes from schools, clubs, youth clubs, youth organisations, and whatever else were eligible so long as they had demonstrated ability.   Brian was only eleven months younger than Lachie Stewart from the Vale of Leven (also eligible for Dunbartonshire) and their paths crossed frequently in these sports.   With age groups in two year bands, they were in direct opposition every second year.   They competed together several times in that context.   Like many another, Brian describes himself as a ‘would-be footballer’ who ran a bit in the summer but did no formal training.   He did have a paper round however on six days a week with a circuit of about 6 miles.   Sometimes he cycled the route, sometimes he ran but from second to sixth years at secondary he was covering, one way or another, 30 miles in total.

In summer 1961-62 – the year before he went up to University – he was training with Queen’s Park FC Youth team at Hampden where they were not allowed even a sight of a ball until they had done 12 laps of the old cinder track.   Then there was a series of sprint sets – eg from one corner flag to the other, then from the tunnel to the corner flag, then from the edge of the eighteen yard box to the corner flag.   This, together with the school PE teacher he had, meant he won the County 440 yards and then finish second in the Scottish Schools 880 yards.   At that point he joined Maryhill  Harriers and started training with Tom Williamson’s group.     He gained a reputation as a good competitor who could frequently win tactical races.    Jim McLatchie the very good miler and middle distance runner from Ayrshire, moved to Milngavie and immediately the two started doing a lot of their training together, regularly training with the girls of Glasgow Western LAC under Tom Williamson’s guidance in the west of Glasgow.   If we take a look at his time with GUAC it is quite impressive.   He did not make the schools international mainly because, despite a good racing record, his times were not as fast as some others.   He had run in many highland games meetings and became a good tactical runner but tactical success doesn’t always mean fast times.   The performances of others such as Kenny Oliver and Davie Hendry in Dublin also rightly counted with the selectors of course.   He ran in a floodlit international; at Ibrox in September with such as Hugh Barrow in the Scottish team in a race won by England’s Morris Jefferson.

Brian first ran for Glasgow University in winter 1962-63.   Previously a summer runner, he had no experience of cross-country before joining the Hares & Hounds.  His initiation to the arts of cross-country running came when he ran the team trial, then went with the club to Belfast the following week where he was a very good third on the Saturday (27th) and then they went on to Dublin on Monday 30th where he was second to team-mate Cameron Shepherd, beaten by 12 seconds but four seconds ahead of Shillington of Trinity College. The first real domestic race with them was the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay in November 1962.   He ran on the eighth stage and held third place – holding off Chic Forbes (VPAAC) and Les Meneely (Shettleston Harriers) to win a bronze medal.   His next run in a winter classic was in the Nigel Barge Road Race on 5th January, 1963, when he finished 36th and third counter in a GU team that finished fourth and just out of the medals.     A week later in a match against Edinburgh University at Garscadden in Glasgow, he was fifth and third counter in a Glasgow team that won 26 – 52.  On 19th January he was sixth counter for the university in the Midlands District championship when he was 29th for the second placed Glasgow squad.   In action for the fourth consecutive week, he was in the winning team in a match in Glasgow against Aberdeen AAC, Aberdeen University, University, St Andrews and Dundee Hawkhill finishing eighth and fourth scoring runner for the University.   In a race featuring Calum Laing, Alastair Wood, Steve Taylor and Allan Faulds, eighth was not a bad run and the official history of GU AC comments that it was a confirmation of his return to form.   These races were the lead-in to the Scottish University championships on 2nd February when he was tenth, third counter in the team which finished second to Edinburgh.   In the National cross-country championships for Glasgow University on 23rd February, 1963, he finished twenty second for the team that won the bronze medals with 119 points behind Edinburgh University (49 pts) and Edinburgh Southern Harriers (91 Pts).

Brian ran over the summer and on 20th April finished first in the 880 yards in a match with Edinburgh University finishing in 1:59.5, assisting the Glasgow team to an 88 – 45 victory.   Although he undoubtedly raced al that summer, he was too young and too inexperienced to take on the many ‘big beasts’ competing in the country’s middle distance events – an area where Scotland was particularly strong at that time with runners like Lachie Stewart, Ian McCafferty, Graeme Grant, Dick Hodelet, Duncan Middleton, Fergus Murray and many more.

Season 1963 – 64 was a better one for him.  Running for the Hares & Hounds over the following winter, Scobie ran in the team trials on 19th October, 1963, and finished fifth behind such strong runners as Allan Faulds, Dick Hartley, Calum Laing and Jim Bogan with Dick Hodelet sixth.  A cutting from a University paper said that “the reprobate Scobie finished fifth as expected in 41:05.”    Not a regular in the first team, he ran in the Edinburgh to Glasgow in November 1963 on the short third stage and pulled the team from seventh to sixth.  Followed by Dick Hodelet who picked up another two places, the University scribes felt that they had both run very well.   On 23rd November at Kings Buildings, Edinburgh, in a match against Aberdeen University, Edinburgh University, St Andrews University and Edinburgh Southern Harriers, Scobie finished eighth – second Glasgow Scoring runner for the team which finished second to Edinburgh University.   On 7th December, he was second in a match against St Andrews to be second counter in 37:20 for the winning University team.   Into the New Year and Scobie was third in 38:08 to be second scorer in the winning team against Edinburgh U H&H over a six and three quarter mile trail.  A week later on 18th January  in the Midland District Championships he was twelfth and second scorer for the fifth placed team.  On 25th January it was back to Aberdeen to meet Aberdeen University, Aberdeen AAC, St Andrews University and Dundee Hawkhill over 6 miles of road and country where Brian finished third individual and second Glasgow man in the winning team.   On 1st February in the Scottish Universities Championships Glasgow won the team race with Brian Scobie in sixth place after seven miles of road and country.   Later in February he ran in the Junior National and finished twenty third in the Glasgow squad that was eighth.   At the club AGM on 27th April, 1964, Cameron Shepherd the club captain made his report in which he commented on the fine running of Calum Laing, Allan Faulds, Brian Scobie and Terry Kerwin and followed this up by saying that Brian Scobie had had an exceptional season and the Club was very disappointed that he had not been awarded the Blue for which he had been nominated.   It was however awarded the following year.

There are of course team contests on the track in the form of relays and Brian, a good team player, was in the winning teams for the 4  x  440 yards championship in 1963 (3:19.3) and 1964 (3:19.1) and ran the half mile leg of the winning team in the Mile Medley Relay in 1964 (3:36.6).

As the winter work would have led him to a high level of fitness, Brian began the summer season on 2nd May in a match between Glasgow University, St Andrews University and Queen’s University, Belfast, at Westerlands.   Running in the Mile he was second to Glasgow team mate J Wilson who won in 4:24.8.   A week later in the University’s confined championships he was third in the Mile, won by Dick Hodelet in 4:33.8 with Ray Baillie second, and second in the Three Miles, won by Calum Laing in 15:34.7.   As in 1963, the very high standard of competition in his favoured distances was so high that he did not appear in any of the other championships that year – not District, British Universities nor SAAA.   Nevertheless by the end of the season he was ranked 14th in Scotland over 880y with a best time of 1:55.6.

The first winter classic is the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay and in season 1964-65 Brian Scobie ran on the first stage and finished seventh.  The rest of team failed to hold this place and the team was fifteenth.   In the District Championships,  Scobie finished twenty second and the University team was fifth, and again the official history comments on the individual performances of Scobie and Shepherd.   Both were selected to run in the race against the UAU , and Scobie along with Barclay Kennedy and Ray Baillie was selected to run for Scottish Universities against a Scottish Cross-Country team.   He was, with four others, awarded First Team Colours and the report goes on to say “The outstanding member of the Hares and Hounds   over the season had undoubtedly been Brian Scobie; this was recognised by his winning of the Esslemont and McCulloch Trophies and the award of a Blue.”   He had been captain that winter and in his report he commented on the drop in standard of team performances following the graduation of several first team members.   Citing Barclay Kennedy as an example he said “that no-one could claim that Barclay was built as a cross country runner, and yet he had reached the standard of a Scottish Universities’ Select.”   He stepped down as captain at that meeting at the end of the winter season.

After this excellent winter, he started the next summer concentrating on what many felt was his best distance, the half mile.   On 24th April, 1965  Brian Scobie was part of a Glasgow team that defeated Aberdeen University in Glasgow.   He won the 880 yards to get the season off to a good start and the ‘Glasgow Herald’ reported:  “Bill Ewing of Aberdeen was well contained in the 880 yards by BWM Scobie (Glasgow University) who gives every indication of being an even better runner than he was last year.   Scobie had the race in control from the start and led Ewing over the finishing line by about five yards.”      On 1st May in Belfast against Queen’s, Belfast, and St Andrew’s, Scobie was again out in the half mile.  It was a windy day, witness this on the 880 yards, “After allowing lesser mortals in the 880 yards to act as hares, BWM Scobie (Glasgow) broke away with half a lap to go and won in 2:01.2, a time that on any other day but Saturday he would readily have scorned.”   Only one week later was the Glasgow University AC club championship and it was again a day of strong winds, so strong that the officials allowed the 100m competitors to run with the wind rather than against it.   Pity there wasn’t the same opportunity for the half milers – but Brian Scobie won the title anyway in 1:58.9 and the Mile in 4:38.1.   On the last Saturday in May, Scobie was third in the West District 880 yards behind Graeme Grant and Mike McLean – not a disgrace to be behind these two fine runners.     By the end of the season he had a best of 1:54.6 which ranked him sixteenth in Scotland.

I have spoken to several of his contemporaries at University who have all – without exception – said that he did not achieve anything like his potential as an athlete before graduating.

London Marathon, 1986: Brian Scobie A96

Brian moved to Leeds as an assistant lecturer in English in Leeds University in 1969 and stayed there until 2001 – a period of 32 years.   It was over this period that he developed his coaching skills and worked with many athletes of genuine quality – notably in the 1980’s when his squad of endurance athletes, particularly marathon runners, was arguably the best in Britain.   Athletes in the squad included

*  Veronique Marot, who was twice British record-holder, winner London Marathon, 2nd New York Marathon, three times winner of Houston Marathon (’86, ’89 and ’91)

*   Angie Pain Hulley, two Commonwealth Games for England (6th and 3rd), A European Championship competitor, a World Championships runner and an Olympian

*   Sheila Catford,  Scottish Internationalist, winner of the Glasgow Marathon and Commonwealth Games competitor.

*   Sarah Rowell, World Student Games marathon winner, second in London Marathon, third in the Columbus Marathon in Ohio and 14th in the Olympic marathon in Los Angeles

*   Jill Clarke, world student marathon winner and 2:39:42 was fastest GB marathon debut until Paula Radford in 2002.

Julie Holland, currently number 24 on the UK all-time list for 10000m with 32:47:48

*   Sandra Arthurton, an outstanding cross-country runner, multi international appearances.

* Peter Whitehead who finished fourth in the World Marathon Championship (interesting article at www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/other-sport/athletics/merseysides-100-olympians-no-60-3345933 )

* John Sherban – Commonwealth Games athlete

There are many more and those cited have all done much, much more that can be noted in this profile of their coach, Brian Scobie.   At this point he himself made a come-back to competitive athletics but at a much further distance than in his GUAC days – marathon running no less.   His first run at the distance was in the inaugural London Marathon in 1981 with some of his club mates in a time just outside 2:36.   He ran marathons very well indeed.  He ran London in 2:24 and 2:23 with his very best being 2:21:50 in London in 1984.     In 1986 the Scottish ranking lists had him at the age of 42 with marks of 30:52.8 for 10000m, and 2:24:14 for the marathon.    But at a time when the ‘marathon boom’ was in full swing and times were all, Brian was still a competitive runner and had two notable marathon victories under his belt.   Both were in the Horsforth Marathon.   The first victory was ion the second race in the series in 1982 in 2:29:09  from a field of 488 starters.  Two years later he won in 2:27:06.   The time in ’82 was a record by 3 seconds but the 1984 victory took more than two minutes from his own record.   That record still stands.  The 80’s was a good decade for him and after the two Horsforth victories he won the Commonwealth Games vets 25 K in 1986, the Scottish veterans cross-country in both ’86 and ’87 and then later in ’87 won the masters category in Houston in 2:30:59.   No small achievement – the Houston Marathon started in 1972 and by 1987 there were thousands running every year with the winner in ’87 being South Africa’s Derrick May in 2:11:51.

It is of interest to note that at this point in his career he was back working with his old Glasgow University athletics team mate Craig Sharp.   Of this relationship Brian says:   “Craig Sharp was President when I was running for Glasgow University. In 1965 I won the trophy that he had presented a year earlier. My subsequent re-connection with him was when he was heading the newly-created British Olympic Medical Centre, in Uxbridge. In the late 1980s we had a number of professional contacts in relation to my efforts to prepare Veronique for the Worlds and Olympics 1990-1992. Craig was very knowledgeable and very accessible and helpful at every point, friendly and assiduous. Through him I had a mobile lab-van trackside in Leeds at one point, doing lactate field-tests. (Try that nowadays!) So Craig was a big and positive influence for me from the 1960s to the 1990s.”

Brian Scobie, the coach.

Into the twenty first century and Brian Scobie is still working as hard as ever – that his work is successful is seen by some of the positions held:

From March 2003 to 2009 he was a Senior Performance Coach for UK Athletics before taking a post as Sprints Coach at Leeds Met University, a post which he held for a year.   He then became an Area Coach Mentor, Endurance, for England Athletics  in May 2011, a position which he still holds.   What does it entail?   “Mentor to Endurance Coaches in Yorkshire and Humber on behalf of the Athletics governing body in England; he has taken the post on a part-time consultancy basis.   He is required to manage the England Athletics Area Endurance Coach Development Centre which is based at Leeds Metropolitan University.  It involves organising and structuring all forms of coach education and speaking at venues across this huge part of the north of England. If we look at Linked In, his talents include Blind Sport Development, Paralympic athletics, Sprint Speed Coach, Marathon Coach, Endurance Coach.   He has written on all aspects of coaching, several available on the web – eg www.sportscoachuk.org/sites/default/files/CE-Does-Disability-Make-Difference.pdf on the coaching of athletes with a disability.

In the context of working with athletes with a disability he works with Tanni-Grey Thomson and has been described as ‘her boss’ in her new job of identifying talent among those with a disability.   He has also worked as Head Coach of the UK Athletics Paralympic Team.     The involvement with Blind and paralympic sport should maybe be looked at and I asked Brian about it:

“As a result of getting fully engaged in the British Blind Sport project that John Anderson had invited me to be involved in from about 1982, I took a team to the 1984 paralympic event.   I was co-managing with John Bailey who was unfortunately stretchered off the plane in New York with a suspected heart attack.   So I had to manage and coach that very strong team at the event in Long Island.   The event management was poor in many ways and I found myself battling heavily n technical meetings, etc, and having to raise issues for non-English speakers.   As a result, I made friends but also some enemies.   In the end it led to my involvement in the development and growth of blind sports in general within the governing body, IBSA.   By the Atlanta Games I was the Technical Director, responsible for about 16 sports across five continents.   In the early years of this involvement I also managed and coached Visually Impaired athletics but relinquished much of that role due to conflicts of interest.   I was offered a post within UKA to establish the British team for the 2000 paralympics but was reluctant to quit my University post.”

And it didn’t stop there.   Brian worked for a time as a sports development consultant.   Many of the contracts he was involved with were funded by the Spanish organisation for the blind which traded under the acronym of ONCE, which translates as Spanish Blind Association.   He undertook a number of projects with them and their partners in promoting disability sports.   This not only took him to Africa and countries in Eastern Europe but led to his designing a programme for the UK to which he was later appointed as head.   He was also involved with the IAAF and delivered a programme for developing countries at the World Championships in Lille.

Brian is still coaching club athletes, and he coaches athletes from a wide variety of clubs.   The Power of 10 website credits him with 15 athletes from 9 clubs, covering distances from 100m to marathon, both men and women and ranging in age from Under 20 to M40 veterans.   Let no one think he is now coaching at a lower level than heretofore: he always coached athletes of all abilities, bringing many through the ranks to international standard, and in 2013 one of his athletes, David Devine who runs the 800m, 1500m and 5000m in the T12 category, was included on UK athletics world class performance funding programme for 2013.   If you are interested in how he trains his athletes and in the advice he gives to coaches, you can access a slide presentation at

www.slideplayer.com/slide/1679711/

It starts with the picture of the student Scobie winning a race at Westerland shown above and ends with a slide of him running in a marathon pack with Veronique Marot in the mid-80s, but it’s the content that matters.

His is a story of a lifetime’s involvement in the sport going from his days as a schoolboy in Milngavie, just outside Glasgow right up to the present day: and a commitment all the way through to excellence, encouraging the athletes he works with – able bodied and disabled, club standard and international class – to’ be all they can be.’