Alex Wilson as a runner was an enthusiastic member of Fife Southern Harriers and is now an authority on the history of running and foot racing going back over the centuries.   A good writer who does detailed painstaking research his biographical profiles of his subjects not only detail their athletic careers but give some insight into their personalities.   They also tell us quite a lot about the world in which they moved.   A typical article might give us the races in which they ran, how they were organised, maybe a bit about the training they did, about the principal rivals; they often tell us about the promoters or about challenge matches or a bit about society at the time as a way of putting it all into context.   Beautifully constructed and a pleasure to read, they have been brought together on this page for ease of consultation.    The line drawing at the top is of Paddy Cannon who is one that is most frequently read on this site.   To read about any of these men, just click on his name below the photograph.

 

There are also quite a few where Alex provided the bulk of the historical information, along with many contemporary photographs or line drawings such as those of Robert Burton, Jimmy Duffy ,Arthur Robertson, CB Mein and others.   He also wrote excellent articles on various aspects of Scottish running history and two of these are below along with some collections of just a few of the pictures (drawings and photographs) that he has collected over many years.   Profiles first

Plus  the articles 

The early history of the Edinburgh to North Berwick race.

The Race to Sub Two    100 years ago: Scottish Endurance Running in 1922

We also have a couple of pages with some of the photographs sourced by Alex or from his own collection, assembled over many years.

Alex Wilson’s Gallery 1: the half milers                  Alex Wilson’s Gallery 2: the milers  

Alex Wilson’s Gallery 3: Distance Runners   Alex Wilson’s Gallery 4: All Round Endurance Runners