Clydesdale Harriers celebrated its 140th anniversary on 4th May last year. Established in May 1885, itr was the first amateur athletic club in the country and when Graeme Reid won the Scottish Senior Men’s Cross-Country Championship in 2003, we became the only club to have had Scottish Championship winners over the country in three consecutive centuries – the 19th, 20th and 21st. In the 1990’s and 2000’s we had many Scottish champions at Under 20 and senior levels covering all track events, shot, discus, hammer, long and triple jumps and especially in the relays where we won the senior men’s 4 x 100m, 4 x 400m, 3 x 800m and medley relays. We also had several GB internationalists in the 800m, 1500m, and high jump. You would think that the 140th would be a maker that we would work hard to celebrate . However with 10 different team races in the national cross-country championships in 2025, we had not a single complete team taking part, in the national track and field championships for U17’s and seniors there was not a single competitor from the club. Then on Saturday in the County Relay Championships, there were two teams in the Under 11 age group and both won their events and there was one winner and one third place. But again no teams in U13, U15, U17, Senior, men or women. It does not look as though the club is in good condition despite having some good athletes available – the promotion to Division One of the League for instance is cause for rejoicing.
Abraham Lincoln once said that if he had eight hours to chop down a tree, he would take six of them to sharpen the axe. If an athlete wants to perform well in a particular event, he needs to spend a lot of time preparing. The athletic year for any track or field athlete really starts in October with athletes being told then or consulted if they are old enough on what their targets for next summer are. On one occcasion I gave three international athletes a New Year card on 1st October. The thing is that we all need time to prepare. We are in the winter part of the year when strength and conditioning is done and where technical events including the sprints are essential. For most runners, the first target is a good run in the national championships at the end of the winter. That means running in the relays, in the championships (County, District and Club) prior to the Nationals. The athletes need to be given a fixture list, given as in on a slip of paper which can be stuck on the cork board in the kitchen or magnetically stuck on the fridge, as a reminder – on the website is good but not every athlete consults the site and not all remember to come back to it at intervals whereas a paper slip is permanently there for them as a reminder. It is not good practice to come along one night and say “By the way, we need you to run in the XXX championships on Saturday. be at Kilmarnock for XXX in time to jog round the trail.”
If we can get the athletes prepared mentally as well as physically for a race, then it is much more likely that they will perform well. When we have the Civic Reception and we are asked what we are looking forward to, or how the training is going, we really should be able to answer confidently and positively.
Maybe more later . . . . . .
