1963 SAAA Marathon

I was writing a bit about Ian Harris winning the Scottish marathon in 1963 at the weekend. I'm bringing it up here because the trail went right down the Boule to Strathleven Estate and back to Anniesland! In the 50's and 60's there was a tendency to make marathons hard races - pick difficult trails and the one at the Isel of Wight was supposed to be the toughest in the country. In 1963 the race started at Westerlands (beside Anniesland Station for the newer club members!) and went straight out the Boulevard. The favourite was Jim Alder who had won the Edinburgh to North Berwick and then set a new AAA's record for twenty miles on the road. He fancied his chances as well. Ian Harris from Beith was a first class athlete whpo had only run one marathon before (in 1961) and dropped out. In 1962 he joined the Army and eventually became a member of the Paras. So he came up from Aldershot to run in the SAAA marathon. It was a ferociously warm day - Alastair Wood came down from Aberdeen and decided not to run, Ming Campbell waved to the runners as they left the stadium.
Alder went straight into the lead - it was his first ever marathon - and all the way out built up a lead over Harris. Down the Boule, first water point was opposite the Motel, up to the hill above Gavinburn, down again, up the hill and then down all the way to the garage at the road junction, out the back road and round the Strathleven Estate - Alder in his autobiography reckons that he thought at that point that he had all these hills to go back up on the return journey but he just kept battering on and then at about Knightswood the wheels fell off. He was over two minutes ahead at twenty miles, Harris caught him at between twenty three and twenty four miles and beat him by almost seven minutes. Seven minutes! ie he was running more than three minutes a mile slower than Harris on the way in to the finish! "And he never even congratulated me says Harris. In fact Alder was almost caught on the track by Clark Wallace of Shettleston Harriers.
It's unfortunate that in the history of the SAAA Marathon Championship (A Hardy Race) the impression is given that Alder was unlucky to lose the race. To me, two inexperienced marathon men on a very tough course on a seriously hot day ran two different races and the one who was maybe a bit cautious at the start beat the one who went for the win.
Incidentally, a trail that Harriers used to use in Clydebank as a pre-marathon 20 miler started at the Baths in Bruce Street, went out to Dunglass and turned back up the Bouevard and carried on to the Police Station at Mill Road where the runners turned on the spot and went back all the way they had just come out. There were plenty places to cut the trail on the way back if you wanted but you were a cissie if you did that! Mind you, it paid to have some sustenance in your kit bag when you returned - that orange and/or big bar of fruit and nut was more than welcome!