21 June 2019. The week has been dominated by a series of excellent performances by our middle-distance runners, Josh Kerr (pictured) leading the way with his victory in the Brooks PR Invitational 1500 metres in 3:33.60, setting a new British Under-23 best, bettering Steve Cram's 3:33.66 from 1982. Obviously this was a Scottish best as well, with John Robson's 3:33.83 having lasted from 1979.

Its worth repeating the event was won by Josh. In a time when athletes often set PBs well down the field in paced races, a PB and a victory is all the more notable. Neil Gourley, too, is running well, his 3:35.95 in the same race was also a PB and within the World Championships selection A standard of 3:36.00.

Eilish McColgan is also flying. Having set a 5000 metres record recently, she took her 1500 metres PB down to 4:00.97 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting at Rabat, a time bettered only by Laura Muir among Scots, and putting her into the top 10 British all-time lists. Her range of distance times is impressive.

At 800 metres, Lynsey Sharp and Jemma Reekie both performed well. Lynsey, after being tripped and falling in Oslo the previous week, bounced back with 2:00.61 in Rabat, just one hundredth outside the A standard for the World Champs. Last year, her sub-2:00 times came in July and August, and she looks on course for similar this year. Jemma reduced her PB from 2:02.62 to 2:01.45 at Dessau and she will be a threat to anyone over 800 and 1500 this year.

Mention, too, for 16 year old Isla Calvert. The Livingston athlete, having set new Scottish Under 17 records of 2:06.33 for 800 at the Scottish Schools, massively improved this with another UK-leading performance of 2:05.09 at Stretford. Although in a mixed race, Scottish record rules accept such performances as eligible for records for under-17s and younger.

Overshadowed in all of this was Chris O'Hare's 3:57.6 mile at the Boston Games. Although far from the quickest that he has run, it marked his 21st sub-4 mile in his career. It is over 60 years since the 4-minute barrier was broken for the mile, but it retains a place in the heart of athletics enthusiasts. Chris has run the most sub-4 miles by a Scot, his 21 putting him 4 ahead of Graham Williamson and 5 ahead of Frank Clement and John Robson. To recognise this particular barrier, I have produced a list of all the sub-4 miles by Scots, 133 by 29 athletes. 

14 June 2019. This past week has seen the top Scottish athletes really kick start their season with events in Rome, Arona, Portland, Hengelo, and Oslo to the fore.

But pride of place this week takes us to Leigh where Pat Rollo saw her 1983 Scottish 100m hurdles record disappear at last as Heather Paton (pictured) ran 13.34 to take just 0.01 off the record but remove a big psychological barrier. Paton holds the indoor national & native records for 60H at 8.34 and now adds her first outdoor record, 13 months on from clocking 13.36 last year. It sits her 4th in the UK this year, beating the Power of 10 target. 

Last year was the year of Beth Dobbin who excelled after breaking Sandra Whittaker's 1984 200 record. Could we see a repeat for Heather this year? 

Eilish McColgan improved her own 5000 metres record at the FBK Games in Hengelo from 14:48.49 to 14:47.94, a few days after a fine 4:02.29 in Rome. We now see the record lists show the latest mark in Hengelo, sitting just above the 10000 record set by Liz McColgan 28 years ago in Hengelo as well.

Andrew Butchart, after a disappointing European indoor, has bounced back to form with two fine Diamond League runs in the last 7 days. On 6 June in Rome, he got close to his 5000 record with 13:09.33, the 2nd fastest all-time by a Scot, and then last night recorded 7:43.57 for 3000, also the 2nd fastest outdoor. Butchart now holds the 6 fastest times by a Scottish athlete at both 3000 and 5000!

We take superb runs by Laura Muir for granted these days and she produced an excellent 3:56.73 1500 at the Rome meeting. Her 9th sub-4 clocking and the 2nd fastest she has ever run. If it wasn't for that pesky Dibaba!

There were big PBs this week for Andrew Murphy - 7427 in Arona; Josh Kerr - 1:46.06 800 in Portland; Sarah Inglis with a silver in the Canadian championships 10000 of 32:11.42; and Courtney MacGuire with a 4.10 PV at Loughborough. Worth noting too, fine performances by Holly McArthur (5397 heptathlon after injury-disruped training), Jack Lawrie at the British League 400H, and Chris Bennett back over 70 metres in Germany.

This year, the IAAF have brought in their World Rankings. They are updated weekly with the latest rankings taking in performances as at 11 June. I'll publish the top 10 Scots below (movement from 4 June) with no comment other than to note the complete absence of field eventers ...

17 May 2019. An icon of Scottish athletics has passed away with the death of Dale Greig last Sunday.

Best known as a pioneering woman distance runner who ventured into the area of marathons and ultra-distance running that even seasoned and hardened male runners regarded with trepidation, Dale Greig became one of the first women to run a marathon, setting the inaugural recognised IAAF women's world best for the distance. In addition to her competitive achievements, she acted as a national administrator, official, race organiser and athletics writer over a long period of time, editing "Dale's Diary" in the Scots Athlete magazine. 

Beginning as a schoolgirl sprinter, she soon found that her natural métier was stamina rather than speed. Between 1956 and 1959 she won a silver medal over 880 yards and two bronze medals at one mile in the Scottish women's national championships (she won four bronze over one mile between 1958 and 1966) before going on to specialise in cross country and road running. She was the founder member of Tannahill Harriers, named after the famous Tannahill weavers from Paisley. In 1960, she won the first of four national women's cross country titles. This was the last Scottish Cross Country Championship organised by the Scottish Women's AAA and she is the only runner to have won national titles under both the SWAAA and the subsequent Scottish Women's Cross Country Union organisations. As a member of the group of active women enthusiasts who established the SWCCU at a time when the sport was languishing in Scotland, Dale was the national secretary for six years and treasurer for a further five years.

Her interest in long distance running grew from a meeting with the inspirational Rhodesian, Arthur Newton, pioneer of ultra-long distance running. Her first competition over the standard marathon distance of 26 miles 385 yards came during her annual holiday in the Isle of Wight in May 1964, where sympathetic officials allowed her to run a time-trial on the day of the race, starting 4 minutes ahead of the male competitors. Despite the hilly terrain, and being shadowed by an ambulance throughout the race at the insistence of the athletics authorities, she had no qualms about completing the distance, having included several continuous runs of around 20 miles in her training schedule. Her finishing time of 3 hours 27 minutes 45 seconds was remarkable, being recorded as an IAAF inaugural world best over an officially certified and measured course, giving clear indication of what she might have achieved if she had prepared thoroughly for further marathon races. However, she enjoyed conventional competition too much to break from the standard women's events, and it was not until 1971 that she made her next attempt at a long distance event. After a thorough build up, running from 60 to 100 miles per week with continuous runs of 30 to 40 miles, she competed in the Isle of Man 40 miles race over the famous motorcycle TT course, finishing the distance in 6:48:00. Another pioneering effort came in hill running, where she was the first woman to compete in and finish the Ben Nevis 10 mile mountain marathon race in Fort William. This race, regarded as the toughest in Britain, she termed “body-shattering”.

The following year she decided to run in the classic London to Brighton 53 mile race. Her normal schedule of 50 to 60 miles per week was supplemented by three 40 mile runs, plus other continuous runs over 45 and 50 miles. For some of these long runs she ran from her Paisley home over country roads to the Clyde Coast, carrying her tracksuit in her shoulder rucksack. Stopping at Largs or another coastal town where she had a snack, she ran on to Greenock, donned her tracksuit, and travelled home by rail. Setting off on her solo run at 6 a.m. from Big Ben at Westminster Bridge, one hour before the male runners in the official race, she completed the arduous event, running non-stop with no noticeable aches or strains, in 8:30:03, representing a pace of under 9 minutes per mile. She continued to compete on the track in mile races and won her 4th and final Scottish cross country title in 1968, going on to finish 8th in the English championships and 14th in the International championship at Blackburn. In 1974, she recorded her most notable international marathon success when winning the women’s World Veteran Championships in Paris in 3:45:21. This race was the first officially sanctioned marathon for men and women to race together and her win was part of a memorable Scottish double, as Alastair Wood won the men’s race.

Her pioneering efforts opened the way for women throughout the world to be admitted to marathon races having ventured into unchartered territory at a time when some respected authorities still believed that running such long distances was harmful for a woman. Even though the current world marathon best is now well over an hour better than she ran in 1964 when 800 metres was the longest distance for women in the Olympic Games, she earned great credit and admiration for showing the world that women are biologically better suited for endurance races, rather than the explosive events which make up so much of their athletics programme. Their athletics achievements have been confirmed by cycling and swimming where the longer the distance the more closely women approach men’s standards of performance.

Her achievements and influence on the sport were recognised with her induction last year into the scottishathletics Hall of Fame.

Dale Sheldon Greig, 15 May 1937-12 May 2019

(Above article first published in "The Past is a Foreign Country", by Colin Shields and Arnold Black).

17 April 2019. Last weekend saw the setting of the first outdoor record (*) of the season and it went to a young athlete not unfamiliar to record-breaking.

Kirsty Costello of Kilbarchan AAC bettered her own under-17 hammer throw record with a throw of 62.85 at the Alan Bertram Memorial Event at Loughborough on Saturday.

Last year, she twice broke Myra Perkins' record of 59.25 with throws of 60.49 and 60.52 and she has now added over 2 metres to that record.

Kirsty also holds the under-15 record where she set 5 records with the 3kg hammer improving the age-group record from 51.91 metres to 57.83.

* record subject to application form and paperwork being submitted and approved.

28 March 2019. Edinburgh AC have bolstered their team for this year's UK Women's League campaign with the signings of Scottish internationalists Kirsten McAslan and Mhairi Patience. Kirsten, pictured by Bobby Gavin on her way to her Scottish title last year, follows a family tradition with father and uncles having been Edinburgh AC athletes.

These are the two big names in this month's changes of club that have been approved by scottishathletics with effect from 1 April 2019. The full list is:

James Beattie, Falkirk Victoria Harriers to Lothian RC; Kirsten Bowie, Elgin AAC to Livingston AC; Sarah Burns, Corstorphine AC to Edinburgh AC; Michael Cairns, Kilbarchan AAC to Glasgow City AC; Rhea Campbell, Giffnock North AC to VP Glasgow AC; Charlotte Clare, Moorfoot Runners  to Lasswade AC; Oliver Coghlan, Dunbar RC to Team East Lothian; James Grant, Strathearn Harriers  to Perth Strathtay Harriers; Gregory Hoggan, Musselburgh & Dist AC to Team East Lothian; Kayleigh Jarrett, Metro Aberdeen RC to Elgin AAC; Max Mayer, Musselburgh AC to Edinburgh AC; Kirsten McAslan,  Sale Harriers to Edinburgh AC; Courtney Moffat, Livingston AC to Lothian RC; Alun Myers, Victoria Park & Mile End Club to Inverclyde AC; Mhairi Patience, VP Glasgow AC to Edinburgh AC; Jamie Smith, Musselburgh & Dist AC to Team East Lothian; Nina Walsh-Kirk, Stewartry AC to Annan & Dist AC; Brodie Wright, VP Glasgow AC to Motherwell AC.

16 February 2019. In a great day for Scottish 1500 metres/mile running, Laura Muir captured the British mile record and improved her own 1500 record at Birmingham's Muller Grand Prix, while Josh Kerr set his first senior record with a new national 1500 mark.

Paced through 409m (1:07.69) and 809m (2:12.37), Muir was alone in front for the second half of the race but kept churning out the 32-second laps. The clock showed 3:47.97 as Muir embarked on her final lap, needing 36 seconds for the last 200 to beat the British record. She went far faster, running 30.78, and reached the finish in a world-leading 4:18.75, the third-fastest indoor mile of all time. Her 1500m split of 4:01.84 was also an improvement on her own British indoor record of 4:02.39. Her mile though slashed 13.25 seconds from Yvonne Murray's indoor record of 4:32.00.

Josh Kerr found himself in an astonishing race as the runners were paced through 400m in 55.69 and 800m in 1:52.70. Yomif Kejelcha, who last week came within 0.01 of the world indoor mile record at the Millrose Games, a race in which Josh was fourth, was targeting the world record and reached 1200m in 2:49.28 with fellow Ethiopian Samuel Tefera close behind and it was Tefera who kicked home to win in 3:31.04, improving Hicham El Guerrouj's 1997 record,by 0.14. Josh was the leading Brit in 4th place, his time of 3:35.72 breaking Chris O'Hare's Scottish record of 3:37.03. British 3000 champion O'Hare was next in 3:37.42 and Neil Gourley smashed his indoor PB in 8th (3rd Brit) in 3:38.32.

11 February 2009. The British Indoor Championships at Birmingham at the weekend provided a showcase for Scotland's middle-distance runners, with all the 1500 metres and 3000 metres races falling to Scots. 

Laura Muir set the ball rolling on the Saturday with a 3000 victory in 8:48.03 after Beth Potter led through 1000 and 2000 on her way to a 9:02.06 PB in fourth. It was Laura's 5th indoor title, equalling the record held by Rosemary Stirling and Geoff Parsons.

Chris O'Hare had never won an indoor title at 1500m, but he remedied that at 3000 metres by getting the better of Charlie Grice and Andy Butchart to win in 7:52.86. Neil Gourley won his first title, taking the 1500m in 3:44.76 and Jemma Reekie continued her fine form from last year with a comfortable 1500m win in 4:17.08, Kerry MacAngus setting a new PB of 4:20.25 in 4th.

Scottish athletes have a good record in the women's 400 metres as well and Zoey Clark (pictured) became the fifth Scots winner in 7 years with a 52.82 victory in a close finish for the places that saw Eilidh Doyle edged into fourth.

There was an eighth senior medal for Guy Learmonth (silver) in the 800 metres, just one short of the record nine achieved by high jumpers Geoff Parsons and Crawford Fairbrother.

Adam Thomas, who missed last season through injury, won silver in a blanket finish in the 60 metres, where 0.05 covered the top six, becoming the 3rd fastest Scot of all time with his 6.63 semi final win, and Nikki Manson was the only Scottish medal-winner in the field events, third in the high jump in 1.80 metres, beating Emma Nuttall on countback.

For a history of all the Scottish medal winners at these championships, follow these links for the men and the women.

24 January 2019. One athlete attracting attention in marathon running is Scot Nikki Johnstone who has recorded an astonishing hat-trick of marathon victories in the first 19 days of January.

Last year, he ran 8 marathons, winning in the German marathons at Krefeld, Mannheim and Duisburg, and reducing his PB from 2:31:23 to 2:25:21. His slowest run was 2:35:17 at the Berlin marathon, but then he did run that race as an Elvis impersonator.

A teacher at the ISR International School on the Rhine in Germany, Nikki has got his year off to a spectacular start. He won the New Year's marathon in Zurich on 1st January in 2:26:52, then retained his title at the LLG-Kevelaer marathon in Twisteden, Germany in a new PB of 2:24:21 just five days later. 

Taking a breather for 13 days, he won the Funchal marathon in Portugal at the weekend in another PB of 2:21:50. 

I am not sure if any other Scottish athletes have won three consecutive marathons, but certainly none will have won three in 19 days - the fastest marathon hat-trick on record?

13 January 2019. The 2018 ranking lists for senior men and senior women are now on the website. The rankings show the top 20 performances and top 40 performers approximately across all standard events, including track and field and road running.

Any corrections and amendments will be gratefully received so if you feel you are missing from the rankings or misrepresented, or there is an error, please let me know and the lists will be updated.

The annual ranking lists on the website now cover all years dating back to 2000.

Junior Men and Junior Women's lists for 2018 will be available in a few weeks.