With memories of this year's London Marathon fresh in mind and Scot Andrew Lemoncello restoring a degree of pride in British distance running with a 2h 12m performance it is worth considering the efforts of some Scots who over the years trained out of Anniesland and Balgray
Rugby and marathon running are not usually considered compatible but some have bridged that gap to considerable effect

Since the advent of the Marathon boom in the 1980s many Annieslanders have tackled the classic distance but who would have been the fastest?
Forty years ago in the Commonwealth Games year of 1970 Ally Johnston who was Kelvinside Academy's scrum half (and partnered former GHK supremo John Sinclair) recorded 2h 19m 31s over the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games Course
This performance won him a British vest in the Toronto Marathon but as this clashed with his C.A. exams he had to turn it down
Strangely this international opportunity was then passed to a Glasgow Accie Pat Maclagan who had recorded 2h 20m 49s in the same race
Pat who did much of his training round the Glasgow University quadrangle where his father was the Professor of Moral Philsophy had a sporting pedigree as his great uncle had captained the first British Isles Rugby Team to tour South Africa
Ally's career came to a premature end as the result of a freak accident at Meadowbank when during the Scottish 10,000m Championship the hammer broke through the cage and felled him in the back straight breaking his leg

However research suggests that the fastest Annieslander over the long run is Alan Wilson who undeterred by the then Rector of Glasgow Academy denying him an opportunity to win the Scottish Schools Cross Country Championship because it clashed with rugby went on in 1984 to record 2h 17m 40s in the Glasgow Marathon

When you compare these times with that of Lemoncello they make impressive reading and they were done without the benefit of full time altitude training the nearest to that was running over Hilton Park Golf Course

This article was originally posted on 4-May-2010, 07:23 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 4-May-2010, 07:44.