Lachie's golden memory

Underneath a pile of plaques and mementoes marking his wins at various races in Scotland is a plain blue box. And inside is a large gold medal, hanging on a blue ribbon.

It is the medal Lachie won at the 1970 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games in the 10,000 metres, beating world record holder at the time Australian Ron Clarke, and securing victory for Scotland in front of a home crowd.

"Because it was in Scotland I upped my training as a lot of the competitors will do nowadays," he explains.

"The stadium was mobbed. You're nervous before most competitions anyway but being on your home turf, you really are quite nervous.

"My thoughts were 'I hope I don't have a stitch,' because sometimes you would have a stitch. I thought as long as I don't get a stitch I should be okay. I wouldn't say I was confident, but I felt I had a fair chance of getting a medal but I didn't think of winning.

"With all the other competitors and their standards I thought if I had a good run I might get a bronze medal out of it.

"My plan was, in the race itself, if we were still as a group at halfway and anybody goes after that, I am going with them, and that was exactly what happened.

"Ron Clarke and Dick Taylor from England broke away and I latched onto them and that was it.

"When I was running round there I was more or less oblivious to the crowds because I was concentrating on those two in front of me.

"I only noticed the crowd with two laps to go and that gives you a lift as well. It's the biggest competition I won."

It is more than four decades since Lachie climbed the podium to receive his gold medal in front of a packed stadium at Meadowbank.

Back then the 70-year-old was 27 - married two years, with a wife pregnant with his son, Glen, now 42, who was born that December.

Taking a full time job as a dental technician as a 16-year-old, the baker's son had already found his running feet at school at the Vale of Leven Academy.

In preparation for the Games he trained on his own, running to work at the Dental Hospital in Glasgow and home again to Rutherglen, with lunchtime runs as well.

One day, while he ran through Anderston, one of the bus drivers leaned out his window and asked to race him to Shawlands.

Lachie says, with a smile, he was running up towards Queen's Park looking for the bus coming.

Self-coached, he never ran on a track, preferring to mark out 800yard and 400yard repeats in local parks near his home, occasionally joining in with clubs at Glasgow University or Shettleston Harriers, which he joined in 1969.

And every weekend he would race the Scottish circuits, gathering strings of medals, all now stored in the loft of his Bonhill home in West Dunbartonshire.

"I liked racing on Saturdays or Sundays," he said. "That is one of the things they do nowadays, they aim for a particular race and they don't do as many races, but I liked racing every weekend."

After the 1970 Games, Lachie went back to work in Glasgow, and resumed training, this time for the Olympic Games in Munich where he raced in 1972.

He would race at show competitions during Rangers and Celtic matches - smartly wearing on one occasion, a blue vest and green shorts.

The father-of-four, who lives with his partner Helen Roy, 65, retired from professional sport in 1974, following the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, that year.

After six months out, friends at a local club lured him back to amateur running, which he did until around five years ago when he finally hung up his trainers.

And his running legacy continued when Glen took up the sport and began training for Manchester 2002.

Lachie, who still holds the Scottish native 10,000m record which he set in July 1970, coached Glen, and watched proudly as he ran in the 10,000m at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

When the Games come to Glasgow, Lachie's will be glued to his TV.

And, his advice for Team Scotland - "go in with a view to winning or doing your best, that's all you can do. And know your opposition."

matty.sutton@eveningtimes.co.uk