1899 Scottish Athletics Championships
The 1899 Scottish Athletics Championships were the seventeenth national athletics championships to be held in Scotland. They were held under the auspices of the Scottish Amateur Athletic Association at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on Saturday 24 June 1898.
| 1899 Scottish Athletics Championships | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24 June |
| Host city | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Venue | Hampden Park |
| Level | Senior |
| Type | Outdoor |
| Events | 11 |
← 1898 1900 → | |
Background
For the first time in a number of years there were no bicycle races alongside the athletic events due to a rift between the Scottish AAA and the Scottish Cyclists Union that was essentially the same disagreement they had in 1895-6 concerning payments made to professional cyclists competing at an otherwise amateur meet. This did not affect the athletics but it did make it less attractive as a public spectacle and there were very low numbers of spectators compared with previous years.
The highlight of the meet was the sight of an eighteen-year-old Edinburgh schoolboy winning two events. William Edwin Callender (4 Apr 1881) won both the 100 yards and 220 yards events into a stiff and gusty breeze beating his more experienced opposition by two and three yards respectively. The promise of another Downer seemed to be fulfilled at the Scotland vs Ireland international in July when he won the 220 yards, but sadly before the year was out he had died of injuries sustained on the rugby field.
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Hugh Welsh set a Scottish native record for the 880 yards in June, then won both the half-mile and mile at the championships as he had done in 1896 and 1897, won the mile at the AAA championships in Wolverhampton and won both the 880 yards and the mile at the international against Ireland in July. His cousin, William Welsh, a first-year medical student at Edinburgh University, had won the inter-University 440 yards the previous week, won the championship quarter going away and won the same event at the international in July.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
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Results summary
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | William E. Callender (Watson's College AC) | 11sec. |
| 2. | James B. Auld (Ayr FC) |
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | William E. Callender (Watson's College AC) | 24sec. |
| 2. | James B. Auld (Ayr FC) | |
| 3. | J. Jeffrey (Glasgow Un.) |
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | William H. Welsh (Edinburgh Un.) | 52 1/4 |
| 2. | Ralph Halkett (Finchley AC) | |
| 3. | Patrick Shanley (Celtic FC) |
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hugh Welsh (Watson's College AC) | 2:00 4/5 |
| 2. | William H. Fitzherbert (Cambridge Un. AC) | |
| 3. | David Harvey (Glasgow Un.) |
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hugh Welsh (Watson's College AC) | 4:38 4/5 |
| 2. | James C. Macdonald (Stewart's Coll. FP) |
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jack Paterson (Watson's College AC) | 21:33 3/5 |
| 2. | Alexander R. Gibb (Watson's College AC) | |
| 3. | David Mill (Clydesdale H.) |
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hugh A. Fletcher (Edinburgh Un.) | 16 4/5 |
| 2. | William Dove (Edinburgh H.) | |
| 3. | Alexander Stronach (Glasgow Academicals) |
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | John B. Milne (Dundee Gymnastic & AC) | 5ft 9in (1.75m) |
| 2= | William Dove (Edinburgh Academicals) | 5ft 8in (1.72m) |
| 2= | R. G. Murray (Clydesdale H.) | 5ft 8in (1.72m) |
| Pos | Athlete | Dist |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hugh Barr (Clydesdale H.) | 22ft 0 1/2in (6.72m) |
| 2. | George D. Laing (Edinburgh Un.) | 20ft 2in (6.14m) |
| Pos | Athlete | Dist |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Malcolm N. MacInnes (Edinburgh Un.) | 40ft 7 1/2in (12.38m) |
| 2. | Hugh Nicolson (Kyles Athletic Football & Shinty Club) | 39ft 7in (12.06m) |
| 3. | R. Gunn (Glasgow Un.) | 37ft 3in (11.35m) |
| Pos | Athlete | Dist |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Malcolm N. MacInnes (Edinburgh Un.) | 112ft 2 1/2in (34.20m) |
| 2. | William Ogilvie (Ross & Cromarty AA) | 107ft 3in (32.70m) |
| 3. | R. Robertson (unattached) | 99ft 1 1/2in (30.20m) |
10 miles (track)
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | William Badenoch (Edinburgh H.) | 58:04 1/5 |
The 10-mile championship took place at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on Friday 7 April 1899. Only two men turned out for the race in bitterly cold weather and they ran in close company for five and a half miles when W. Laing (Edinburgh H.) retired, leaving William Badenoch of the same club to finish unopposed. splits (Field) 1 mile: 5:23.4, 11:00.6 (5:37.2), 16:40.8 (5:40.2), 22:26.0 (5:45.2), 28:10.6 (5:44.6), 33:55.0 (5:44.4), 39:48.0 (5:53.0), 45:50.8 (6:02.8), 51:59.0 (6:08.2), 58:04.2 (6:05.2).[11][12]
References
- Scottish Athletics 1883-1983, John W. Keddie (1982)
- Scottish Championship Results - Track
- Scottish Championship Results - Field
- Scottish Athletics Track Statisticians - Archive
- "Dundee Courier", Mon 26 Jun 1899 p. 3
- "Sporting Life", Mon 26 June 1899 p. 8
- "The Scotsman", Mon 26 Jun 1899 p. 6
- "Edinburgh Evening News", Mon 26 Jun 1899 p. 4
- "Athletic News", Mon 26 Jun 1899 p. 3
- "Scottish Referee", Mon 26 Jun 1899 p. 1
- "Field", Sat 15 Apr 1899 p. 46
- "Scottish Referee", Fri 14 Apr 1899 p. 4