Last night, I attended the Glasgow University Hares and Hounds 90th Anniversary Ball at the University Union. It was a very enjoyable occasion, getting the chance to renew old acquaintances and realising that several people in athletics I already know are also former member from the fact they were in attendance. I was asked "are you not running tomorrow" more than once. There was a dinner, a few speeches then a ceildh which, due to my post-winter/pre-summer break, represented my first bout of exercise all week.
Members spanning 7 decades of the club's history were present. 5 former members gave speeches. The first person became a Hare and Hound in 1958. They spanned the generations ending with a chap called Cameron Burt who was captain then treasurer during my time. The formal part of the night rounded off with a presentation to one of the university's professors, Dr Des Gilmore from New Zealand, who made his debut for the club at the McAndrew Road Relay in 1972 and has been Honorary President since 1989. Just about every one of the 90 or so present knew Des. Personally, I got on very well and am still friendly with him. The evening got me thinking.
Something emanated from every speaker- they squeezed every last drop of enjoyment from university and the Hares and Hounds. I thought about my own time. I was at Glasgow University from October 2001 to June 2006 for a law degree then one year postgraduate. I trained and ran intermittently with the Hares and Hounds for the first 2 and a half years then spent 6 months, January 2004-June 2004, at Lund University in Sweden as an exchange student. On my return, I trained and ran a bit more, served 2 years as Hares and Hounds secretary and the second of those years, with Des, as one of the club's representatives on the Dunbartonshire AAAs committee.
Above: with two of my flatmates in Sweden, Edwin from Amsterdam and Sara from Gothenburg. The photo was taken at Sara's 21st birthday party in May 2004. It may be too dark to see but I dyed my hair blond regularly back then.
I did a number of things as a Hare and Hound. 2 Scottish Universities Cross Countries, 4 British Universities Cross Countries in Belfast, Oxford, Leeds and, ahem, Stirling, a marathon in Spain (3 hours 8 minutes, never again), the unforgettable Isle of Man Easter Athletics Festival. There were negatives as well though. I stayed at home and worked part time in the evenings and a lot of weekends. I found the degree demanding at times, probably not helped by the aforementioned 2 factors. For all the things I've mentioned, I missed out on a whole lot more- training weekends, races, other social occasions.
Above: one of my best Hares and Hounds memories, the 2006 Isle of Man Easter Athletics Festival where I first discovered a liking for real ale.
I started contemplating the thought of university second time around, perhaps something which would not hinder or could even help my running flourish. Maybe being older and experience of the working world for a few years could help? In Sweden, a lot of my classmates were the around the age I am now or even older. Do I have good memories of university? Yes. Did I get as much from it as I could have done? Probably not. Did I get as much from it as many who were there last night? Definitely not. There's still time to correct that.
I've looked at no specifics at all. It's only an idea for now. Watch this space.
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