Tributes to ‘true gentleman’ Willie
Former champion veteran athlete passes away
A prolific Hamilton veteran athlete was this week praised as ‘a true gentleman’ after passing away at the age of 88.
Willie Marshall, who died on Friday, September 30, was a multiple World and European veteran champion and set several records at both levels during a glittering career.
Starting out with Motherwell YMCA and progressing to Clyde Valley and finally to Ron Hill Cambuslang Harriers, Willie from Earnock Estate, only started running seriously at the age of 55.
At 72 he was still finishing 10k road races in under 40 minutes, which is a remarkable achievement.
Sport runs in the family too, as son David (55) was a junior athlete, son-in-law Brian Sheldon has had a long association with Scottish junior football, and his son Grant is an accomplished triathlete.
Willie’s son David, who lives in Bellshill, said: “My dad was basically a quiet, unassuming, true gentleman.
“He was a phenomenon; from his 50s and 60s especially, he was all over the world winning World Championships, setting world records, and at 72 he was still getting times of under 40 minutes for 10k.
“He didn’t seem to slow down at all. He set times of under 35 minutes for 10k when he was in his 60s.
“He was in Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic and was at World and European Championships, particularly from the age of 55 onwards.
“He was out on the roads, and if you saw him you would think he was quite slow and frail looking, but he turned up for races and went up a few gears. His policy for training was long, slow distances, but he was racing every other week, so he was able to carry it off.
“I’m very proud of him; he didn’t boast, he was very quiet and unassuming, and nobody would have known about his achievements if they didn’t read about it. He never bragged about it.”
David added: “It’s also in the family genes; I did a bit of running but it missed a generation, because I reached junior Scottish standard, but not senior.
“Dad was a world-class veteran athlete and my nephew Grant is a world-class triathlon runner.
“My dad was very well loved in what is a big family.”
From the ages of 50 to 70 Willie enjoyed a prolific running career at Scottish, UK, European and World level.
He won at least 10 Scottish veteran track titles, Scottish veteran cross country titles and a silver and bronze, 14 UK veteran track titles and four road titles, four European veteran and four world veteran titles.
Willie broke four veteran world records, in addition to claiming several Scottish and UK veteran records.
A former invoice clerk, Willie won his first world titles in Canada in 1994 at 10k and 25k on the road, in the male 65-and-over category, and in the same year he won his first British veterans’ indoor 3000m.
In 2000, Willie won the M70 world 10k title in Spain in a time of 39 minutes and 57 seconds.
Willie leaves son David, daughter Carol, their spouses Fiona and Brian, grandchildren Lauren and Grant, and greatgrandson Noah. Willie’s wife Mary died in 2007.