MARATHON HERO ON PLIMSOLLS AND PORRIDGE
Tributes to the pioneer who ran 30 miles a day
Fuelled by a diet which consisted mainly of porridge and wearing thin-soled plimsolls, Jock Duffy was nothing like the modern elite athlete.
But he was Scotland’s oldest surviving national marathon champion when he passed away 10 days ago at the age of 97.
A war hero who took on the might of Rommel’s army in north Africa, Jock produced incredible results by running to and from work on a building site every day – a round trip of 30 miles.
He pioneered marathon running in the 50s and earned a reputation as a hardcore distance runner, even refusing to take water during races or training.
Jock, one of 11 children, of Broxburn, West Lothian, became a miner aged just 12 in 1931.
He did not take up running until he joined the Army in 1940, where he served as a tank driver in the victorious Eighth Army under Field Marshall Montgomery.
During service in occupied Italy, he became Central Mediterranean Forces crosscountry champion.
After the war, he met his Londoner wife May and they settled in Hadleigh, Essex, where he was a bricklayer.
Jock trained every day by running to the building site, which could be 15 miles away, and then ran home i n the evening.
In 1951, he f inished f ifth behind world marathon record-holder Jim Peters in a 20-mile road race. A year later, he came second, again behind Peters. Jock made his full marathon debut in 1952 – at the age of 33 – in the Polytechnic Marathon in London. Jock finished eighth and received a special trophy for the best newcomer. Two months later, he claimed the runner’s-up spot in the Scottish Marathon Championship in Dundee. The next year, he won the Scottish Marathon Championship at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh in a record time.
Being reigning Scottish champ, Jock had hoped to be selected for the 1954 Commonwealth Games (then called the Empire Games) in Vancouver. But he was snubbed for close rival Joe McGhee, who he had beaten three times.
The 1954 race is notorious in marathon history after Peters staggered and collapsed, allowing McGhee to win. Jock continued marathon running for three more years but gave up after an admin error meant he could not compete in the 1958 Scottish Marathon Championship. After retirement, Jock returned to Broxburn in the 80s.
His granddaughter Sarah Moyce Phil lips, 37, said: “He did not particularly follow a diet – just hard work and sweat. Although he did have a bowl of porridge every day, literally to the day he died.
“Grandad told amazing stories about his childhood in the mines but was modest about his running successes.”