West Dunbartonshire Council athletics man retires

May 15 2009 by Andy Galloway, Lennox Herald (main ed)

DUNCAN MacNeill has spent his working days teaching youngsters to cover thousands of miles running – while he has done likewise in his car.

But all the distance will come to an end for West Dunbartonshire Council’s athletics development officer when he retires after 15 years with the authority.

It will be the end of a long road for Duncan, who has travelled from his Wemyss Bay home every day to help with development of the sport.

He said: “It’s just the usual mixed emotions. I’m looking forward to something new but, at the same time, quite sorry to be going.

“I’ve driven every morning and night from my home to do the job and it’s never worried me, although the road is maybe worse going back than coming up.

“I’ve been here just over 15 years working in sports development and, for the last 12 of those, I’ve been working in developing athletics.

“My interest was in running at a younger age, and you really can’t beat working around one of your main hobbies.

“When I started it was very much a generic post. We introduced young people to all sorts of sports, athletics and hockey being the main ones.

“But the post then became focused on athletics. We’ve been trying to develop it locally and give youngsters the chance to become involved.

“There are now school cross country programmes, and clubs are holding their own championships together, as opposed to individually.”

However, Duncan doesn’t intend to quit athletics altogether, planning ways to stay involved in the sport.

He added: “I hope somebody can come in and bring new ideas to the job. There is always room for change and whoever comes in will have their own ideas.

“My retirement will give me time to develop other interests. I’ve been quite keen to get involved in endurance running and will maybe do some of that.

“I’ll also do some coaching and tutoring. You just can’t tear yourself away from sports altogether when you retire and there is nothing better than seeing a youngster break a record or their personal best.”