Joseph McGhee (9 July 1929 – 17 April 2015) was a Scottish

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

runner, who won a gold medal at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war G ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada.

Career

McGhee was a member of

Shettleston Shettleston (, ) is an area in the Glasgow#East End, east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name "Shettleston" is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a multitude of spellings. A papal bu ...

Harriers athletics club, and also the Glasgow University Hares and Hounds. McGhee won the marathon event at the

, Canada. The event was run in sublime heat, and Englishman Jim Peters had been leading the race by 17 minutes coming into the stadium, but collapsed. Only six runners finished the race, out of 16 starters. McGhee had been the only Scot in the race, and his victory was overshadowed in the press by coverage of Peters' collapse. McGhee won the 1954, 1955 and 1956 Scottish National Championships, making him the first Scotsman to win three successive marathon championships. Fraser Clyne later achieved the same feat in 1992–94.

Personal life

McGhee attended St Francis' RC Primary school, and

St Modan's High School St Modan's Roman Catholic High School is an S1-S6 Catholic high school in Stirling, Scotland. History In September 1933, St Modan's High School was officially opened by Archbishop McDonald of St Andrew's and Edinburgh. It was located in Barnsda ...

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. He later studied at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

from 1946 until 1951. McGhee later became a flight lieutenant in the RAF. McGhee also worked as a teacher, during which time he taught Mike Ryan. Ryan later said he thought of McGhee as he won his bronze medal at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. McGhee wrote an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

entitled ''The Forgotten Winner'', which has now been published. He married in 1960, and has five children, six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGhee, Joe 1929 births 2015 deaths Scottish male marathon runners British male marathon runners Sportspeople from Falkirk Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Scotland Alumni of the University of Glasgow 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel People educated at St Modan's High School Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 20th-century Scottish sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics