Alan Bertram: The Final Fling

Tuesday 2nd September 2014

The Alan Bertram Legacy was there to be seen at The Alan Bertram Memorial – The Final Fling which coincided with Round 4 of the Hammerama Grand Prix.

Hammer throwers aged nine and upwards including Commonwealth Games athletes descended to Craigswood to celebrate the life of this great man.

Each one of them had been influenced by Alan in one way or another, whether he had coached them directly or mentored their coach.

It was an honour to have Alan’s niece Judith Bryson as our guest. Here are her thoughts of the day.

‘Ron and I had a fantastic day at the first Alan Bertram Memorial in Livingston. I knew in myself that my Uncle Alan was a wonderful man, and that others did too.

‘However, today I learned so much more about this great man and the difference he made to lives as a hammer coach, friend and mentor. Compassion, caring, thoughtful, passionate, understanding, hilarious, inspirational are just some of the words that were used whilst speaking to athletes and their families.

‘It was an emotional day at times but also very entertaining hearing some of the stories about Uncle Alan. In a way, I wished I had taken a notebook to write down the funny stories, as there were so many.

‘The orgainisation of the memorial was a fitting tribute to this man and the thought and precision in ensuring this was a successful day left me in no doubt how proud Alan would have been of you all and honoured to be remembered this way.

‘A massive heartfelt thanks to Susan McKelvie, Andy Frost and Jim Green for organising the day. Tonight, as I think back on the day’s events, I am still smiling.’

Judith Bryson

It was a special day for our throwers

Awards:

Youri Sedykh Crystal Trophy for commitment, performance and potential (female)
– Susan McKelvie

Alan Bertram Trophy for commitment, performance and potential (male)
– Chris Bennett

Paddy Ryan Memorial Trophy for consistency of performance throughout 2014
– Mark Dry

The Alan Bertram Memorial – The Final Fling Winners

Female:

(U13) 2kg – Kym McAlpine

(U13) 3kg – Kirsty Costello

(U15) 3kg – Eva Clark

(U17) 3kg – Natalie Robbins

(U20) 4kg – Charlotte Stallard

SW 4kg – Susan McKelvie

VW 3kg – Patricia Philips

Male:

(U13) 2kg – Billy Guthrie
(U15) 4kg – Elliot Armstrong
(U17) 5kg – Christopher Scanlon
(U20) 6kg – Fellan McGuigan
SM 7.26kg – Andy Frost

Hammerama Grand Prix Winners:
Female:
(U13) 2kg – Kym Mc Alpine
(U13) 3kg – Kirsty Costello*
(U15) 3kg – Heather Fawcett
(U17) 4kg – Natalie Robbins
(U20) 4kg – Kimberley Reed
SW 4kg – Mhairi Porterfield
VW 3kg – Patricia Philips

* Hammer Grand Prix Record 33.23m

Male:
(U13) 2kg – Robert Pugh
(U15) 4kg – Andrew Peck
(U17) 5kg – Jack Mitchell
(U20) 6kg – Mark Guthrie
SM 7.26kg – David Little

Appreciations:

To our officials – for their sterling work before, during and after the competition; scottishathletics for their support and all the help from Mary Anderson; Howard Perkins – for compiling our results and distributing them to UKA Power of 10, Athletics weekly and scottishathletics; Neil Boyle and the staff of Xcite; Susan McKelvie and Jim Green for organising the event; To all the sponsors for their donations of prizes, food and drinks: Xcite Livingston, Proathletics, The Hammer Circle, The Hammeroos, FMC Technologies, Asda and Fyffes.

A total of £200 was raised on the day for The Margaret Kerr Unit. This will be presented to the hospice.
Good luck for the remainder of the season and we look forward to seeing you all through the winter.

scottishathletics Hammer Development Group

Tags: Alan Bertram, Andy Frost, Chris Bennett, Mark Dry, Susan McKelvie