Inverness Harriers president Charlie Forbes humbled by ‘highest award’ there is from Scottish Athletics
Inverness Harriers club president Charlie Forbes says it was humbling to see his 40 years of coaching recognised by Scottish Athletics.
Forbes was awarded honorary life membership of the governing body at their annual AGM last weekend to mark his achievements as an official and coach in the sport.
He officiated at the 2005 European Cross Country championships, the 2008 World Cross Country championships and at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, while also leading disability sport in the Highlands and coaching Great Britain internationalists Mhairi MacLennan and Jamie Bowie.
The Harriers president is also playing a major role in the club’s ongoing campaign for the refurbishment of Queens Park track.
“It’s humbling to be thought of in such a way,” Forbes commented.
“It is a great honour to receive that from Scottish Athletics.
“I found out around October time, when the plans for the AGM were put out. I got a nomination form through and was asked if I was happy with it - obviously I was very happy, but it was quite a shock.
“It’s probably one of the highest awards you can get in your sport when a national governing body recognises what you’ve done.”
Forbes has been an athletics coach for almost exactly 40 years, having swapped football for running in the 1980s.
It was his family who sparked that interest, with his son and two daughters all getting involved in athletics leading to both Forbes and his wife Liz helping out.
That familial element of the Inverness Harriers remains to this day, and Forbes credits it with keeping him involved when he could easily have drifted away.
“I started in the winter 1984 into 1985, so it’s about the 40-year mark now,” he added.
“There was a jogging boom in the early-80s. I did a bit of football, but I packed that in and came into athletics.
“In school, athletics was probably a second sport to me. Collin Baillie was my PE teacher, so I probably don’t need to say any more. Colin was very influential in athletics in schools.
“The club itself when I joined was very welcoming, that was the important thing.
“It was family-orientated, and the peers I had in the club were some really high figures like Harry Lakeland, John Wilson and Brian Ross.
“If it wasn’t for those people, and the past president Peter Thompson, making me feel welcome, I might never have continued. A lot of the credit goes to the way the club was run, because those figures made it a very welcoming club.”
