LONG READ: Former international sprinter Jamie Bowie reflects on his journey from the Inverness Harriers to the Commonwealth Games
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The Commonwealth Games are less than a week away, with athletes from all over the world travelling to Birmingham hoping to claim a medal for their country.
Several athletes from the Highlands will be among them, representing Team Scotland, with the likes of discus thrower Kirsty Law, squash stars Gregg Lobban and Alan Clyne, and Paddy Kelly and Jacob Henry in the rugby sevens all hoping to come home with some extra hardware.
Someone else making the journey down to Birmingham, albeit in a slightly different capacity, will be Jamie Bowie.
The one-time Inverness Harrier will be the team manager for Scotland's gymnastics squad, but it was not too long ago he was preparing to step on to the track himself.
A World Indoor Championship silver medallist with Team GB in the 4x400m relay back in 2014, Bowie continued that momentum into the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with the host nation.
There, he was part of a team that broke a Scottish record that had stood for 24 years to set the current benchmark, finishing fifth amidst some fierce competition.
"If you look at that class of 400 metre running in the Commonwealth, it's pretty spectacular," Bowie recalled.
"Most of my GB teammates who had won a World Championship silver medal were in Team England. We had the Olympic silver medalists, the Bahamas, and Jamaica who won a bronze – now silver – medal at the World Championships in Moscow.
"We had some really tough competition there, so it was really great to put on a Scottish record, even in the pouring rain.
"Having the opportunity to be at a home Commonwealth Games was absolutely huge. We got to do a lap of honour after the race, and I saw some Inverness Harriers there. There's a photo of me with a saltire and the Inverness Harriers logo on there, and having all my family there watching was amazing.
"Really, 2014 was a summer of sport for Scotland. Everyone was talking about the Games, being involved or going to go see it. It really was a huge thing.
"For me, the bit that was the most surreal or inspiring was actually the opening ceremony. As hosts we were last out, and I remember hearing the noise and just waiting outside for an age. An opening ceremony sounds super glamorous to everybody, but they in reality they are not – it's just a long waiting game.
"I remember just stepping out at Celtic Park, them announcing Scotland and the roar. I feel like we actually sprinted round, and I wish somebody had said stop, walk so slowly to absorb it, take everything in, because that was the moment it hit that Glasgow was going to be big.
"Hampden was a huge atmosphere every night we were on track, but I do particularly remember stepping out for the opening ceremony and just being hit by the noise and the atmosphere. It was crazy."
The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow eight years ago came on to Bowie's radar at just the right time.
He was leaving school and preparing to go to university just when it was announcement the event was coming to Scotland, and given Bowie had already been at the Inverness Harriers for years, it was a natural target as he looked to reach that next level in athletics.
It was not something that always seemed achievable though.
Originally, the reason Bowie joined the Harriers was to try and gain an edge in his primary school sports day – unfortunately the few weeks he gave himself to train would not have been enough to make much of a difference.
Even then, the 33-year-old bounced around different disciplines as a teenager, trying out high jump and long jump as well as different racing distances like cross country, before eventually setting into the 400m and making his mark under the tutelage of Charlie Forbes.
A self-described grafter, who got to international level through hard work rather than natural ability, Bowie had another issue believing he was capable of competing at the highest level.
While a number of athletes have represented the Harriers at national and international level since Bowie left the club, at the time there were very few examples of a pathway from the Highlands to the pinnacle of athletics.
"I must have been at Scottish schools level when Glasgow was announced as a host city, so the stretch of imagination to get there was huge at that point," Bowie explained.
"You have to have that desire to win, and you have to learn to win. There's a talent trap that people can fall into, and I think sometimes being a sports person in the Highlands you can think of yourself in a context where the population is smaller.
"You can be the best in your town or district, but you also need the desire to stretch yourself – otherwise you keep to your comfort zone and actually, that limits your potential.
"Role models within the Highlands are really, really important, because you've got to have someone that sets that path.
"When I was at the club most of them were probably from the 80s and 90s, but one of my training partners – Grant Burnett – almost went to the Commonwealth Games. Lesley Clarkson was another one too.
"Success breeds success, but it's probably even more critical to have those good news stories for people in the Highlands to have that path laid out, showing the opportunity is there and if you want to do it, here's how.
"From my days the Harriers have really grown. Probably just when I was leaving Inverness it was really turning the corner and growing.
"There's a real drive for people to go down to events in the central belt for different championships and expose themselves to that environment. That's really good, and it's going to create the opportunity for people to go further if they have that hunger and desire."
