Ian Cunningham
it is with deep regret that we have to report the death of Ian Cunningham.
Ian was an Athlete, Coach and Club Treasurer with the club and passed away in early October.
Ian Cunningham: some reflections
Ian trained at Saughton as a runner and as a level 1 coach he assisted Gordon Steele at Saughton and the old Dunfermline College grass training fields over at Cramond.
They managed a very good squad up to Commonwealth Games standard.
Ian was a supporter of all branches of endurance running whether track, cross country, road or mountain.
On the trackIan supported Keith Ridley’s advocacy of the Young Athlete Development League,he financed an A and B team in men's Scottish league back in the eighties whenthe club could put out two teams, one in each division!
Again as partof a group Ian introduced an inter club event at Meadowbank competing for theBert Farmer trophy now used for a Christmas paarlauf, he was great backer ofthe Edinburgh to Glasgow relay, arguably the pinnacle of Scottish road running. Team managers Claude Jones and AlexMacEwen strived to win this key race backed by Ian's budget and support.
At Executivemeetings, Ian along with most members argued for maximum effort in XCchampionship events, on the fells he backed those membersthat went to Scottish trials and made Scottish teams
A good coachbut also teacher I recall him directing me to “growth mind set” long beforesports Scotland rolled it out. Heillustrated active rest to the squad. Hequestioned why a 1500 metre runner would want to do three days in a row of 10mile runs: he made you think .
Most folkwill know him as an articulate Treasurer who helped to steer the club throughchanging times, a good listener and wise counsellor. He was a calming voice at some livelymeetings. He was one of several voiceswho managed the amalgamation of ESH men with EAC to produce the City ofEdinburgh AC. Maybe not 100% successfulbut with hindsight an obvious step. Later he was again a counsellor helping smoothbringing in Edinburgh Woollen Mill to ESH, creating a successful women's team and shaping thecurrent EAC
Ian used hismanagement skills, acquired in his role at the Royal Bank of Scotland, toachieve Charity Status, for the club, in order that the club could takeadvantage of possible sponsorship
At a timewhen Edinburgh Council was employing an athletics development officer, Ian waspart of a small group who tried to shape this innovative partnership role andassisted Norrie Williamson, under the management of Bill Walker, the citiesSports Development Officer, to be successful.
Ian was part of small group of Trustees who managedthe Bert Farmer Legacy.
A long-time supporter of club races both as competition,fund raiser and catalyst for team building and developing organisationalskills.
The 10 mile Cramond race attracted great Scottish road runners as Al Hutton andJohn Sheridan, this morphed into the Scottish Gas 5 and 10 Km races whichintroduced sponsorship, chip timing, multi-agency event planning to theorganising group but he also quietly backed small events as Queens Drive, theEdinburgh to North Berwick Race and the Berwick Law race.
Ian was anadvocate of “Think Outside the Box” and running the club as a business, andbelieved the club should not rely on the Membership Fees to run the club butensure that any events run by the club should make at least a small profit
He retiredfrom the club a few years ago when is workload increased at the RBS when the HQmoved to the Gyle. However, he remainedin contact with several members of the club and he and Dave Watson attendedHibernian FC matches regularly together.
Alex MacEwan and Bill Walker (Nov 2022)