It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Peter McGregor, a Life Member of Victoria Park City of Glasgow AC and a man whose extraordinary association with our club stretched back almost 58 years.

Peter joined Victoria Park Amateur Athletic Club on 2 October 1968. From that day until his passing, he never represented another club and never relinquished his membership. The blue and white hoops became part of his identity, and Victoria Park remained an enormously important part of his life.

Over a competitive career spanning around 40 years, Peter represented the club on more than 1,300 occasions, sometimes as the only Victoria Park athlete in the field. He accumulated an astonishing 140,000 miles of running and completed 20 marathons, four of them in under 2 hours 30 minutes.

Perhaps his finest performance came in the 1981 Glasgow International Marathon, where he finished 11th in an outstanding 2 hours 26 minutes 47 seconds.

Those achievements would be remarkable for any athlete. In Peter’s case, however, they tell only part of an extraordinary story.

At just five years old, Peter contracted paralytic bulbar polio. He endured a lengthy period of hospitalisation and isolation and was left severely affected, with paralysis involving his mouth, neck, tongue and vocal cords, as well as both arms and legs.

He was unable to walk upright until he was around seven or eight years old and was still unable to speak in full sentences when he left primary school. The illness and the years of education he lost presented Peter with challenges that would remain with him throughout his life.

And yet Peter ran.

He ran mile after mile, year after year and decade after decade.

Running, and particularly Victoria Park, became his salvation.

Peter went on to enjoy national success as a veteran athlete, earn an international vest, and ultimately qualify as a coach so that he could give something back to the sport and the club which had given him so much.

The scale of Peter’s achievements was recognised by respected athletics journalist and fellow Victoria Park member Doug Gillon, who once described him as:

“The best achieving athlete of all time given his disadvantageous start.”

When challenged as to whether he really meant more than some of the greatest names in athletics, Doug’s answer was simply:

“Yes.”

Shortly before his passing, the committee of Victoria Park City of Glasgow AC unanimously agreed to award Peter Life Membership, recognising his remarkable athletic career, his loyalty and his unique contribution to the history of our club.

We are particularly grateful to Peter’s friend Ian Whyte, whose work documenting Peter’s life helped bring the full scale of his remarkable story to wider attention.

Times, medals and performances tell us something about an athlete, but they do not fully explain Peter McGregor.

His greatest achievement was perhaps that a little boy who had been so seriously affected by polio found running, found Victoria Park, and refused to allow the circumstances of his childhood to define what he could achieve.

For almost 58 years, Peter was one of us.

He wore our colours more than 1,300 times. He competed, coached and represented Victoria Park with extraordinary loyalty and determination.

We were immensely proud to call Peter McGregor a Life Member of Victoria Park City of Glasgow AC.

But much more importantly, we were proud to call him one of our own.

Rest in peace, Peter.

“Running Through Adversity”

Running Through Adversity is the inspiring memoir of Peter McGregor, a man whose life was forever altered at the age of five when he contracted polio. The disease left him with lasting physical and emotional scars, co-ordinational challenges, and a shattered education. From childhood through much of his adulthood, Peter was maligned and bullied as he struggled to overcome his limitations.

Amid the darkness, Peter discovered the life-changing power of running. His lone recreational pursuit evolved into a passion that gave him focus, camaraderie, and resilience. Through sheer determination and consistent hard work, Peter transformed his life, ultimately becoming one of Scotland’s top marathon runners.
Overcoming challenges did not stop there as, despite his poor early education, Peter graduated from university at 63 years of age. Then disaster struck. At the age of 70, Peter required an emergency hospitalisation. It resulted in a lifesaving but traumatic lower-leg amputation. Many in his situation simply give up. Not Peter. Just as in his running days, he confronted his trials head-on. This time instead of focussing on marathons, he used everything learned as a runner to push himself to walk again.

In this poignant and candid account, the reader is taken from Peter’s humble beginnings in Glasgow through years of adversity, offering a testament to the power of perseverance, grit, and the unwavering pursuit of personal excellence in the face of prejudice and hardship. Running Through Adversity is not simply a chronicle of athletic achievement—it’s a story of how one man found freedom and fulfilment, one stride at a time.

AVAILABLE on Amazon (e-book, paperback, or hardback) or Ingram Spark
ISBN:
eBook: 978-1-80840-561-7
Paperback: 978-1-80840-562-4
Hardback: 978-1-80840-563-1