COMMONWEALTH Games fever is gripping the country and, appropriately, Greenock athlete Lawrie Spence used the festival of sport to give an insight into how it feels to take part.

He ran in the final of the 5,000 metres of the Edmonton Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1978, when he was just over 25 years old.

Like many a top class runner before and since, Lawrie was unfortunately affected by a bug in the athletes’ village in the days up to the race, and, despite valiant effort, it was impossible for him to give his best.

This was obviously tremendously disappointing for him, but it’s good to see he has no regrets and looks back on the Games as one of the best experiences of his life.

The Inverclyde Athletic Club stalwart is a shining beacon in the Scottish and, indeed, British athletics world. He’s a sub-four minute miler, has competed strongly with the best on the globe and now devotes a great deal of his time to passing on his enthusiasm and wisdom through voluntary coaching.

Many of his athletes have won national titles and represented Scotland and Great Britain, thanks to his coaching skills.

His love of the sport is as strong as ever and, if anyone deserved to run in the Queen’s Baton Relay, it was certainly Lawrie.

Not surprisingly, he wishes he could be racing around the new track at Hampden in the Glasgow Games rather than spectating!