Learning curve: Luc’s grassroots pathway story from . . . grass roots

Friday 10th October 2025

Luc wins the Scottish U20 400m title in a photo finish at Aberdeen with Dylan McCulloch (photo by Bobby Gavin)

By Katy Barden

Eight-year-old Luc Macleod had made up his mind: ‘I want to do what they do,’ he told his parents.

He was referring specifically to the young athletes he’d seen competing for his local club, Banchory Stonehaven. And, in 2016, he joined them.

The Scottish U20 400m champion, now 17, has fond memories of those early years: taking part in cross country races with his friends (and going to a restaurant together afterwards); competing in – and winning – the RAM Athletics League; getting invited to train with Willy Russell’s highly regarded sprints group; and learning from former international decathlete Tom Leeson, his main coaching mentor, who brought fun to every session.

‘Craig Strachan (former Scottish age group sprint champion) and Claire McGarvey (former Scottish high jump champion) were still training with Willy’s group when I started,’ says Luc.

‘I remember watching them do the sprint drills . . . I was mesmerised by how fast their legs were moving. I’d try to copy them, so they were sort of an inspiration at that time to get better.

‘The big thing for me was that I had a lot of good friends in athletics and it was just super-fun. I’ve always been very competitive, so trying to race and beat people was a bonus.’

Luc recalls one of his first big events, an U13 Scottish Age Group Championships in Grangemouth.

‘Was that the bad 800m experience?,’ he turns to ask his dad, Robert.

Macleod senior laughs: ‘There was one East Districts where Luc decided he’d enjoy the hotel cooked Scottish breakfast and we saw that breakfast four times again over the next few hours.’

It wasn’t one of Luc’s prouder moments – but individually and collectively, good and bad, these moments have shaped him.

And, just as winning the RAM League was a turning point for Luc in his youth (until then he’d prioritised football with athletics on the side) so, too, was 2025, where the pressure of exams dictated a training schedule geared towards the 400m outdoors and the possibility of making the Great Britain 4x400m relay team for the European U20 Championships (rather than his previously favoured Combined Events).

He started the year with podium finishes in the Scottish Schools Indoor Championships (long jump and 200m), National U20 Indoor Combined Events Championships (heptathlon), and National Indoor U20 Championships (long jump).

But it was his outdoor season opener over the one-lap event in Linwood (48.90) that set the benchmark for the summer and beyond.

‘I didn’t have any expectations going into the race,’ says the Banchory Academy sixth year student who was awarded a grant from the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund ahead of the 2025 season.

‘We’d only done about six weeks training going into it but not a lot of focused 400m running . . . I went out hard and I felt like I was running well. I felt pretty good and I kept pushing it and pushing it. When I looked over at the clock I couldn’t believe that I’d broken my PB by almost two seconds.’

Robert and Tom with a young Luc at the Emirates Arena

Luc continued to get quicker – he ran back-to-back 400m times of 48.79 ; 48.52; 48.40; 48.02 through May and June – before running sub-48 for the first time (47.64) when representing Scotland in Mannheim (28 June) and recording a lifetime best of 47.33 at the NAL in Derby (5 July) for Glasgow Jaguars.

The latter two performances in particular brought him invaluable competition experience, from taking part in an international event as part of a Scotland squad and breaking the Scottish U20 4 x 400m record in the process, to the development experience of a Senior track event where older and more experienced athletes (plus the coaching team) created a fantastic environment for him to perform.

Competing in the national 400m race at London Diamond League was also a highlight.

‘It’s not like I was going to say ‘No’ to that, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity,’ he says.

‘It wasn’t the greatest race, even though I was still below 48 seconds, but just the experience of warming up alongside amazing athletes like Noah Lyles, Matt Hudson-Smith and Jeremiah Azu. It was just phenomenal.’

British Athletics opted not to take a 4 x 400m relay team to the European U20s, but if they had, Luc, who finished third at the trials one week after his Olympic Park outing, would have undoubtedly been part of it.

He concluded his season with an impressive win at the Scottish U20 Championships in Aberdeen (47.88) and delivered strong performances through the rounds at the Scottish Senior Championships before a hectic schedule caught up with him.

Scotland U20 Relay record breakers

Much has changed for this young athlete in a seemingly short period, but there are many contributing factors. His hard work and focus on the 400m event goes without saying, but Robert’s dedication to coaching and his willingness to reach out to people as a true student of the sport is also paying off.

‘I was very fortunate to learn a lot from Willy Russell (Luc’s first coach), then when Luc moved on to Tom (Leeson) he blew my mind with all the things I had to learn. But, importantly, his coaching style aligns with my mindset of blending fun and performance,’ he says.

‘I didn’t realise it at the time, but he was preparing me to take over Luc’s coaching as he got ready for retirement.

‘I think while it’s fair to say that Luc came into the season on very little 400m running (he was still pole vaulting, jumping and throwing, albeit infrequently), he wasn’t truly coming into that opener without a 400m base.

‘I’d cottoned onto something that Travis Geopfert (former decathlete and coach to Olympic and world long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall) had said that ‘decathletes should train like 400m runners’.

‘So, as we had prepared for the previous season I’d adjusted how we’d train Luc and our other multi-event athletes so it was more similar to how 400m runners would train.’

Robert, a self-confessed ‘data hound’, quotes a line from an AW interview with Great Britain’s Olympic and world 400m silver medallist Roger Black: ‘Success leaves clues’.

That, he says, is what’s driving his curiosity.

By studying the work of other coaches – he mentions a number of US-based coaches for the obvious reason that American athletes have consistently delivered over 400m – plus some closer to home including Linda Nicholson, Ryan McAllister and Chris Baillie, plus James McMenemy, coach to GB and NI international Brodie Young of Airdrie Harriers – Robert continues to learn.

ATS National Academy

The benefits of being part of Athletics Trust Scotland’s (ATS) National Academy – a two-year education programme for talented track and field athletes that aims to develop their knowledge, skills, and competencies – are also evident.

That has presented the opportunity to tap into the insight and experience of Allan Scott (a world and European 60mH finalist), Allan Hamilton (multiple Scottish champion in sprints and jumps) and Sam O’Kane (multiple Scottish Universities throws champion), plus incentives such as competition opportunities, nutrition planning and sports psychology.

Banchory Stonehaven AC has, of course, been integral to Luc’s development.

In addition to its dedicated volunteers, international athletes such as Alisha Rees and Kathryn Christie (who he competed alongside in the mixed 4 x 400m relay for Glasgow Jaguars this season) have also come through the club’s ranks, training on the same grass track that is so meticulously maintained by the local council, local golf club and Robert, and lead by example.

As he’s got older, Luc’s more intense speed sessions have moved to the impressive Aberdeen Sports Village, but the grass track remains a fantastic option for low-impact, highly effective training that works particularly well for club’s young athletes.

And, just as he’s benefited from the track and field experience and expertise of Tom Leeson, he’s also fortunate to train in the gym under the watchful eye of former Olympic snowboarder Ben Kilner.

There is undoubtedly far more to come from this multi-talented athlete who, with his dad’s backing, has opted to focus on the 400m (rather than the decathlon) for 2026 with the goal of achieving a qualification time that secures an individual spot at a world class event, whether that’s the World U20 Championships (the qualification standard is expected to be around 46.5) or the Commonwealth Games (the qualification standard is 45.47).

‘We’ve set a big goal for this coming year,’ says Robert, who at the same time notes the importance of patience and care with Luc’s development, especially during key growth periods.

‘Martyn Rooney and Roger Black ran 45.35 and 45.36 as U20s, so it’s not so much to say, ‘We will do it’ – you can’t be arrogant enough to think, ‘Yes, we are definitely going to do it’- it’s more about having the belief to say to yourself, ‘Why not me?’

‘It is a bit of a moon shot and it will take an immense amount of planning and work; it will also take some luck and will require us to walk the fine line of health and performance, but why not Luc?’

Inspiration comes at all ages and stages. Having been so positively influenced by older athletes in his early years, Luc’s own commitment, hard work and success mean he is fast becoming a role model for the club’s younger athletes.

Success is infectious, and as he goes after his own dreams, Banchory Stonehaven’s next wave of talent is on its way, young voices repeating what eight-year-old Luc said a decade ago: ‘I want to do what they do.’