Malcolm Gillis dies at 81; prolific early masters distance runner
Malcolm Gillis of Alabama, a pioneering masters marathoner who completed the 5K-10K-marathon triple at 1995 Buffalo worlds, died Dec. 2 at age 81, his local paper reports. His son, Bob, told a story from 1997 Durban worlds: “[Malcolm] was walking around the city, and two youthful men knocked him down. One sat on him while the other picked his wallet out of his back pocket. Then they both scampered away in opposite directions. Shocked and dirty but unhurt, he chased after one of them, for many blocks through twists and turns. ‘The man was confident of escape at first, but as the blocks wore on he became more and more winded,’ Bob said. ‘Finally he could go no further, and Malcolm sat on him and asked that someone call for the police. A constable arrived shortly and took the man into custody.’ The trial was set for a few days later, and his father changed his travel plans to take part.”
Malcolm showed off medals in 2004; he died after a decade of dementia.
Bob’s story continues:
After his father described the mugging and the ensuing chase and capture, he was cross-examined by the defense attorney. Bob said the solicitor was skeptical that he 64-year-old bald man could have chased down his young client.
“Well,” his father reportedly told the attorney. “I’m here in South Africa to run the marathon championship in the World Veteran Athletic Games.”
The man was found guilty, and the wallet was eventually mailed back to him.
The most recent results for Malcolm appear to be in May 2004, when as an M70 he ran a marathon in 3:52:11.
At 1995 Buffalo worlds, he was 62 and 16th in the 5000 (18:45.85), 12th in the 10,000 (39:33.36) and fifth in the marathon at 3:00:27.
More results can be found on mastershistory.org.
One Response
Malcolm was a good one, in more ways than one, as the story shows. By the way, the account of the crime has a nice symmetry, as the offender sat on Malcolm as part of the robbery, only to find Malcolm sitting on him later.
Yes, Malcolm Gillis was a very impressive runner, and his times at Buffalo worlds of 18:45.85 and 39:33.36 on the track at age 62 were terrific. I’m glad that Malcolm was part of the scene, as he and others like him really enhanced my interest in masters T&F. (I was fortunate enough to announce at Buffalo worlds.)
So glad you were with us, Malcolm.
Leave a Reply