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Hugh C Maingay was born in Scarborough in 1906, graduated in medicine at Edinburgh University in 1930 and died in Norwich in September 2001.   His obituary says:

“He was the son of a GP surgeon.   His love of athletics, fostered at Sedbergh School, developed at university, where he was Scottish half mile champion for three years.   As an Olympic trialist he trained with Eric Liddell and ran in a Paris international match.

After house jobs in Norfolk and Suffolk, he combined general practice with part time anaesthetics before joining the navy.   He saw service in the West Indies on merchant cruisers.    Discharged in 1944 because of shortage of Norfolk doctors, he obtained the rank of colonel in the Home Guard.    He served as president of the Norfolk and Norwich Medico-Chirurgical Society, and was very active in BMA affairs.

An enthusiastic but self professed mediocre golfer, he insisted that frequent visits to the rough encouraged his hobby of ornithology.    He subsequently officiated as captain, and later president, of the Royal Norwich Golf Club. 

Following retirement, his interest in athletics centred on the development of the East Anglia University athletic track and vice presidency of the Norfolk Olympiad Athletic Club.”

That encapsulates his career and also contains many interesting pointers to his running.   “Scottish half mile champion for three years:,   “Olympic trialist”  and  “trained with Eric Liddell.”   You could dine out for years on any one of these!     Further to his time in the Navy, he started his Naval time in HMS Chitral, an armed merchant cruiser,  but spent  most of his naval career in HMS Despatch, a Danae-class light cruiser,and latterly at Seaforth naval hospital in Liverpool. He was unusual in the later years of the war. in being both a RN Surgeon Lt Commander, and also a colonel in the Home Guard!

Hugh Courtney Maingay was born in Scarborough on 03.03.1906, son of Harry Maingay, House Surgeon at Scarborough Hospital.    His father was also mainly a GP, a successful one, who kept his patients so healthy that the undertaker across the road abandoned his business, and went into the manufacture of sailplanes!   It seems to have been a privileged upbringing in a house with nurse, a cook and a housemaid.    He and his brother attended Sedbergh School – a highly regarded boarding school – from 1919 to 1925 before going on to study medicine at Edinburgh University.   Sedbergh had several links with Scotland and formal dress on Sundays was suit or kilt.  He took part in athletics at school before going on to Edinburgh University.   Taking athletics fairly seriously, he was one of the founders of the Atalanta Club, which was a kind of Scottish version of the Achilles Club in England, founded in 1920.  Where the latter was confined to students and graduates of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Atalanta covered the four ancient Scottish universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Aberdeen.    His time at the University did overlap very slightly with that of the more famous Eric Liddell who had started there in 1920.

He first appears at the Edinburgh University sports at Craiglockhart on 5th June, 1926, where he was second in the half-mile to RB Hoole who won in 2:06.  The mile medley relay race was a major feature of most meetings and at the Border Common Riding meeting on 12th June, the Edinburgh University team won with a squad of RB Hoole (440 yards), RD Allison, RD McDonald (both 220) and Maingay (880 yards) and it was supposed that the same four would contest the National championship.   In the Inter-University Sports at Aberdeen on 19th June, Maingay ran in the Mile as well as the half-mile: finishing third in the half behind Graham (Glasgow) and Hoole (Edinburgh), he was second in the Mile 30 yards behind Murnell of Aberdeen who won in 4:33.2.   Unplaced in the half-mile at the SAAA Championships  (noted as an ‘also competed’) he was a member of the team which won the relay by 15 yards from Maryhill Harriers gaining him his first SAAA gold medal.   The team was as noted above with Maingay running first over the 880 yards distance.   His next appearance in reports was on 31st July in the Atalanta Scottish Universities v Achilles match.   I quote: The match took place at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on Saturday afternoon in fine weather and before an estimated attendance of 5000.   The representatives of the Scottish club did not win a single event, being defeated by 25 points to 8, but despite the disparity in in the respective strengths, several of the events were keenly contested. ”     Maingay was second in the half mile to Douglas Lowe who won in the scratch time of 1:57.4, 20 yards ahead of Maingay.   Achilles turned out athletes such as DGA Lowe and Lord Burleigh and were more than firm favourites from the start.

In 1927, the relay at Queen’s Park Sports on the first Saturday was expected to produce a tense battle between RB Hoole and JD Hope on the final (440) leg but “… the withdrawal of HC Maingay from the Edinburgh team robbed this promised trial on even terms in the quarter and and also that of RD Allison and R McLean in the furlong …”   His place on the half mile stage was taken by his predecessor CD Mein, who had run this first stage for several years for the University before Maingay came along who they reported, was not fit.   Second year at the University and Maingay was already a key man.   The Scottish |Inter-Universities Sports were held on 18th June at Craiglockhart and Maingay competed in the 880 yards, which he won by 10 yards in 2:02.4, and the relay which was won by Edinburgh, McDonald, Macpherson and Hoole making up the rest of the team.

He did not run as an individual in any event at the SAAA Championships on 25th June, but ran the first stage in the relay where Maryhill Harriers defeated the University’s regular quartet by three yards.   He did compete in the first of the Atalanta v Irish Universities matches on 28th June however.   This was an important match – at a time when representative events were few and far between and the universities provided a large percentage of the international team, this addition to the Universities calendar mattered a lot.  The Achilles club in England was already established with matches between Achilles and the AAA on an annual basis, as well as meetings such as Oxford v AAA and Cambridge v AAA.   The official report on the match against the Irish read:

The inaugural athletics match between Irish Universities and the Atalanta Club, the combined Scottish Universities Select team from Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrew’s and Aberdeen, took place on the sports grounds of University College Dublin in Terenure. The Irish Universities team was selected by the Irish Inter-University Committee which organised and ran the Intervarsity Championships. This new international event in the athletic life of both countries was mooted as a fixture that would strengthen the ties between Ireland and Scotland. The Scottish team included R.D. Allison, the Scottish Universities 100y and 220y champion and ex-440y champion, A.F. Clark, Scottish 120y hurdles champion, R.B. Hoole, the Scottish 440y champion, and Dr A.P. Spark in shot putt and discus who was a member of the British Olympic Team in Paris in 1924. Based on Irish, British and world records, the Irish Times had commented the day before this contest on the backward condition of athletics in Ireland in that there were few men capable of holding their own with the front rankers of other countries. The newspaper welcomed the inauguration of the international inter-universities contest as “an important and marked advance in the development of athletics in Ireland”. In its report on the contest the Irish Times further commented: “Athletics and various other branches of sport have always received a considerable amount of attention in our universities and colleges, which have given to sport athletes whose feats of skill, courage and endurance have reflected credit on their institutions… The successful launching of the [international inter-universities] contest should act a great stimulus to all who have the welfare of athletics in Ireland at heart… Thus we have in this inter-universities contest a strong incentive for our ‘Varsity athletes to redouble their efforts on the training ground... And who can at the moment doubt that out of this modest beginning may emerge a regular international University contest.” The outstanding performance of the Irish Universities team was that of Sean Lavan in winning the 220y and 440y, placing 2nd in the discus and anchoring the one-mile relay team to victory. The Irish and Scottish teams were entertained to supper. While the contest was scored on number of wins across the 11 disciplines, had the contest been scored as 2 for a win and 1 for the runner-up as in the next contest in 1929, Ireland would still have won by 18 pts to 15 pts.”   

How did Hugh Maingay do in this match?   He was second in the 880 yards, ten yards down on the winner but only the winner’s time was given.

The second match was against English Universities, excluding Oxford and Cambridge.  Maingay did not appear in the first two in any event and was not in the relay team either, but the comments in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ about Atalanta read as follows:   During their short life the Atalanta club have shown considerable enterprise.   A year ago they introduced the famous Achilles club to the Glasgow public, their first ambitious effort as a club, and this season, having found their wings, they fixed up a programme which comprised three fixtures.    The first, against the Irish Universities, took place at Dublin; the second, at Ibrox Park on Saturday afternoon, when a team from the IUAB, as the combined athletics strength of the Universities of England and Wales, outside Oxford and Cambridge is termed; while the third, with the Achilles club, will take place in August.   All this pioneer work is bound to have its effect on University athletics in Scotland, as there is nothing which tends to improve the standard more than matches in which the contestants compete on a level footing.” 

Maingay leading the final of the World Student Games, 1928.   Paul Martin, 242, won 

Maingay won three consecutive SAAA half mile titles.   The first of these was in June 1928, a season that started on 9th May at the Glasgow University OTC’s meeting in which Main gay ran the opening leg of the inter-university relay and won comfortably.   Then on 12th May in the Edinburgh University championships at Craiglockhart with a very good time of 1:58.   “Maingay’s running in the half-mile was easily the most outstanding performance at the meeting, as he was timed as covering the distance in 1:58, better than anything previously recorded at these meetings, and only one fifth outside CB Mein’s Scottish record.   The grass track at Craiglockhart is fast but nevertheless the performance coming as it does so early in the season, is a very fine one.   During last season, Maingay was troubled by a leg injury, but never had he approached this time in any of his public appearances, and if he intends to specialise at this distance, as he evidently does – he did not defend his title in the Mile – there is every hope that he will even improve on Saturday’s figures.   These were accomplished against moderate opposition and he had to make his own running for most of the distance.”  The Press were noticing Hugh Maingay.    He was in action a week later, on 19th May,  with a victory in the Inter Varsity Athletic Board Sports in Sheffield.   He won the half mile in the slower time of  2:03.4.

He was then first in the Scottish Universities Championships were held on 2nd June at Westerlands in Glasgow and Maingay had a headline and a paragraph or two about the half mile.   Under the heading “A Fine Half-Mile” it waxed eloquent about the race.   “Everything in the flat events paled, however, before the running of HC Maingay in the half-mile.   At Craiglockhart three weeks ago he covered the distance in 1 min 58 sec, after making all his own pace, and under exactly similar circumstances, he repeated that excellent time on Saturday.   Maingay ran so easily that the announcement of the time – a new Inter-University record – came as a surprise, and we are now looking forward to see what he can do with a really good field of half-milers.   Given good conditions there should be nothing to hinder him improving on these times.”   

In the Hawick Common Riding meeting on 9th June the Edinburgh University team ‘had no difficulty’ in retaining the relay title that they had won the year before.   A week’s rest before the Scottish championships on 23rd June at Craiglockhart and he was ready to go.  He won the 880 yards in 2:01.4 and “justified all the good things expected of him by his appearances at University meetings.”   Second was Donald McLean of Maryhill who was reported as letting Maingay get too far ahead at the start of the race.   However in the Mile medley relay, Maryhill Harriers won gold from Edinburgh University who had Maingay running the opening leg.   Still, a gold and silver at the championships was a good day’s work.

The relay team was more successful the following week at the meeting organised at Tynecastle by Hearts FC, Edinburgh Northern Harriers and Edinburgh Harriers.   That they won was due to the ten yards lead handed over by Maingay (from WH Calderwood of Maryhill Harriers) on the first half-mile leg.

The World Student Games were held at the start of August and Maingay was chosen to run in the 800 metres.    He ran well enough to figure in the final and actually showed at the head of the field as can be seen in the photograph above.   The race was won by Paul Martin of Switzerland in 1:57, with Fredy Muller of Germany second (1:58.4e) and Francis Galtier (France, 1:58.6e).   It was nevertheless a great experience for Maingay who had had a very good season: one which started with Edinburgh University Championships, took in the Scottish University championship, the Inter University Championships, the Scottish Championship  and a trip to the World Student Games in Paris.  There was one more representative match before he had his well-earned end-of-season rest: on 22nd August in a match between the SAAA and the Canadian Olympic team, Maingay was our top man in the 880 yards.   “the half-mile saw Maingay depart from his usual custom of forcing the pace and he was unable to cope with either B Little or A Wilson, the two Canadians, and was a good 13 yards away.

What would 1929 bring?

EUAC 4 x 440 relay team, 1929: Maingay on the left

The Inter University Competition was held at St Andrews on 1st June 1929 and Maingay was initially expected to break the meeting record for the half-mile but was beaten by the slow track and the report added “HC Maingay, although not so convincing as usual, was yet too good for his opponents in the half-mile.”   He won in 2:01.4.   A week later at the Hawick Common Riding meeting he ran in the individual handicap 880 yards for the first time and ran an estimated 1:59.6 to be second.   On 17th June he appeared at the Glasgow Police Sports for the medley relay: “The Edinburgh students returned 3:37 in the relay, which is 3 sec faster than their championship time of 1922, when Eric Liddell was a member of their team.    This accomplishment was mainly due to the fine running of HC Maingay in the half-mile and DC Paton in the first of the furlongs, but both RL Howland and FP Reid contributed their quota. …. Maingay clearly showed that he had lost none of his running since last year, and that in his public appearances this year he has been running well within himself.   Opposed by J Calder of Beith, who has shown himself to be the best of the Western half-milers, Maingay let himself go and was timed as doing 1:59.”   

“BRILLIANCE OF MAINGAY”

was the headline in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ after the SAAA Championships on 22nd June, 1929.   “In the half-mile Maingay made our other runners look a very ordinary lot indeed.   Running the first quarter in 56 seconds, he had thoroughly demoralised his field, and although in the later stages he was not moving as strongly as usual he broke the tape in 1 min 58 1-5th sec, fully 30 yards ahead of his nearest rival, PJ Gaffney of the St Peter’s club, who ran a much better judged race than some of the more fancied competitors.   The Yorkshire man is a good champion and his time has only been equalled once in the history of the race.   That was when WR Seagrove, the Glenalmond master was opposed by Tom Riddell in 1926”   He also won a gold in 1926 as part of the winning mile relay team.   Two races and two more for the collection.

 On 29th June Maingay travelled to Manchester to represent the Atalanta Club against the IVAB (the Combined English and Welsh Universities) and for the first time since its formation, the club won.   Of Maingay, it was said that he had not run as freely as usual but was consistent in that he was again under two  minutes for the half-mile.   In fact he was timed at 1:59.8 and won by 15 yards.   The mile medley team won too to make it a very good meeting for the Atalanta club – and HC Maingay.

The Atalanta v Irish Universities meeting had been such a success in 1927 that a repeat was held in 1929.   This time Atalanta was the host club and the meeting was held on 3rd July at Westerlands.   The Irish report read:

“The second meeting between Irish Universities and Scottish Universities was an evening event hosted in Hampden Park, the biggest terraced stadium in the world at that time with a 130,000 capacity, extended by 1937 to 183,000, and only to be surpassed in 1950 by the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. A heavy shower about one hour before proceedings started possibly affected the attendance adversely, but the weather was fine during the contest. For several of the Irish track athletes this was their first experience of running on a cinder track. Dr Pat O’Callaghan and Michael Moroney made a clean sweep of the field events O’Callaghan failed by a couple of feet to throw the hammer clean off the grass onto the cinder track. The “Flying Scotsman” H.C. Maingay ran away with the half-mile in an excellent time. While the result of the contest was never in doubt by the time of the last event on the programme, the meeting closed with an epic battle in the mile relay with Patrick C Moore (IU) and Ian H. Borland (Atalanta) on the final leg fighting stride for stride down the home straight all the way to the tape, Moore winning by inches.”

His winning time was 1:58.6 which was a meeting record.   Then it was on to another representative match.   As Scottish champion he had been selected for the team to compete in the Triangular match against England and Ireland, to be held at the Athletics Grounds in Cork on 12th July.   Maingay was third in the half mile behind Cyril Ellis and Reg Thomas.   Ellis, an Englishman, ran in two Olympic Games (1924 and 1928), won the AAA’s mile title three times and had a pb for 880 yards of 1:53.3; while Thomas was a Welshman who won gold (mile) and silver (880y) in the Hamilton Empire Games, turned out in two Olympics (1928 and 1932) but was prevented from competing in the 1934 Empire Games by an English protest.   So Hugh was running in very good company indeed.   They met up again in France on 29th July in a match between France and a British team captained by Lord Burghley.   The half-mile was won by Thomas in 1:53.6 – well beyond Maingay’s capabilities at that time – and Maingay (according to the French publication “Athletisme”) finished sixth.

 The Inter Universities meeting was at Aberdeen in 1930 and Maingay again won the 880 yards comfortably – “HC Maingay had his usual practice spin, which he won without being stretched in 2 min 2 3-5th sec”.    The winning margin was 10 yards this time.   On 16th June the students from Edinburgh competed in the big inter-club meeting that was the St Peter’s Sports at Celtic Park.   It was a big meeting with many relays – 4 x 110, 4 x 220, 4 x 440, 4 x 880 and a medley on the programme; at different times it included a 4 x 1 mile and even a 4 x 440 yards hurdles relay.   Maingay made the headlines again with “MAINGAY’S FINE RUNNING“    The finest race of the afternoon was by all accounts the Two Mile Relay (ie 4 x880)in which Maingay was head to head with Donald McLean of Maryhill over the last half-mile.   McLean took over 30 yards up on Maingay – “the Scottish champion however was not dismayed.   He went  after McLean in fine style, caught him in the back straight of the concluding lap, and entered the straight a yard or two ahead.   The effort, however, had taken too much out of him, while McLean had something in reserve, and Maingay was beaten in the final burst by three yards.  Maingay was timed as doing 57 1-5th for the quarter, and 1 min 59 1-5th for the full distance.”    He was back in Glasgow a week later for the Glasgow Police Sports but this headline remarked that Maingay had disappointed.   “Either he was under form or he had underestimated the finishing powers of J Hood, the Shettleston runner, for he was content to remain in the ruck until the finishing straight, and when he did go out, he was unable to peg back Hood’s lead, being beaten by five yards.  Maingay’s big swinging stride   demands plenty of room, and had he gone into the lead straight away there would have been a different story to tell.   He was obviously cramped, moving away from the head of his field.    Hood’s time for the half mile was 2 min 2 sec, and only last week at the St Peter’s meeting Maingay was returned as doing 1 min 59-1-5th.”   

In the Scottish AAA Championships on 28th June at Hampden, Maingay won his third 880 yards title in 2:00.6 after spread-eagling the field with a first lap inside 55 seconds!    But the “what if …” question dealt with the question “what if Tom Riddell (who had won the Mile) had also contested the half mile?”   An inkling of the answer, said the reporter,  was to be found in the relay where Riddell ‘decisively defeated’ both Maingay and WH Calderwood.

On July 5th at the Lochwinnoch Games Maingay ran the first stage of the Mile relay which he won easily – it was his only race of the afternoon and his main opponent J Hood had already run two fast half miles.

A week later (12th July) he competed in the Scotland v Ireland v England at Hampden where he faced Tommy Hampson.   Hampson, an Oxford graduate, was the English winner of the 880 yards at the 1930 British Empire Games in Canada, and winner of the 880 yards in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he set a new world record of 1:49.7, becoming the first man to run  inside 1:50 for the distance.   In the half-mile at Hampden he won in 1:58.0 with Maingay back in fifth place prompting the ‘Scotsman’ to say:

“Although it had hardly been expected that HC Maingay would have much chance against record breaking T Hampson, the time of 1 min 58 sec is one which Maingay has several times accomplished, and it was disappointing that he could finish no better than fifth well behind the leader.  He seemed to be struggling all the way.”

On 31st July at Bedford in the UAU Championships he won the half mile in 2:03.3.   He was one of six Scots then selected to compete in the World Student Games at Darmstadt between 7th and 10th August.   The final was won by Fredy Muller of Germany in 1:58.2 from Francis Galtier of France (1:58.3) with Maingay sixth.

Reg Thomas winning the 800m at the Stade Colombes in July 1929

The summary of Maingay’s subsequent career and war service at the top of the profile covers his medical career but also mentions his service in the second great war.   It is however pleasing to note that he maintained an active interest in the sport in Norfolk throughout his life.

As a student he had been a popular President of the Union and also served as secretary of the University Athletic Club.   As an athlete he competed at every level other than the Olympic; he represented his school, his university, Scottish Universities, Scotland, Great Britain and British Universities.   He ran in small meetings (such as Lochwinnoch) and in grand international Games.   He ran against club and university athletes as well as Olympians such as Thomas and Hampson.   And, although an Englishman he did it all under the banner of Edinburgh University Athletic Club.   We were lucky to have him.

I should like to thank Alex Wilson for help with results, with passing on information and for all the photographs of Maingay as a student athlete.   Thanks, Alex.

This excellent profile of the little known Scottish Miler Douglas McNicol comes from Alex Wilson who has done several such pen portraits of noted Scottish runners of the past and this one is as good as any he has done so far.  Alex writes:

In previous posts we’ve encapsulated the careers of John McGough, who was Scotland’s No. 1 miler from 1902 until 1910, and Duncan McPhee, who held a similar position of supremacy between 1913 and 1923. The missing link, as it were, is the Anglo-Scot Douglas McNicol, who emerged from McGough’s shadow in 1910 to dominate Scottish miling for few short years. Known as “Little Mac”, he was very short, barely over five feet tall, but big on talent.

Douglas Frank McNicol was born in Chelsea on September 11, 1885 to Kate and Colin McNicol, a Scot with roots in Dalry.

McNicol burst onto the scene in 1905 when he finished fifth in the South of Thames CC Championship, leading Thames Valley Harriers to silver medals in the team contest. In his first track season the young accountant produced a flurry of outstanding performances and looked all the part like a man with the potential to challenge the indomitable Alf Shrubb. On 27th April, competing for his second-claim club Islesdon Harriers, he won the 2 miles inter-team race in the South London Harriers sports at Kennington Oval in a superb 9:36.0, defeating a quality field including George Pearce, Joe Deakin; and Albert Aldridge, the reigning AAA 10 miles champion. A 4:34.0 mile at Richmond on 11th May hinted at his considerable potential over this distance. In the AAA championships at Stamford Bridge on 5th July, however, he tackled the 4 miles and made a medal-winning debut by finishing second in 21:34.6, the favourite Shrubb dropping out. The next month he showed his stamina and versatility by taking second in the half mile and winning the 3 miles in an excellent 14:56.4 in the Norwich and Norfolk sports on 5th August. In retrospect, his 1:56.6 half-mile in Norwich was unofficially a Scottish amateur record, but of course his Scottish eligibility had yet to be ascertained despite the suspicious surname.

McNicol then disappeared off the radar for a year and re-emerged in 1907 as a member of Polytechnic Harriers. Here he came under the tutelage of Sam Mussabini, who, like McNicol in some ways, was a small man with big ideas. Mussabini was a pioneer in his field, certainly one the greatest athletics coaches who ever lived, and best known for his work with Olympic champions Albert Hill and Harold Abrahams. Mussabini firmly believed, for example, that the mile would one day be run in under four minutes, a notion which in those days was scoffed at.

McNicol opened his account that year by winning their mile championship at Paddington on 19th June in 4:38.0. This led to his second appearance in the AAA championships on 6th July at Fallowfield where he finished sixth in the 4 miles. His time of 20:55.0 earned him a standard medal for beating 21 mins. Other highlights of an otherwise quiet season were a 4:23.0 mile off 40 yards at Exeter on 31st August and a 1:56.0 half mile off 26 yards at Exmouth on 2nd September.

The enigmatic Scot was again conspicious by his absence during the 1908 season, which is particularly puzzling considering that the Summer Olympics were staged in his home city that year. Be that as it may, he made another successful return to track racing in 1909. In the first of two matches between Polytechnic Harriers vs. Stade Francais at Stamford Bridge on 8th May he threw away his chances of winning the mile by – somewhat embarassingly for an accountant – miscounting the laps and launching his finishing sprint a lap too early. French runner Quilbeuf made up 30 yards on the last lap to win by six yards from McNicol in 4:37.4. However, McNicol made up for his faux pax in the return match in Paris three weeks later. After thrashing Quilbeuf to take the mile in 4:28.4, he won the three miles in a French record of 15:02.4. The following month, some five years after taking up athletics, he finally availed himself of the opportunity to compete in the Scottish championships. On 26th June, three days after retaining the Polytechnic Harriers’ mile championship at Paddington in a record 4:32.2, McNicol made his long-awaited SAAA championships debut at Ibrox Park. He contested the mile, which proved to be one of the highlights of the meeting. Harry Jamieson in tight finish prevailed by two yards from John McGough in 4:29.2, with McNicol another two yards behind in 4:29.6. A sub 4 min. 30 sec. performance would usually have been good enough to earn selection for the Scotland vs. Ireland match in those days, but only the first two were selected, so he missed out. However, McNicol had by coming up to Scotland and competing in the national championships made a strong case for consideration in the future. A week after the SAAA championships he competed closer to home in the AAA championships at Stamford Bridge, where he contested the mile. He was in the thick of the action until the closing stages when Eddie Owen, Broughton Harriers, got away to win by two yards from Arthur Robertson in 4:23.0. McNicol was close behind in sixth and inside the 4 min. 30 sec. standard, although his exact time was not reported. In any case, in an inter-club contest at the same venue on 13th July he returned a world class time of 4:24.6 to comfortably win the mile. Of Scots, only John McGough (4:24.0) ran faster that season.

The lineup for the mile in the 1909 Poly H. vs. Stade Francais match won by Douglas McNicol 

By 1910 McNicol was on the cusp of becoming Scotland’s top miler, although there was little to choose between himself and the incumbent John McGough. This became apparent when McNicol made his second appearance in the SAAA championships at Powderhall on 25th June and came within a whisker of wresting the mile crown from McGough. It proved a humdinger of a race with McNicol leading virtually from gun to tape only to lose by the width of McGough’s singlet, the Bellahouston harrier edging ahead in the last few strides to claim a record seventh title in 4:32.8. It was so close, in fact, spectators actually thought McNicol had won, and both men were given the same time. Three days later McNicol made a successful defence of the Polytechnic Harriers’ mile championship at Paddington, and, in so doing, lowered his own championship record to 4:29.6. The AAA championships at Stamford Bridge on 2nd July witnessed McNicol trying the difficult half-mile/mile double, particularly as the half also included a preliminary heat. He finished third in the half mile, crossing the line only 2 ½ yards behind Ireland’s James Hill in 2:01.7. Later in the afternoon he occupied the same position in the mile, finishing eight yards behind Emil Voigt (Manchester AC) in 4:27.6. One wonders if he would not have been better off devoting his energies to the mile, but, that said, Voigt was the reigning Olympic five miles champion and a hard man to beat in the best of circumstances. A 4:25.8 mile four days later in winning the London Championship at Stamford Bridge saw McNicol ranked second in the UK that year behind Voigt’s world-leading 4:19.8. On 9th July he capped his season with a great performance in the Scotland v Ireland match at Ibrox Park, where he produced a terrific sprint in the home straight to snatch victory from Ireland’s James Bill by inches in 4:26.0. He also defeated his great rival John McGough, who was run out of it and gave up in the home straight. Scotland achieved their biggest ever margin of victory, with 9 wins to Ireland’s 2. On 23rd July McNicol wrapped up his season with a 4:28.2 mile win in the Polytechnic Harriers vs. Herne Hill Harriers match. On the whole, it had been a very successful campaign.

John McGough pips Douglas McNicol for the 1910 SAAA mile championship at Powderhall.

In the run-up to the 1911 SAAA championships McNicol scored a series of early season wins including notably a 15:05.6 for three miles at the Geneva A.C. sports at Stamford Bridge on 21st April, a 4:26.8 mile at the Kinnaird Trophy meeting at Stamford Bridge on 27th May and a 1:59.6 half mile at the LAC summer meeting at Stamford Bridge on 21st June, not to mention a half-mile/mile double in the Midland Championship.

On Saturday 24th June McNicol continued his good run of form in the SAAA championships at Hampden Park, where Anglo Scots caused consternation by accounting for five out of eleven events. The mile delivered the most meritorious performance of the day courtesy of McNicol. Despite strong winds, he took the lead on the first lap and front ran his was to victory by half the length of the home straight from J.T. Soutter, Aberdeen University AC, in 4:26.4. The Glasgow Herald wrote: “Considering the weather and track conditions, this is a brilliant effort, and we hope it is but a prelude to a still greater effort at Stamford Bridge in the English Championships this week”.

In the AAA championships the following week McNicol did not disappoint before 16,000 spectators in fine weather. The mile, which nineteen contested, proved to be one of the best races of the day. Again McNicol was in the thick of the action. He was only fourth entering the home straight, but then uncorked a fine finish which carried him past his rivals and onward to victory by a couple of yards from the Canadian Jack Tait, who, in turn, was a yard ahead of the Northern champion Eddie Owen, Broughton Harriers. With a personal best of 4:22.2, he became only the second Scot after Hugh Welsh to win the AAA mile.

Four days later, McNicol returned to Stamford Bridge for the LAC sports and won the London Championship in another personal best of 4:21.0. Among Scottish amateurs, this ranked him fifth of all time behind Hugh Welsh, 4:17.2 in 1898; Charles Henderson-Hamilton, 4:17.8 in 1905; John McGough, 4:19.2 in 1906; and Henry Acland Munro, 4:20.4 in 1895.

The 1911 AAA mile, entering the last lap. Philip Baker leads from Eddie Owen (12) and Jack Tait (19) with the diminutive McNicol tucked in behind Owen.

A McNicol in this form would surely have no trouble retaining his mile title in the annual Scotland vs. Ireland match at the RDS Showgrounds, Ballsbridge, on 15th July. In fact, the mile turned out to be a procession. McNicol was a class apart and won by 40 yards from J.T. Souttar in 4:25.0, thus helping Scotland to victory by 7 wins to 4.

On his return from Dublin McNicol made a detour via his ancestral home of Ayrshire and won the 1000 yards handicap from scratch at the Ayr United FC sports in 2:20.2.

Having discovered a rich vein of form, McNicol made his first appearance at the annual sports of Rangers FC before 10,000 spectators at Ibrox Park on Saturday 5th August. The feature of a varied programme was the win of Harry Gissing, New York, in the invitation half mile handicap in a 1:56.2, just a fifth of a second outside Mel Sheppard’s all-comers record. McNicol, off 10 yards, did well to take second a couple of yards behind the American in 1:56.5, despite being badly spiked in the second lap. His afternoon was not over, however, because, despite his injury, he also ran in the open half mile handicap off 10 yards, winning his heat in 1:58.6 and the final in 1:58.0. The Glasgow Herald commented upon McNicol’s marvellous exhibition of stamina thus: “There are not many runners in Britain capable of equalling this threefold effort of the Polytechnic Harrier.” Two day’s later McNicol returned to Ibrox Park for the additional Monday evening meeting. Like on the Saturday, the feature of evening was the running of Gissing and McNicol, but this time it was in the 1000 yards handicap. Thirty three started, but interest centred on the scratch men, McNicol doing most the pace-making work. In the home straight the canny American had more in reserve and won by inches in a new Scottish all-comers’ record of 2:16.6. McNicol finished a close third and had the satisfaction of setting a new Scottish native record, his time of 2:17.0 being eight-tenths of a second better than Adam Turnbull’s record made in 1909.

After the Rangers sports followed the annual sports of Celtic FC on 12th August, which at that time was the biggest meeting in Scotland with an attendance of around 30,000. Again, McNicol (15 yards) faced Gissing (scratch) in the half mile handicap. Again the Scot did all the donkey work, and again the American won by two yards in 1:58.0 to 1:58.3 for McNicol, a troublesome wind mitigating against fast times.

On 17th August McNicol wrapped up his domestic programme with a 4:27.4 mile to retain the Polytechnic Harriers Club Championship at Stamford Bridge.

His final outing that season was in Berlin, Germany, where he represented his club in a match against Berlin Sports Club. McNicol ran in the 1500 metres, where he faced, among others, none other than 1906 Olympic champion Jim Lightbody. Despite the loose track, which was not to the Polytechnic Harrier’s liking, a big crowd witnessed a fast race with the American winning by 5 metres in 4:06.2. McNicol’s time in second of 4:07.0 was the fastest ever by a Scot, being just inside the 4:07.2 credited to fellow Anglo Scot Arthur Robertson at Stockholm in 1908. Thus concluded a memorable season brimful of highlights, wins and records. In recognition of his achievements McNicol was elected a life member of Polytechnic Harriers.

1912 was again, of course, an Olympic year, and, following the bountiful medal hauls in 1906 and 1908, Britain’s elite athletes once again focussed their energies on qualifying for Stockholm. With this in mind, the AAA staged Olympic trials at Stamford Bridge on 18th May, the flat races being run over metric distances. McNicol, running in the 1500 metres, won the first heat in a fast 4:09.0. In a close-run final McNicol took second in the same time, finishing a yard behind Bill Cottrill (Hallamshire Harriers), winner in 4:08.8, and 3 yards ahead of dead-heaters Charles Ruffell (Highgate Harriers) and Alec Hare (Herne Hill Harriers). The performance was good enough to assure McNicol a berth on the boat for Stockholm. In all, no fewer than ten Polytechnic Harriers gained an Olympic nomination.

After retaining the club half mile championship at Stamford Bridge, McNicol won the mile in the annual match between Polytechnic Harriers and Stade Francais at Paris on 27th May in 4:37.0. He followed this with mile wins in the Inter-Poly Championships at Chiswick on 8th June and in the London Championship at Stamford Bridge on 13th June in 4:32.0, auguring reasonably well for a successful defence on his SAAA championship title at Ibrox Park on Saturday 15th June. McNicol did not disappoint, cutting loose on the last lap, but was given a harder race than expected by James McFarlane (Glasgow University AC), who got to within three yards of the London Scot at the post. The first quarter was done in 63.4, the second in 2:16.0, the third in 3:26.2, and the full distance in 4:31.8.

However, there was now a question-mark over McNicols’s form. Would it be good enough for a successful defence of his AAA crown? Some had their doubts. These proved to be right when McNicol was dropped 200 yards from home and finished fourth, a few seconds inside the 4 min. 30 sec. standard, Eddie Owen winning by 3 yards from Ireland’s Bob Hales in 4:21.4. As to this, the Glasgow Herald remarked: “D. McNicol never looked like winning from half-distance, and all the rumours that he has gone back since last season would seem to be confirmed by this second-rate effort.”

Although qualified, McNicol did not make the journey Stockholm the following month. The Polytechnic Magazine states only that he was unable to go “for business reasons”. One wonders if his poor form was perhaps a factor in his decision to pass up what many an athlete would regard today as the opportunity of a lifetime. In his absence, in any case, Arnold Jackson claimed gold for Britain in an Olympic record of 3:56.8.

On 20th July McNicol had another below-par showing in the Scotland vs. Ireland match at Powderhall, where he again came up against Bob Hales and again came off second best, trailing home 35 yards behind the Irishman, who won as he pleased in 4:27.8.

However, as the season drew to a close, McNicol rediscovered his old form and came within two-tenths of his Scottish 1000 yards record at the Ayr FC sports on 3rd August. On the whole, however, he was below his best in 1912.

The 1912 Polytechnic Harriers Olympic team, with McNicol seated front right.

McNicol kicked off his 1913 season by retaining his club championship in the half mile at Stamford Bridge on 22nd May in 2:02.4. He confirmed his form in the Kinnaird Trophy meeting the following weekend by winning the mile in 4:29.4, and at the Inter-Poly sports at Paddington on 7th June, where he won the mile in 4:32.4. In all during gis career, McNicol won the Poly mile championship six times and the half mile championship three times.

In the SAAA championships at Celtic Park on 28th June McNicol boldly went for the double, and made a successful start by winning the half mile in 2:04.8. In the mile, however, he was beaten on the tape for the second time in three years. On this occasion, he was denied by the up-and-coming Duncan McPhee, Clydesdale Harriers, both men being given 4:34.0.

McNicol was to make few competitive appearances after the 1913 Scottish championships. In his absence, Duncan McPhee became his successor by winning the half mile and mile at the SAAA championships, as well as taking the mile in the first Triangular International Contest between Scotland, England and Ireland.

The outbreak of WW1 in 1914 would have ended McNicol’s career anyway, as he enlisted for military service not long after war was declared.

Having moved from London to Nottingham, he served in the rank of private in the 12^th Battalion Notts. & Derbyshire Sherwood Foresters.

The next we hear he is dead, aged only 29. A brief obit in Polytechnic Magazine records the circumstances surrounding his untimely demise:

“It is with very deep regret that we have to record the death of Douglas McNicol, our Studd Trophy Champion and National Mile Champion of 1912. When the war called for men Douglas was one of the first to respond and Joined Kitchener’s Army. He was located at Shoreham where he apparently caught a cold and died of pneumonia in Brighton Hospital on Friday, October 30th, and was buried at Wealdstone on Tuesday, November 3rd. Douglas McNicol’s sincerity and kindliness had won for him a host of friends and no enemies. We deeply sympathise with his parents in their loss, but what could a man do more than give his life for his country. Douglas as truly gave his life for his country as if he had been shot in the firing line in France. A keener athlete never lived”

That was career of Douglas McNicol. Like McGough before him and McPhee after him, he was a highly decorated athlete who did everything in threes.   Even his first SAAA title was third time lucky!   In total, he claimed three SAAA titles. He arguably set three Scottish records, including a native 1000 yards record. He represented Scotland against Ireland on three occasions and twice won the mile. He also hauled in a full set of AAA championship medals over three distances: the half mile, mile and four miles. The highlight of his career was of course his victory in the blue riband event of British athletics, the AAA Mile Championship, in 1911. He would have been an Olympian, too, but for business reasons he was unable to make the journey to Stockholm. McNicol was an all or nothing kind of man – an uncompromising and courageous front runner who only competed when fit and made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

George Wallach

George Wallach was one of the best ever Scottish distance runners but is one of the least known.   He ran in nine world cross-country championships (and would certainly have been more but for the interruption caused by the 1914-18 War) and won silver and bronze.  On the track he won the SAAA Four Miles championship in 1911 and 1913, the Ten Miles in 1913 and 1914, twice setting Scottish records for the distance.   He represented Scotland in the Four Miles in the Irish international in 1911, winning the event.   Despite being a Scottish internationalist and medalist, Wallah was half German: his father was Hermann Louis Waldemar Wallach and he was a Prussian tinsmith who travelled to Kirkcudbright  where he married a local girl.   Janet Wallach was Scottish through and through..

George Curtis Locke Wallach was born in Scotland, in Castle Douglas on March 20th, 1883 and died on April 2nd, 1980 (Aged 97.013) in Manchester, Greater Manchester, Great Britain. He moved to England in 1905 to take a job in Lewes, Sussex where he joined Brighton & County Harriers. The following year he moved to Lancashire to work for the Manchester Evening News and continued his running with Preston Harriers and lived the rest of his life in England.   He often came up to Scotland for championship meetings and was said to be very popular with the spectators.

Colin Shields thought that Wallach’s best international appearance may well have been his first one:  “Arguably his finest run was in his first international championship in Belfast in 1910.  Having achieved 2nd place in the English championships in 1910, he was selected by Scotland to run in Belfast. Approaching the final run in at Belvoir Park, Wallach was forcibly removed from the international race by the police while in first place. Police officers had noticed that his shorts had been substantially torn while negotiating the barbed wire fences of the course and on grounds of public decency, removed him. He was forced to watch Wood of England and Essex Beagles run past and win the individual title, a result that cost him the title and the Scottish team a certain second placing in the team contest.”   Yes, a policeman removed him from the race and ‘he acquiesced’ and stood stock-still watching the field stream past t the finish.   It was a ‘dnf’ for Wallach in the international.   In his book “Whatever the Weather”, Shields observes that “It is difficult in these days of appearance money and sponsorship for athletes when large sums of money depend on the performance of athletes in major international championships to realise how calmly Wallach accepted the police action which deprived him of almost certain victor.   It is more than possible that nowadays an international athlete in the same circumstances would tear himself free and run on to victory.   The enhanced publicity about the torn shorts and resistance of arrest would give him an enhanced monetary valuefor future competitive appearances and result in fame and fortune.   Who can say which is the better state of affairs?”    Later that year – on 2nd April at Hawkhill Grounds in Edinburgh, Wallach won his first SAAA track medal when he finished third in the Ten Miles Track Championship behind Tom Jack and Alex McPhee.

Although unplaced in either Scottish or English National Championships, Wallach was selected for the international to be held in Wales in 1911.   He finished third – the first of six occasions when he was in the first eight of the race.   The Scots were the third team.   In the track championships on 24th June, he won the Four Miles fairly easily – reports say that he won by 24 yards but could have easily extended that lead.   Scotland won the international against Ireland in Dublin in July and Wallach played his part by winning the Four Miles in 20:27.   The event was decided on which team had most individual winners and Scotland had seven to Ireland’s four.

1911-12 was to be one of the best years in his career.   The international cross-country championship of 1912 saw him finish fourth and lead the Scottish team to second place behind England.   Came the summer season and in the SAAA Championships he finished second to Tom Jack who was by now the SAAA President.   Jack hadnot wanted to run but had been talked into it – and won by 16 yards from Wallach.   The ‘Glasgow Herald’ reported on the race:   “1.   Tom Jack, Edinburgh Southern Harriers; 2.  GCL Wallach, Greenock Glenpark Harriers;  3.   JC Thomson, Edinburgh Harriers.   Harry Hughes, West of Scotland Harriers, Angus Kerr, Bellahouston Harriers, JD Hughes, Edinburgh Harriers.   Five laps from home Kerr dropped out.   Meanwhile interest was chiefly centred on Wallach and Jack.   Both were moving sweetly, particularly Jack, who, in making his final effort drew away from the Bolton Harrier and won by 16 yards, Thomson being an indifferent third.   First Mile being 4:54.4 , second mile 10:13.8 , third mile 15:33.6 and fourth mile 20:45.” 

Jack, Wallach and Kerr were selected for the international the international to be held at Powderhall in July.    However before that he was selected to compete in the inaugural Olympic 10000m in Stockholm.   Competing on Sunday, 7th July, he dropped out in Stockholm.   He was not the only GB representative to fail to finish in this new event – the 5000m and the 10000m were inserted into the programme instead of the Five Miles which had been held in 1908 – as George Lee, Charles Ruffell,  Frederick Hibbins and Thomas Humphrey also failed to complete the distance.   The preview of the Scoto-Irish match on 20th July noted that he ‘ did not seem to have taken too well to the airs of Stockholm and may be off-colour.’   In fact he did not run at all in the match – many of the Olympians called off including JT Soutter and WA Stewart.   It’s fair to point out that Ireland lost the services of JJ Flanagan who had also been competing at Stockholm.

That winter he finished fourth in the North of England championships and in the first ten in the English National, and was selected for the Scottish team in the international held in Paris.  France’s Jean Bouin won for the third consecutive year and Wallach in eighth led the Scots team home for the third successive year – he was to be first Scot across the line for his country in six of his nine appearances.   In summer 1913 he won the SAAA 10 miles track race at Celtic Pard in a new Scottish record of 53:01.   Colin Shields tells us that this time was “far outside his personal best of 51:36 set a few weeks earlier in England, despite a most unusual and unsettling preparation for the race.   Having to work as a printer with the Manchester Evening News on the night before, he caught the morning express train on the day of the race, arriving in Glasgow just a couple of hours before the race started.   He displayed what a fine distance runner he was by lapping the entire field except for Archie Craig who finished runner-up  just outside 54 minutes in a time beaten on only four occasions since the race was first held in 1886.  He set records en route for 8 miles (42:13.2)  and 9 miles (47:39.2).

Shields considers Wallach’s outstanding achievement was his second place in the international cross-country championships of 1914.   He finished third in the English National and made his first appearance in the Scottish National winning from Archie Craig.   In the international, held in England, it was a genuine cross-country trail with hills, plough and many obstacles.   Taking the lead on the second lap, until after the final stretch of plough he fell badly at a water jump and allowed A Nichols of England to draw clear.   He was second, 26 seconds down on Nichols – which was the best ever performance by a Scot in the event up to that point.  Shields summarises Wallach’s career up to that point at which he could have been expected to go on to much greater things but for the War which intervened after his two brilliant years of 1913 and 1914.  He says:

“Newspaper reports of the era  always referred to GCL Wallach when reporting details of his many athletic triumphs.   Born in Castle Douglas, the twelfth of eighteen children he died aged 96 years in 1979.   He lived and worked for most of his life in England, competing extensively in English races.    He was a remarkable cross-country runner who represented Scotland nine times in the international race and finished as first Scot home on six of these occasions.   He was a typical Harrier, tough, rugged and determined – a hard man of athletics who was renowned for his pace and race judgment, with hs strength and staying power being his forte, rather than his finishing speed which was always judged to be lacking for the international class runner that he was.  

His achievements were uniquely recognised by the NCCU General Committee who minuted their special appreciation of his performance in the 1922 international at Hampden by noting:   ‘Reference to the international would hardly be complete without commenting on the running of GCL Wallace who was again first man home for Scotland in fourth place, an excellent performance for a man who has passed 40 years of age.   Wallach’s performance was truly remarkable and well worthy of the many eulogising press comments   and his overall record is testimony of his consistency in the international event.’

He won the National in 1914 and 1922, representing Greenock Glenpark Harriers and the first world war must have robbed him of the opportunity of many more victories.   In those times the majority of roads were surfaced with sets of cobbles which were extremely painful to run on, causing bad blistering, and in the evenings there was only limited street lighting to to illuminate the poor road surface.    Wallach trained mainly on the track in the evenings, and from New Year onwards, utilised Belle Vue track in Manchester where he lived and worked.   Admission to the track cost 4d  (1.5p) with the changing rooms being in a dilapidated wooden structure open to all the winds that blew with doors that never shut properly.   Wallach changed by the light of a candle and once on the track there was only the glow from the adjacent street lights to distinguish the grass verge from the cinder track.    Baths, showers or adequate toiled facilities were undreamed of luxuries at Belle Vue but Wallach took all the difficulties that would horrify modern athletes in his stride.   

His durability, twice gaining international selection when past 40 years of age, is remarkable when one considers that the average life expectancy was 45 years in 1900 rising slowly to the late fifties by 1932.    The training carried out by harriers placed them far above the general level of fitness of the ordinary population, as is borne out by the fact that during the First World War, two thirds of all men examined were considered unfit for active service.’

That passage is typical of the excellent work done by Shields in his book ‘Whatever the Weather’ which is thoroughly researched, well written and very informative.

 We are however starting to get a bit ahead of ourselves as far Wallach’s career profile is concerned and need to go back to the 1914 track season which started well with a win in the SAAA 10 miles track championship in Edinburgh on 4th April.   The report was quite detailed.

“Ideal conditions favoured the twenty sixth annual championship over the distance which was run at Hawkhill Grounds, Leith, on Saturday afternoon, and the running was in keeping with the occasion.   The holder, GCL Wallach (Greenock Glenpark Harriers and Bolton United Harriers) was opposed by a field of seven which included SS Watt (Clydesdale Harriers), the 1911 champion, G Cummings (Bellahouston Harriers), AG Ledingham (Waverley Harriers), the Eastern District cross-country champion, and CP Abbott (Gala Harriers), but he outpaced them all and set fresh Scottish native records from seven to ten miles inclusive, his own last year’s record at Celtic Park being beaten by 12 2-5th seconds.   

Abbott led at a fast pace for half a mile, but Wallach then went past him  and was not again headed.   He lapped Abbott at six miles and Cummings and Ledingham a mile later, and Abbott was again overhauled before the finish.   In the end Wallach won by about 700 yards from Cummings who was 40 yards ahead of Ledingham.   Times:

1 Mile 4:58;   2 miles 10:13.4;   3 miles 16:27.4;   4 miles 20:44;   5 miles 25:59.4;   6 miles 31:20.6;   7 miles 36:42.2;   8 miles 42:04.4;   9 miles 47:32;   10 miles 52:48.6.     Cummings  55:11.4;   Ledingham 55:20.2;   Abbott 58:03.6.   J Duncan Waverley retired through injury after going only half a mile, Watt in the thirteenth lap and DK Wilson (Edinburgh Northern Harriers) at five miles.   Cummings and Ledingham gained standard medals for completing the distance inside 57 minutes.   Officials: Judge, Mr J Quigley; referee, Mr T Jack;   starter, Mr JR Hogg; timekeepers, Messrs J Bartleman, G Bruce,   Taylor and DS Duncan.”

On 16th May 1914, at Belle Vue, Manchester, he retained the English Northern Countries 10 miles championship in 55:31.8

Later in the summer, keeping up the routine of attending championships Wallach ran in the Four Miles at the SAAA Championships on 27th June when he finished second to James Wilson, another Anglo who competed in the colours of Greenock Glenpark Harriers who won in 20:30.   The report read: “Perhaps the most surprising result of the afternoon’s proceedings was that of the four miles race, in which Wallach was unexpectedly beaten by James Wilson.   Eleven turned out and the pace was made by Wilson, Wallach following.   The champion took the lead at the first mile and retained the position most of the way.   Half a lap from home, Wilson drew level  and in a strenuous finish Wallach found himself unable to hold Wilson who crossed the line with a five yard lead.”

Unfortunately for Wallach, and many others of course, the outbreak of War later in the year meant that a huge hole that could never be repaired was torn in his career and when the War ended he was 35 years old.   Nevertheless he was back in harness after the War and with the first running of the international at the end of the 1920/21 season there was a target for all Scottish distance runners.   Wilson missed the race but Wallach was forward for the race in which J Hill Motion (Eglinton Harriers) was the victor with Wallach second.   In the International, held that year in Newport, Wallach was yet again first Scot home when he finished in eighth place.   A year later and he regained the Scottish cross-country title defeating Archie Craig (Bellahouston)and J Riach (Maryhill) and qualifying for the international at the age of 40.  He finished fourth and first Scot yet again.   Not finished yet, he took part in the international again in 1923 and 1924!      In 1923 he was twenty second and in 1924 twenty third.   Each time he was a counting runner.    In 1924, his final representative honour, he had just celebrated his 42nd birthday.

Wallach was a remarkable athlete and one who should be more celebrated than he currently is.