winner being Dan Gum of Essex Beagles in 18 hours 53 minutes 7 seconds. A.F. Spicer C76, was the only existing Centurion to complete the race. In October 1933, a benevolent fund was established for the purposes of assisting any Centurion in need. To date, few demands have been made on this fund.
In 1934, the
Christmas letter first mentioned in 1931 was sent to all Centurions whose addresses were known. On the 11th May 1936, the Centurions held a Silver Jubilee Dinner at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street, London. Before going into dinner, a short meeting was held.
The Aldred Affair
Mr. E. H. Neville stated that Mr. James Aldred of the Lancashire Walking Club had approached him and claimed eligibility for membership of the Centurions by virtue of his having walked from Manchester to Blackpool and Back in October 1927, a distance of 102 miles in 21 hours 1 minute 16 seconds. The Centurions present at the meeting agreed unanimously that Mr. James Aldred should be elected C99, subject to him supplying proof of his performance. F.R. Scott C77, stated that he competed in the Manchester to Blackpool in 1927, and that he saw Mr. Aldred turn and start on the return journey, he thought that after consulting his records of the race he might be able to substantiate the claim of Mr. Aldred. This claim would keep the Centurions occupied for 14 months, until it was finally resolved in 1937. Mr. Aldred’s claim was discussed at the next two Centurion meetings in August and October, and each time it was held over pending undisputed evidence from the Lancashire Walking Club. In the meantime a race was held in which there were 13 new qualifiers all of whom were elected to the Centurions. This was the first time that northern walkers could qualify on home ground, as the race was promoted by the Yorkshire Walking Club. It was a 24 hour track race held at Bradford on 18th – 19th September. This race had first been suggested 5 years earlier in 1931. The winner of the race was officially J. Prior C92, who completed 118 miles 1200 yards in the 24 hours. The only other person to complete the 24 hours was P. Kitson – “A local youth” – who managed 90 miles and a few yards.
Another youth was 19 year old George Hall from
Birmingham, who was to become the youngest walker to qualify for membership of the Centurions. The first man to reach 100 miles was T.W. Richardson in the remarkable time of 17 hours
35 minutes 4 seconds, beating Tom Hammond’s 1908 world record by just under 30 minutes. After a short rest he continued to achieve a distance of 101 miles 1230 yards, stopping precisely on the stroke of noon after 18 hours. As number 99 was still in dispute, the new qualifiers were given numbers 100-112, therefore Tommy Richardson was awarded the much coveted number 100. In his articles for the Race Walking Record, John Keown, writing about the 20’s and 30’s stated that “To mark the occasion, the Centurions allocated Tommy Richardson the number 100, not the next number on the list which was No. 99.” For many years, Centurions have held the misguided belief that No. 99 was an unlucky number, and that Tom Richardson was awarded C100 as a mark of respect for his supremacy as the leading long distance walker of the day. Unfortunately this is not correct. At a meeting of the Centurions held on January 6th 1937, letters from Mr. Robert Eastwood, secretary of the Lancashire Walking Club and Mr. Chas Lambert, official timekeeper of the Manchester to Blackpool and Back walk in October 1927, were read and discussed at great length. The chairman, E.C. Wray, stated that rule 5 read “That members shall be elected at any general meeting of the Society and their election must be unanimous”. Because the
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