judgement and stamina.
members. There were 3 new members of the hat-trick club, one of them being Jim O’Neill C102, the last of the pre-war Centurions.
21 walkers finished the course and the Centurions gained 8 new Both Hew Neilson and Willy Watson took their
tally up to 7 completions. Mr. Charles Eade, editor of the “Sunday Dispatch”, was so pleased with the success of these events that he reflected on the great enthusiasm of the spectators along the road in the 1952 Bath to London race and decided that this route should be used again for the 1957 event. This view was upheld by the R.W.A. (Southern Area) who arranged it for 5th-6th July. For the start at Bath, the temperature at 4.00pm was hot but not oppressive as the 61 walkers set off on their journey to London. The early leader at Calne (18 miles) was Hew Neilson C145, but he started to drop back after drinking a bottle of sour milk which eventually led to him retiring at 50 miles, just before Newbury. It was his first retirement in 8 outings. As night fell, so did the rain, which later became a ferocious storm with thunder and lightning. Many of the walkers were unprepared for these conditions and had to pull out. In the final analysis only 18 managed to complete the course, 7 of them becoming new Centurions. The winner of the race was John Ridley of Queens Park Harriers in the very creditable time of 18 hours 12 minutes 4 seconds, to the great delight of his club mate and mentor Billy Baker C66, who was pleased to see Bill Morris and Bill Symes, both Centurions, complete the course to win a hard fought victory in the team race against Coventry Godiva, the only other team to finish. Immediately after the race John Ridley was taken to the West Middlesex Hospital for treatment to a severely blistered foot. Such was his fortitude that he refused to give in to the obvious pain. The only newcomer to the hat-trick club was Bill Symes C216, but this had now become old hat with so many Centurions competing every year or even twice a year if the opportunity presented itself. The question now was who would be first to reach double figures? In 1958 the ownership of the “Sunday Dispatch” newspaper passed into the hands of the Beaverbrook Group. The editor, Mr. Charles Eade, relinquished his position and the newspaper eventually ceased publication in July 1960. The “Sunday Dispatch” Trophy was presented to the Race Walking Association to be awarded to the winning team in the 100 mile race. The names of the individual winners from 1951-1957 remain inscribed on the trophy as a permanent reminder of the Dispatch years.
for:- their own trophy the Hammond Cup for the first to reach 100 miles, and the R.W. A. owned “Sunday Dispatch” Trophy for the first team in the 100 mile event.
Centurions now had two trophies to compete Regrettably the
members of the winning teams from the inception of the team competition in 1953 to 1957 are not officially recorded on this trophy. Mere words are not enough to express the debt of gratitude that walkers of all abilities must owe the “Sunday Dispatch” and in particular Mr. Charles Eade. His aim following the 1951 race was to build up not only active participation but also public interest in the sport of race walking. To say that he achieved his aim is a bit of an understatement. Fields in the shorter races, especially the winter 7’s ballooned to between 200-300, and would stop the traffic for several years to come, the single journey to Brighton would attract an enormous field and would become the most well known race in the world. (Even though it ended in 1985, there are many people who think it still goes on today). The effect of seven years of sponsorship by the “Sunday Dispatch” was to almost double the number of Centurions from the previous 48 years. From the 152 listed Centurions in 1949, 121 new names were added to the handbook, which was republished in July 1958, but more importantly, with a race every year a new breed of walkers had emerged who would compete on a regular basis.
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