On the weekend of 5th-6th July 1963, 52 walkers assembled on the Brighton Road for the quadrennial Surrey Walking Club race which this year had the added sponsorship of Messrs Wander Limited, manufacturers of “Ovaltine”. This was not the only difference to this well established race, for this time it was not a journey to the seaside and back. By starting from the Brighton seafront it became a stroll up to town and back, in an attempt to avoid the ever growing traffic hazard. The race started at 5pm on Friday evening, about the same time as the motorists were leaving London. Fortunately, walkers and motor cars were travelling in opposite directions, and with the walkers expected to reach town in the early hours of the morning there should be no major problems. Unfortunately, you can’t have it both ways and the walkers anticipated having to mix it with the Saturday morning holiday traffic for their return journey. Right from the start it was that man Frank O’Reilly who took the lead, a position he held for an amazing fifth time in successive years, right to the finish. He reached the 100 mile point in under 18 hours, in dry conditions but the last 5 miles to the finish were very different, as rain which would last to the end of the race, began to fall and would later become torrential, making it very difficult for those behind him. An hour and a half later a bedraggled Hew Neilson finished in second place with the Dutchman, Lieuwe Schol a further 8 minutes behind. The rain made it very unpleasant for the other 17 who completed the race and the 11 wisely stopped at the 100, but it had the magical effect of making the race much safer for those tired men, most of the motor cars seemed to disappear!


as Vice-Presidents. Hew Neilson was elected to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Alf McSweeney.


Of the 31 who


completed 100 miles or more, 17 became new Centurions, 6 of them from one club, the London Vidarians, all of whom stopped at the 100, thus establishing a new record for the most club members completing a 100 mile race. The race result also showed the first ever recorded disqualification in a British 100. The weekend of 3rd- 4th July 1964, saw 57 men, the largest number so far, face the starter


for the now well established Leicester to Skegness race. Most of the regulars were there plus a number of newcomers which included a good contingent from Holland. The main question being asked was who would come second to Frank O’Reilly? Frank took the lead up to 30 miles but only by 3 minutes from Karl Abolins C233, with Neilson a further 3 minutes behind. Abolins, who was no newcomer, having qualified in 1955 and finished 3rd in the 1960 track race, soon took the lead which he held to the end in 17hours 32 minutes 16secs, proving his pedigree, O’Reilly finished 2nd, 15 minutes behind. Was this the end of an era? It was, for a week after the race Frank O’Reilly announced his retirement. Five wins, two seconds and one “flop” (as he put it) in eight starts, is a remarkable record in anyone’s book, especially when two of those wins were sub 17 hours, the only man ever to achieve it. His retirement left the way open for others like Abolins, who had suffered in the shadow of his dominance, to show their worth. In all, 28 completed the race, 13 of them completing their first 100. The result sheet showed that the accurate measurement of this course was 100 miles 350 yards. Once again it looked as though 1965 would be a barren year for Centurions, that was until the Metropolitan


Police stepped in and arranged another race from their Chigwell


headquarters. The organisers and walkers were very fortunate with the exceptionally mild conditions, as this race was held on 8th-9th October. A total of 54 started the race, over 50%, 30 in fact completed it, 13 for the first time, the same number as the previous year. The winner of the race was Hew Neilson in a mediocre (compared to previous years) time of 19 hours 16 mins 37secs. This was his 3rd win, 2 road and 1 track, it was also his 16th completion. No one else was even into double figures yet! Of the 54 starters, 10 were Dutch, 8 of whom completed the course, 6 of them for the first time. One of their new Centurions


28


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