retiring at 100 miles. 5, including the winner became new Centurions. Soon after this race, the Surrey Walking Club took the regrettable but inevitable decision to end this famous series of races. The traffic conditions and their inherent danger which had been mentioned by Henry Colldén as far back as 1921, had now become intolerable.


This meant that Billy


Baker’s record from 1926 would now last for all time, a fitting tribute to a superb athlete, but more importantly, if Surrey Walking Club were to fulfil their obligation to promote a race every four years, a new course would have to be found for 1971. At the September meeting the treasurer reported that the legacy from John Prior C92, was in excess of £480, a very welcome gift and much needed boost to the dwindling finances. It was decided to purchase a top of the range chronometer which would be suitably inscribed with the name of the generous benefactor, John Prior. The meeting was also informed of a previous gesture from this Centurion, i.e. the John Prior Salver, presented to the first Centurion in the single journey London to Brighton race. It had gone missing and every endeavour should now be made to trace its whereabouts. During the past 20 years, the number of Centurions had risen by an average of 14 each year,


but as we all know, what goes up must also come down, and so the announcement of the passing of Centurions was now becoming a regular task for the secretary or captain. Not everyone can be mentioned in these pages, but two famous names worthy of note were reported in July 1968.


The first was Edgar Broad C28, one of our founders and the first


winner of the Stock Exchange London to Brighton in 1903, the other being that remarkable character Oscar Makeham C71. Both were well into their 80’s. The 1968 race from Leicester to Skegness on 3rd-4th August was held in conditions more


akin to the winter 7’s, the temperature did not go above 50˚ throughout the race, 56 started, with 32 of them finishing the race, 15 of whom became new Centurions. If the 15, 7 joined the rapidly growing number of Dutch Centurions. The race was won by Karl Abolins for the third time in succession, but the real race was for second place where new man John Hedgethorne got the better of Mart Kastelijns by just one second, in the excellent time of 19 hours 1 minute 40 seconds, and less than 20 minutes behind the winner. In 5th place was the Dutch president Lieuwe Schol C291 who became only the third Centurion to complete 10 British 100’s. For the first time in its history the ‘Sunday Dispatch Cup’ was won by a Dutch team, all three were new qualifiers form the L.A.T. club of Amsterdam. At the AGM held in August, a proposal was made that the Centurions promote a 24 hour track race in 1969. It was withdrawn when it was explained that as the ‘Centurions’ were not a club, they were unable to promote an event. At a meeting held in February 1969, the John Prior Salver which had been reported as missing at the September 1967 meeting, was produced and it was agreed that it should be engraved with the names of each winner from the year of its donation. The proposed track race was staged by the Leicester Walking Club on a brand new tartan


track in August 1969. 22 started and only 8 retired before the end of the 24 hours. The race was won by Colin Young C317 with a distance only 1 miles less than his epic performance in the 1960 race. In second place some 8 miles behind was Ivo Domansky, the first of 5 new Centurions and the first from his country, Czechoslovakia. Six weeks after the Leicester track race, a second qualifying race was held at Winterbourne, Bristol, promoted by Chas Shelly C356 of the Bristol Walking Club. The race was 10 laps of 10 miles on virtually traffic free country roads, which proved a great success, so much so that the Bristol club offered to stage it every 4 years, thus filling the gap between the biennial Leicester to Skegness and the quadrennial Surrey race, and ensuring that there would be a race each year. 59 walkers faced the starter, His Grace the Duke of Beaufort. It could be said that they had


a police escort throughout the race, but not from the local constabulary, for the winner was 30


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