equality? They were also qualified along with 27 others to be eligible for membership of the Centurions! At the AGM held a week after the race, the subject was discussed at great length. Assistant secretary Frank Jarvis C258 who was against women becoming Centurions alongside the men put forward a motion that a women’s section of the Centurions with numbers W1, W2 etc should be formed. The motion was not seconded. George Halifax C580 put forward a more severe motion ‘that women should not be admitted to the Centurions’, this also failed to find a seconder. As there was no substantive motion that could receive a negative amendment, the opposite motion was put and properly seconded ‘that qualified women should be admitted to the Centurions’. This was agreed on a majority vote.


It was pointed out that these two


women complied with rule 2 of the ‘Centurion Society’, i.e. they were amateurs and had walked 100 miles within 24 hours. It was then proposed and seconded that women should be awarded Centurion numbers in chronological order of their performance as per rule 3. This was agreed on a majority vote (three against). Finally it was proposed and accepted that all those walkers, having complied with the Centurions definition, be elected to the society. The three objectors could have voted against this final motion and therefore rule 5 would have applied as in the case of James Aldred, but fortunately commonsense prevailed, and so Ann Sayer and Dianne Pegg became the first female Centurions being awarded numbers 599 and 608 respectively. When the allotted numbers were adjusted to include the two ladies, it was noticed that Geurt Reeringh C412 had been allotted number 620 and so another mistake was narrowly avoided. The meeting also discussed the ever rising cost of Centurion badges. Due to the high price


of silver and the continued high inflation that had been a feature of the seventies, the cost of badges had risen threefold. Suggestions were made that promoting clubs should donate part of the entry fees to meet the cost of medals, or that Centurion badges should only be awarded in nominated races, such as the Ewhurst and Bristol 100’s, which were held on a four year cycle. Decisions were held over until the next meeting. In the Spring of 1978, news came through from Canada of the death of Henry Swabey C13 at the age of 98. Henry was the last of the 14 members who attended the inaugural meeting on 11th May 1911. A letter from his son-in-law said that he had been in poor health for the last five years, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Prior to that he had been reasonably active and his prized possession was his Centurion badge. To see Henry was to see the lucky C13 badge. The death was also announced of Chas Shelley C356, organiser of the Bristol 100. In May Derek Harrison C466 set new world best figures for 24 hours on the road when he walked 219.500 Km at Rouen. On the weekend of 27th-28th July, the eleventh and what would prove to be the last


Leicester to Skegness race was held. The increasing costs and the inherent danger from traffic at peak holiday time made it impossible to continue with this classic race. The pre-race favourite Derek Harrison took an early lead but was forced to retire with badly damaged feet caused by wearing new shoes, leaving the way clear for the winner and first of 24 new Centurions. This was, as in the first race 20 years earlier, a member of the promoting club, John Heywood of Leicester. In all 41 of the 64 starters finished the course, only 10 of them being British walkers. The breakdown of new Centurions was: 14 Dutch (3 female), 7 British, 1 Belgian, 1 German and 1 Luxembourger, another new country to be added to the growing list. One of the new Centurions who became C631 was Don Thompson, the 1960 Olympic gold medallist who had come out of retirement to achieve his final goal in walking. The last two to complete the race were Adrie van Dirven, the first ever overseas female Centurion and Hendrik Doornekamp C377, the Dutch walker who does the race in clogs! At the A.G.M. in September, the subject of the rising cost of Centurion badges was once


again raised. The cost of providing badges for the 1978 race was £168.00. It was agreed that 36


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