last competitive race was the London to Brighton at the age of 78, where he finished a few minutes outside the time allowance. He left a legacy of £200.00 to the Centurions to be used in a way they thought best. The Centurions decided to put the money in a special account to provide an individual plaque to be known as the Eddie McNeir Shield, for the first finisher aged 65 or over in any future qualifying race. Shortly before the AGM in October, a letter was received informing the secretary that F. (Jerry) Wilmot C70 was an inpatient at the Star & Garter Home, Richmond. As he was in reasonable health apart from a few minor problems, the officers decided to send ‘Bilmo’ as he was affectionately known, £10.00 from the benevolent fund, the second such payment in two years. At the A.G.M. itself, the secretary was in the happy position of being able to announce that the difficulties of the past 2 years, in respect of the Centurion badges, had finally been resolved. Badges up to 999 were held in stock and had been paid for. Furthermore, due to the generosity of Centurions, the finances were once again stable and quite healthy. He went on to propose that a plaque, suitably engraved, should be presented to retiring presidents to mark their term of office, the first of them to be presented to Tom Richardson C100. He also proposed that the president should be elected for a term of 2 years. The proposals were agreed. At the election of officers, Frank Jarvis C258 was elected as the new president, thus creating a vacancy for the secretary. That vacancy was filled by Hew Neilson C145, with the outgoing secretary to assist him through the transition until a new assistant secretary could be found. The other officers were re-elected with two new vice- captains, John Eddershaw C299 and Peter Worth C491. The year ended with the sad news that the final link with 1911 had ended. Bill Brown C12, the senior man and last of the 48 original Centurions, passed away in December, shortly after his 103rd birthday. With the administrative problems of the last few years now safely behind them, Centurions could now get on with the main reason for their existence - long distance walking. In the early part of 1982, four Centurions had taken part in a 24 hour track race against 12 runners, at Altrincham. They finished with very creditable performances in positions 4, 5, 6 & 7, none more so than Ann Sayer C599, 7th with 116 plus miles, only two months after setting a hatful of records in a 48 hour race at Nottingham, beating the previous ladies running record by almost 26 miles. Needless to say, Ann walked throughout the race. The second race on the new Leicester lap circuit was held on 20th-21st August. A strong
field of 77 which included 3 women were set on their way by the Lord Mayor of Leicester in calm and pleasant conditions, 55 of them eventually returned to Leicester after a cold and windy night where almost everyone had to resort to wearing a track suit, thus making a mockery of the 1976 ruling - a triumph for common sense. They were led home by Mike Holmes, son of Harry C303. Among the 33 new qualifiers were three female walkers, Irene Corlett finished in 3rd place with a magnificent time of 18 hours 54 minutes 5 seconds, Aaf de Rijk of Holland was some 2 hours behind her 18 hours 28 minutes 1 second set earlier in the year at St. Oedenrode. The third of the three ladies was Sandra Brown of the L.D.W.A. She had turned up with a rucksack and boots, not knowing what to expect. After being assured that her belongings would be kept safe and there would be no need for her boots, she completed the race in an average time, seemingly without any undue effort, collected her belongings and caught her train back to London. At the presentations held in Leicester, Miss McNeir, daughter of Eddie C375, presented the first McNeir Shield to 68 year old Jac Heidendaal C674. At the general meeting held in September, the deaths were announced of two former winners, John Henderson C113 (1937) and Rex Whitlock C175 (1952) plus F.J. ‘Bilmo’ Wilmot C70 amongst others. 4 presidents plaques had been purchased as agreed at the previous meeting. 3 of them were presented to Tom Richardson C100, Bill Harris M.B.E. C97 and Frank Jarvis C258 who was re-elected as president. All the other officers were re-elected
40
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100