with Bill Symes C216, Freddie Baker C266 and George Halifax C580 being elected as new vice-presidents. Freddie Baker had also been co-opted as assistant secretary to Hew Neilson. At the Dutch reunion a surprise gift of a presidential chain of office, with a Centurion insert was presented to Leiuwe Schol C291, their first and so far only president. Surrey Walking Club promoted their 100 mile race at Ewhurst as usual on the weekend of the shortest night, 24th-25th June 1983. There were no ladies among the 84 starters because of Surrey Walking Club’s determination to adhere to the Victorian beliefs that women could not, or should not compete on equal terms with men. The 54 finishers were led home by Carl Lawton of Belgrave Harriers. He was the first of 28 new Centurions which made up for his aborted attempt the previous year. The last finisher and last of 13 new Dutch Centurions was Hubert Wouters who timed the race to perfection, finishing in 23 hours 57 minutes. Another qualifier was Richard Brown, husband of Sandra C735 who was competing in the Manchester to Blackpool race as her club would not allow her to take part in their 100. They became the first British husband and wife pairing. Amongst the deaths announced at the meeting in October were Jim ‘Whiskers’ Marriot C


265 and Len Mathews C316. Len was one of the co-founders of the Australian Centurions and was the designer of the Centurion certificates. A major item under discussion was the whereabouts and ownership of the “Sunday Dispatch” cup. John Keown C473, the R.W.A. trophy secretary was in possession of the trophy as it was allegedly R.W.A. property. A letter written by Peter Worth C491 relating to the ownership was read out, but the contents were not accepted. The President Frank Jarvis C258 was commissioned to investigate the matter. All the previous officers were re-elected with the exception of Frank Jarvis. After a very close vote with three nominations, Gordon Doubleday C142 was elected to the Presidency. The 1984 race promoted by Leicester Walking Club on 27th-28th July was meant to be on a new course at Sleaford, unfortunately a sponsorship arrangement fell through and so they had to resort to their lap course at Congerstone. It turned out to be an excellent and exciting race with 31 of the 64 starters finishing the course. The winner and first of 10 new Centurions was local man, Brian Adams in a sub 18 hour time. He had a fierce competition with John Cannell C388 who also went under 18 hours but was 14 minutes adrift at the end. The star performance of the race however, was that of Sandra Brown C735. In only her second hundred, she put up the remarkable time of 18 hours 36 minutes 29 seconds and then had to wait 14 minutes for her husband Richard C760 to finish. Whoever said it was a lady’s prerogative to keep a man waiting could never have witnessed a walking race! Two other ladies, Marleen Willems of Holland and Hilda Krols of Belgium completed the race to join the fledgling band of female members of the Brotherhood of Centurions. (The ladies in an expression of equality did not want any special


distinction). There were no over 65


completions to qualify for a McNeir Shield, although George Hall B.E.M. C107 gave it a very good try, 48 years after qualifying! At the general meeting in September, the death of former President Bill Harris C97 was announced. A discussion on the “Sunday Dispatch” trophy resulted in the opinion that it had been presented to the Centurions and that every effort should be made to recover it for future presentations on the understanding that it could not be taken out of the country when won as it had been for the last 3 years by a Dutch club. A discussion was also on the term of the President’s office, suggesting that a new President should be elected each year, however this was not thought to be viable and therefore Gordon Doubleday C142 was re-elected for a second year along with all the other officers. For a long time it had seemed as though there would not be a race in 1985, it would have been the first barren year since 1950, but John Hedgethorne C413 was able to secure some sponsorship from British Telecom in order to promote a race at the Colchester garrison track. It was not only a 24 hour track race, but also incorporated the 100 km championship, and


41


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