attracted a field of 31. It was a strange race in many ways, with apparently no definitive rules about leaving the track. Some had come only for the 100 Km race which was won in a new record time by Edmund Shillabeer C590, some decided to stay on for the 100 miles and some decided to go the full distance. 15 were successful in completing 100 miles, the winner being Charlie Weston C584 in 19 hours 21 minutes 40 seconds. 8 became new Centurions, the first of whom was Bob Dobson who had earlier broken the 12 hour record set by Edgar Horton C63 in 1914. It is also believed that Bob set new figures at 10, 11 and 13 hours, but these records have never been ratified. The only lady in the race was Carol Bean who completed her 100 with just 11 minutes to spare, the winner of the 24 hour race was Peter Worth C491, who like Carol Bean, hardly ever left the track. During the last hour, some of those who had left the track some time earlier, came back just to complete the 24 hours. The results showed that 18 were on the track when the final gun was fired. With people coming and going throughout the race plus the added confusion of the recording sheets being blown all over the track, the recorders job became a nightmare, hence the uncertainty of Dobson’s records. The team race for the “Sunday Dispatch” trophy was 3 to score not 2 as it had previously been. It was won by York Postal W.C. with David Mowbray C742, the only member to complete 100 miles. None of the 3 over 65 competitors, George Hall C107, George Woods C683 and Hew Neilson C145 won the Eddie McNeir award. Regrettably this would prove to be Hew Neilson’s last attempt. In his Christmas letter, which incidentally was the only one he received payment for, as he
finally decided to accept the honorarium that had been offered many times before, the captain Hew Neilson praised the appointment of Peter Worth C491 to the Vice-Presidency and informed the members that in addition to the Leicester race in 1986 there would also be another track race at his own club, Woodford Green, to celebrate its Diamond Jubilee. The race turned out to be a memorial to him after his death from a sudden heart attack on January 9th 1986. At the Metropolitan Police race at Imber Court on January 11th, an emergency meeting was
called, its only purpose being to elect a new secretary. Freddie Baker C266 was elected to fill the vacancy.
The Hew Neilson Memorial track race was held on the last two days of May 1986 and proved to be one of the most successful ever, due in no small part to the expert organisational skill of Charlie Megnin C288. He had even arranged to have part of the track coned off to create the extra 2 yards need to make it a 40 yard track and a straightforward 400 laps for 100 miles. The organising and recording was in complete contrast to the Colchester race the year before. 27 started, including Pam Ficken, Hew Neilson’s daughter, who although not a race walker managed a creditable 25 miles in just over 6 hours, a fitting tribute to her father. The first of the 18 walkers who completed 100 miles, 5 of them for the first time, was Bob Dobson C786 in 17 hours 52 minutes 1 second. Geoff Tranter C507 was at that time some 6 miles behind but closed to within 1 miles at the end of the 24 hours. Bob Dobson 127 miles, Geoff Tranter 125 miles. 16 completed the 24 hours. The first of the 5 new Centurions was Phil Carroll of Yorkshire Walking Club. He was presented with a new trophy which had been donated by the Neilson family, “The Hew Neilson 145 Trophy”. It was a silver salver with Hew’s Centurion badge as its centerpiece. The Leicester race was held on the now established course at Congerstone on 25th-26th July. 59 started and 33 finished, the winner being the relatively new to race walking, Richard Brown C760. 18 completed for the first time and 2 new countries, Denmark and Switzerland were added to the ever growing list. One notable absentee was Paddy Dowling C331 who, earlier in the month, had taken part in a 1,000 mile race against runners. He finished second in just under 15 days and only 7 hours behind the winner!
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