who took only 6 minutes longer than her father when he first qualified. Her father was the much respected Hew Neilson C145. Pam had been brought up with the traditions of the Centurions, now at long last she could hold her head high and be numbered among them. Hew would have been so proud. The race was also used as a selection race for a team of 5 men and 5 women to represent England in the forthcoming Roubaix 28 hour race, Pam Ficken was one of those selected. For the second time, the A.G.M. was held on the morning of the Chippenham to Calne race in October, Bill Sutherland C890 was formally elected to take over the vacant position of secretary with Chris Flint C849 as his assistant. Mick Marshall C305 was nominated and elected as a new Vice-President. The new secretary reported on outstanding matters. Before leaving for Australia, former secretary Freddie Baker C266 had successfully negotiated the replacement of the defective badges and the supply of an extra 250, taking the numbers to 1250.
This exercise had been very expensive (£880.00) and had depleted the funds to such an
extent that the treasurer had to chip in £100.00 from his own pocket to overcome the difficulties. No progress had been made on updating the “Sunday Dispatch” trophy and bearing in mind the financial situation, the matter was held over. Progress on the new edition of the handbook was very slow, this was because of the new format the Watts brothers had chosen to adopt, it would be very different to previous editions and therefore required extensive research. Several Centurions had replied to their request for information, but much more would be needed if their proposed compendium was ever to be published. It was reported that a proposed joint promotion between the Leicester and Coventry clubs for 1996 had fallen through, in its place the London Vidarians Walking Club offered to try to stage an event in the Colchester area. The London Vidarians proposed race for 1996, started to take shape in early January, it was originally going to be a 3 mile circuit on isolated country roads at Feering near Colchester. After suggestions and advice from John Hedgethorne C413, it was decided to hold the event in Colchester’s Castle Park. A small compact circuit was found but on further investigation it was discovered that a new tarmac towpath had been laid alongside the river Colne. By using this as an out and back dogleg the circuit was increased to just over 2 miles. With sponsorship from Colchester Council (negotiated by John Hedgethorne) the race took place on 3rd-4th August. In the presence of the local press and Anglia Television, the Mayor of Colchester set a
small field of 39 walkers on their way. The 26 competitors who completed the race did not encounter the same problems as those at Battersea Park a year earlier, in fact the only difficulties were crossing two narrow bridges over the river. 11 walkers became new Centurions and once again a walker was disqualified. At 7.30 a.m. the Mayor of Colchester was awakened from his slumbers to return to the venue in time to greet the winner, for a record 7th time, Richard Brown C760 in 18 hours 12 minutes 4 seconds. An hour and a half later, Sandra finished in 3rd place for yet another win in the ladies race. It would seem that a mere 100 miles is far too easy or short for the unstoppable Browns. Earlier in the year they had been off on their travels again, this time to Australia, where they both took part in a 1,000 mile race, where Sandra set a multitude of new best performances. Other Centurions who had been on their travels during the year were Jill Green C898 who completed her third Chalons - Colmar race of 210 miles and her clubmate Bob Watts C838 who was making his second attempt at the mens race from Montreuil on the outskirts of Paris. He was forced to retire just after the first 100 miles due to exhaustion from the excessive heat which in some places was as high as 110º. The A.G.M. was once again held on the morning of the Chippenham to Calne race. Matters held over from the previous meeting were discussed, the main one being the publication of
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