Britain in the Roubaix 28 hour race, and at 64 years of age is believed to be the oldest international debut.


During the year the deaths of three senior Centurions were announced. George Hall B.E.M.


C107 who, along with the three remaining pre-war Centurions, was congratulated the previous year on his 60 years of membership, Harry Callow C172, the instigator of the Chippenham to Calne race and Les Barrett C123 who had on occasions chaired the Centurions A.G.M. as the lowest numbered Centurion present. As the final preparations were being made for the reunion dinner in September 1997, Bob


Watts C838 and Ken Watts C859 were busy printing the long awaited 10th edition of the handbook. It was to be in a completely new style and its publication was eagerly awaited. Also, the new plinth for the “Sunday Dispatch” trophy was being made. The 1998 Centurion event was held on the Isle of Man on June 20th in conjunction with the annual Isle of Man Parish Walk. This tough and unremitting course finished on the promenade at Douglas where the remaining 15 miles were completed. A record entry of 592 participants made this the biggest Parish Walk ever and laid the grounds for what was a most successful promotion of Centurion walking. A record 35 walkers finished the full 85 miles of the Parish Walk, 26 coming from the Isle of Man. Of these, 11 successfully walked the extra 15 miles up and down the promenade to complete the full 100 mile distance. Considering the toughness of the course, it was not surprising to see that there were only 4 new Centurions. The 1998 A.G.M. saw Gordon Doubleday C142 stand down from his dual role as President (since 1983) and Treasurer (since 1948). His service to Centurions is unlikely to be rivaled in the future and there were many accolades to his many years of selfless service. John Eddershaw C299 stood down after a decade as Captain so that he could take on the role as President while Paul Sargent C430 took on the Treasurer's role. Colin Young C317 was a popular choice as the new Captain while Bob Watts C838 took on a new position as Archivist. The new Club Captain went straight to work in his Captain's letter that year, raising public awareness of Ron Wallwork's Millennium Challenge concept which would hopefully see a festival of walking in the year 2000, culminating in a 1000 Furlongs (125 Miles) event. The 1999 Centurion qualifying event was in the safe hands of Surrey Walking Club who hosted the 24 hour walking event in Battersea Park as part of their centenary celebrations. They also published a book to mark their centenary, 'Unbroken Contact', edited by Sandra Brown, another welcome addition to Centurion history. 1999 also marked another anniversary; it was 40 years since Lieuwe Schol C291 became the first of many Dutch walkers to join our ranks. The Battersea Park race saw 60 starters battle early rains and an intermittently rough surface underfoot. A sudden drop in temperature and heavy rain before night fell dampened the enthusiasm of some of the 60 starters and 21 dropped out before the 24 hours deadline. Remembered as the occasion when Marcel Dekker C957 got ‘locked in the lavatory’ he nevertheless led a strong Continental contingent who achieved qualification as a Centurion, with Chris Cattano C963 the only UK walker to qualify. Overall, 34 competitors covered at least 100 miles, 14 being British with the rest hailing from Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Germany.


The consistent excellence of Sandra Brown was a cause for much discussion. During the year in which she turned 50 years of age, she walked in excess of 100 miles within 24 hours on 9 separate occasions. Amongst these were 4 finishes in 4 Centurion races (England, Holland, Australia and New Zealand) and a World Best hundred track performance of 19:00:47 in New Zealand in July. The 1999 A.G.M. saw Bill Sutherland C890 stand down as Secretary and be succeeded by Ken Munro C370.


50


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