2011 Lingfield

The Lingfield 100 miles took place in the Centenary year of the Centurions.  A nice touch thought up by Alan O’Rawe was the dedicated race number attributed to each of the participating Centurions own number.

Over 80 walkers started the race at 2pm with a range of goals and objectives;  some old friends who had almost hung up their long distance shoes, race walkers who had never tried long/ultra distance before and others who had never race-walked ultra-distance before.

The course was a 1907.5 metre circuit on the inside road of the all-weather horse racing track. A welcome feature was the use of chip timing with manual back-up.

Bart Snoeren of club Dak Drunen led from the start and seemed to never tire. It was a truly impressive performance. Bart qualified as a Continental Centurion 268 in 1998 so it is with great pleasure that we welcome him to the Brotherhood of Centurions in the UK.

Sandra Brown C735 (Surrey WC) led the women home in 20:18:23 coming in second overall.

David Jones C.987 (Redcar) suffered a broken blood vessel in his foot and thinking it was only a blister he carried on walking – finishing 17th in 21:38:13.

Ian Statter C.968 (Surrey Walking Club), a previous winner of the 100 miles, was first British man home (7th overall) in 21:12:25. Very close behind him in 8th place was Kevin Marshall C1001 in 21:25:20.

Andrew Titley C.1038 from the Isle of Man finished 24th with a good performance of 22:57:05. It was good to see Andrew competing in England again.

Paul King C.972 walked well and maintained his style throughout the race slowing down only in the last few hours. His fastest last was the last lap – done in 13 mins 51s which enabled Paul to finish in 23 hours 57 minutes 20 seconds.

Another walker loyal to the 100 miles was Redcar’s Martin Fisher C.788. He timed his race perfectly to finish in 23:53:31.

RWV Rotterdam had plenty of good strong walkers this year with 15 completing the 100 miles and with 6 finishing in the top 10. It was good to see old friends coming back to walk year after year and also good to see plenty of newcomers to the UK walking scene.

Marcel Dekker (sv de Lat), Amsterdam finished in 23:09:07.  He has made the journey many times to the English 100 miles. Walking well was fellow club member Johan Konig C.1072 who qualified at Newmarket in 2009.

Notable newcomers

Two ladies who won everyone’s hearts were Tara and Wendy of the Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA). They talked and laughed (and ate) their way round 100 miles finishing in 21:33:55. Their performance was a great credit to themselves and to the LDWA coming joint 14th overall.

Sarah Lightman of Leicester WC was another newcomer to the 100 finishing in 22:55:58 and coming 23rd overall and 7th female finisher.

Angie Alstrachen (Enfiled & H ) completed 100 miles in 23:42:48. Angie, a former 400m hurdler who turned to race walking after a running injury, surprised quite a few people at completing the 100 and putting on a very good performance.

Praiseworthy attempts

Alan O’ Rawe C.791 just wanted to start the race and “do a few miles”.  He managed to clock up 120km and was still on his feet at the end. He did suffer, but hopefully Alan thought it was all worth it to be part of this historic race.

Another veteran Centurion was Jack Rose (M70) C517 who dug out his trainers for this race and completed just over 80km (50 miles) with some very creditable lap times.

Serena Queeney (Enfield & H) has attempted the 100 several times and never quite made it. Only back from the Australian 100 at the end of April – she gave it another go. Perhaps it was too soon and Serena retired after 59km feeling totally out of sorts.

Angie Alstrachen (Enfiled & H ) completed 100 miles in 23:42:48. Angie, a former 400m hurdler who turned to race walking after a running injury, surprised quite a few people at completing the 100 and putting on a very good performance.

Another relative newcomer to race walking was Sue Smith of Ryston Runners. A training partner of Serena, she had done a lot of long training sessions but never raced at this distance before. Being realistic, Sue knew she would not complete 100 miles on this attempt, but wanted the experience and to go as far as should could in 24 hours. Sue walked a good solid 77.5 miles in just under 24 hours, only sitting down for a rest and a cuppa in the final few laps.

Officials on duty

Officials and Referees – Carl Lawton & Ray Pearce
Chief Judges – Jack Thomas & Glyn Jones
Judges – Peter Cassidy, Pauline Wilson, Peter Marlow, Catherine Telling, Michael Croft, John Eddershaw, Eric Horwill, Bill Wright & Mick Graham
Starter – Peter Selby

Results:
Men:
1. B. Snoeren (Dak Drunen) 19.04.07; 2. R. Pistorius (RWV Rotterdam) 20.26.26; 3. F.de Roeck (RWV Rotterdam) 20.33.02; 5. I. Statter (SWC M50) 21.12.25; 10. R. Michell (SWC M60) 21.36.17; 26. P. King (BelgH/SWC M60) 23.57.20;

n/a. C.Flint (Sy WC M65) 97.63 mls; n/a. R.Brown (SWC M60) 66.81 mls; n/a. D.Hoben (SWC M55) 34.81 mls.

Women:
1. S.Brown (Sy WC W60) 20 hr18 min 23 sec; 2. I.Klinkendon ( RWV Rotterdam) 21 hr 4 min 2 sec; 3. C.Mestdagh ( RWV Rotterdam) 21 hr 30 min 57 sec; 7. S.Lightman (Leic WC/Sy WC W40) 22 hr 55 min 58 sec;

n/a. V.Brown (Sy WC W) 28.89 mls; n/a. P.Ficken (Sy WC W65) 24.15 mls.

Centurion Awards

1st Male Winner: Hammond Trophy – Ian Statter C 968
1st Female Winner: Unicorn Trophy -Sandra Brown C 735
1st New Centurion: Hew Neilson C145 Trophy – Bart Snoeren C 1083
1st Youngest Finisher: Bill King Memorial Trophy – Frank de Gulik C 1022
1st Male aged 65 or over: Eddy McNeir Trophy – Jaap Visser C 1022
1st Female aged 65 or over: Chas Shelley Trophy – not awarded

1st Team: Sunday Dispatch Perpetual Trophy – RWV Rotterdam (Rein Pistorius, Fabiaan de Roeck, Eddy Goeman)

Our thanks to Gerrit de Jong C456 for summarising the race results 2011_Lingfield