John, a member of Sheffield United A.C., qualified at the 1962 Leicester to Skegness in 22:09:27.
Over the period 1962 – 1944 John completed 9 Centurion aces in the UK. He accomplished his best time of 18:34:38 at the 1974 Leicester to Skegness.
Battersea Park 100 miles 1995 23.33.41
Ray, better known as a runner, was lured into race walking by his colleagues at Southend A.C. Completing two GB Centurions made quite an impression and provided inspiration for his poems.
Ray was a proud Centurion and wrote two poems about what that achievement meant to him. They were published in Essex Walker (February and March 2005).
Originally a market trader, Ray had his own window cleaning business in later years. Unfortunately a fall from his ladder led to his a period of ill health and eventual demise.
At the 2022 AGM Frans Leijtens C949 informed the meeting that T. Damen, a member of Attila (Holland) was known as a funny, agreeable gentleman who was always making jokes and having a laugh. His career in long distance race walking was brief. He completed one GB Centurion and Roubaix in the same year; Damen qualified at the 1995 Battersea Park 100 miles in 22.59.59.
Damen passed away May 2021.
Derek, a member of Folkestone A.C., passed away on 3rd August 2021 following a short illness. He qualified at the 1991 Ewhurst 100 miles in 23.37.26.
Derek was featured on the front cover of Race Walking Record (Issue 686, December 1999) because he had been awarded the “Cyril Evans Cup”, an annual award for long distance walker of the year awarded to the walker who covered the most miles in a series of 8 long distance Open races.
He was a loyal supporter to Don Thompson C631, 50K medallist in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Pia with Piet Jansens C389
Sadly Pia passed away in February 2021. A member of the R.W.V. (Holland) she qualified at the 1986 Leicester 100 miles (Congerstone) in 22:48:45.
From the south of the Netherlands, it was Pia who encouraged the young Frans Leijtens C949 to take up walking. Such was her enthusiasm for walking her daughter Corina Riezebos-Rijploeg C1203, son-in-law Gerrit and all her family joined the R.W.V. Sandra Brown C735 recalled Pia meeting walkers on the annual 160km Nijmegen to Rotterdam walk, encouraging them through with friendly words.
A member of LAT (Holland), Huub was well-known for completing 5 GB Centurions. He qualified at the 1979 Ewhurst 100 miles in 21.52.56. He accomplished his best time of 20:48:04 in his fifth and final race at Ewhurst in 1987, and completed the Nijmegen 4Daagse more than 60 times. He died in March 2021.