Some of the entrants have provided accounts of their walking experience and objectives.

 

Arjan Bogerd

In 2005 ben ik begonnen met de Nijmeegse 4 daagse, meer als grap maar toch. Na het behalen van deze prestatie smaakte dat naar meer. Inmiddels heb ik 15x de 4 daagse gelopen.
In 2007 liep ik mijn eerste Kennedy mars, dit om mijn overleden vrouw te eren.
2016 werd het toch serieuzer om kennedy marsen te lopen, wat resulteerde dat ik in 2017 in Weert Kennedy vriend werd KV460.
In 2019 mocht ik deelnemen op Ilse of Man, helaas niet gehaald maar toch een mooie tijd gehad. Dit word mijn 2e poging om in Engeland de Centuriontitel te mogen bemachtigen.
tot ziens in Middlesbrough

Translation courtesy of Google:
In 2005 I started the Nijmegen 4 days, more as a joke but still. After achieving this achievement, it tasted like more. I have now walked 15 times the 4 days. In 2007 I walked my first Kennedy march, this to honor my late wife.  In 2016 it became more serious to walk Kennedy Marches, which resulted in 2017 in Weert Kennedy becoming a friend KV460.  In 2019 I was allowed to participate in Isle of Man, unfortunately I didn’t make it but still had a great time. This will be my 2nd attempt to get the Centurion title in England.
See you in Middlesbrough.

 

Arjan Lukken

In 2001 I started with walking for the 4 day marches of Nijmegen. In 2011 I walked my first Kennedywalk and in 2013 the first 100+km. In 2016 I walked the lap of honour at the 100th 4 day marches of Nijmegen. In Schiedam 2017 I became Kennedyvriend 443 and in Weert 2018 CC460.  And now in 2022 is this my third attempt to get my Centurion. I’m looking forward to meet you in Middlesbrough.

 

 

Peter Asselman C1148

I am looking forward to the centurion-race in Middlesbrough, especially after the two years break. It is always a pleasure to go to the UK for the centurion. In 2015 I finished my first two Centurion races and became a Centurion (Continental Centurion in Weert (NL) and British Centurion in Castletown (IOM) and I enjoyed it that much that I kept on going the following years to Centurion races. I hope to finish this year, it would be my ninth centurion-race that I would finish.

I wish you a lot of success with the organisation and thank you and the whole team for making this event possible.

 

Bob Thomas

I am walking with my pal Phil Wilson with whom I walk either the round-Guernsey or round-Jersey walks (Guernsey, recently this year). It is Phil who must be blamed for my excursion into this madness!

I am a geologist with an organisation called CGS, which is the Geological Survey of South Africa. I am based in Cape Town, but have been “working from home” in Wells, Somerset during and since Covid, where I am finishing a project to produce geological maps and memoirs of the whole of Malawi. I am a keen hiker and walker, having spent all my working life walking in the mountains of Africa, carrying a little hammer and chipping off bits of rock. During the 1980s and 1990s, I completed lots of marathons and ultra-marathons at an excruciatingly slow pace, including eight Comrades Marathons, a 90 km mass-participation road race alternating annually between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal Province. I have been persuaded to try the Middlesbrough 100 Miler by my old walking pal, Phil Wilson (also his first time) and am very much looking forward to, and not a little intimidated by, the challenge.

 

Jantinus Meints C1101

Over the past 10-12 years walked a few Centurion races. I finished most of them, 9 to be precise, and during 3-4 my body disagreed with my plans, so I left these races early.
My first was in 2011 in Weert and probably due to the weather only 3 walkers finished and amongst them me, the only new Continental Centurion (CC). Although I participated in some long distance walks, I had never walked more than 70 miles in a single walk. Can’t recall what made me think I could do a 100 miler but apparently I could. Since becoming a CC, I finished a few times more in Weert and Schiedam and also in the UK, USA, Australia and South Africa.

When I read last year or the year before about the plans to organize a Centurion race in Colchester, the idea crossed my mind to participate since I became Centurion in Colchester in 2012. The race location changed but I am looking forward to walk again in the UK, 10 years after my Colchester finish.

 

Jacqueline van Drongelen

I started fast walking 2 years ago. And have a lot of fun with it. Last year I became a Kennedy Friend in Weert and this year a Continental Centurion in Schiedam. I train at the DAK Athletics Association in Drunen, walk at the RWV and support OLAT members. When it comes to training, it’s really about time, but I also really enjoy just walking. So now to England. Looking forward to it.

 

Kim Jansens C 1111

Kim was not planning to walk because it might be too soon after completing the 100 mile Centurion in the US in June. However, after arranging to come and support his friends in Middlesbrough Kim realised he would like to enter and, whilst aiming to the 100 miles in 24 hours, it will also be great training. Kim has already qualified as a Centurion in six countries, the first time was at the 2013 Isle of Man race.

 

Philip Wilson

For the last 10 years I’ve taken part in the annual round-the-island walks on Jersey and Guernsey. Apart from that I have little background in long-distance walking or race-walking, so the Middlesbrough Challenge will be a new experience for me. I’ve treated myself to it for my 70th birthday (the photo is a few years old).

 

 

John Borgars C1170

John made a late start to athletics and even later to Race Walking. He began, aged 37, with a charity marathon, followed by some more marathons, half-marathons and shorter road and x-country races until, aged 51, he ran a track (3,000m) race and saw a Walking Race.

The next year he won the Hertfordshire Long-distance Race Walking championship and has gradually changed from a runner who also walks to a Walker who very occasionally runs. He had to drop out of the centenary race after 21 hours (and 91 miles) to go to a Ruby Wedding celebration, then failed twice in the following years, but eventually completed the 100 at Redcar in 2016.

 

 

Colin Moore

Colin Moore (not to be confused, he says with his namesake of Bingley Harriers fame) first entered in the Parish Walk in 1999, reaching Peel (32 miles) and has taken part each year since, with a best performance of Maughold (67 miles) in 2015.
This year though he is having to miss the event due to his Goddaughter Charlotte’ concurrent wedding in Dubrovnik, so is delighted that the Middlesbrough event is taking place with a couple of extra months available for training!
Previous involvement with the event has been restricted to four appearances in the accompanying 20 miles distance; namely the 2013 Starlight Stroll at the N.S.C. Douglas, 2015 at Castletown (finished 6th), 2017 at Bury St. Edmunds (B.M.A.F. 55-59 age group winner), and 2019 (again at Castletown, though different course).
Having recovered enough from a couple of T.I.A.s in 2020 to reach Jurby (45 miles) in last year’s ‘Parish’ he is looking forward to a new challenge plus being on the same starting line as some outstanding long distance walkers, and is hoping for cool conditions on the day!

 

George Wallace

My name is George Wallace. I have been running since I was twelve and enjoyed the experience. I have run the New York Marathon five times and the Boston Marathon once. My running started to get interrupted by injuries regularly. I stopped running and started race walking after being talked into taking part in Walk the Walk for breast cancer. I did quite well in Walk the Walk and got in touch with a local athletics club Aldershot, Farnham, and District where I was taught how to race walk properly. It took my coach a while to stop me running and start race walking properly. In my younger years, I was coached by an ultra-marathon runner. The lure of the ultra-marathon has always been quite strong, and once I got settled into race walking the idea of doing ultras raised its head again. Am looking forward to doing the 50-mile training walk around Richmond Park and speaking to ultra-marathoners.

 

Justin Scholtz C1173

Justin with wife Sharon Scholtz C1174

Justin is a 47 years old Australian and has completed 17 Centurions, including all six of the currently available official Centurion races around the world with wife Sharon (Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, Continental, African).

Together with Sharon, he first completed the UK centurion at Bury St Edmunds in August 2017.  This was the fifth of six world centurions for the pair with their final event (and Justin’s tenth centurion overall) being the African centurion in 2018.

Justin has a personal best time of 19 hours 43 minutes for 100 miles and a best 24 hour distance of 189.678km.  If all goes to plan, Justin is aiming to achieve his fifth Centurion for 2022 at the UK event and become the most prolific Australian centurion with 22 successful finishes.  He plans to walk strongly, but is only interested in successful completion of the distance, rather than a fast time, partially as he and wife Sharon will have had limited walking training leading into the event as they will likely have been cycling in Europe on their tandem bicycle for a few months in the lead up.

 

Jonathan Hobbs

Jonathan Hobbs 2014

Jonathan has been race walking since childhood and is a second generation race walker. His father, Chris, has had various successes, particularly as a veteran, but has (so far) made two unsuccessful attempts at the 100 miles – one of which was somewhat hindered by the carbon monoxide poisoning from a fault in the campervan he was resting in. Jonathan likes fresh air.

Until recently, Jonathan has focussed primarily on the 50km walk since becoming the youngest ever winner of the RWA championship in 2014 and won for a second time in 2018, making him the reigning champion due to the dormancy of that event. Joining the Brotherhood of Centurions has been a long-time ambition and this will be Jonathan’s first attempt.

 

Ray Sharp

Ray Sharp, 62, from Washington state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, has competed in race walking and running across six decades. A national junior champion in 1978, Sharp was one of the fastest American race walkers of the 1980s. He won 21 U.S. senior titles at distances ranging from 2 miles to 100 kms, the first of those in March 1980 and the most recent in October 2018, a span of more than 38 years, and raced in multiple World Athletics championships, walking world cups and Pan American cups.

Ray primarily competes in running races and triathlons now, but he did train for race walking for a few months in 2018 and won two gold medals and a silver in the walks at the World Masters Athletics meet in Malaga, Spain.

Sharp’s fastest 20 km walk was 1:24:58 in 1986, he set world indoor bests at one mile and two miles in 1983, and his American record at 3000m, 11:16, has stood unchallenged for 38 years.