Where do I start? There are always bits of trivia about the members of any group and we are no exception. So here are some of the more interesting ones about the Australian Centurion Club members.

• Bill Dyer became our youngest Centurion when he completed his 100 miler at the age of 16. In fact, Bill still remains the youngest person in the world to have become a Centurion. Bill was a top junior walker at the time but certainly did not train for the event. He just decided to give it a try and kept going and going and going....


• Merv Lockyer became our oldest Centurion when he completed the 100 miiler in 1996 at the age of 65 years. To add to this amazing feat, Merv had only taken up walking after a heart attack some years before and had a plastic knee joint. Now I challenge anyone to beat that.


• Fred Brooks beat Merv by completing his 100 miler at 67 years of age in 2001.


• Deryck Skinner really raised the bar in late 2005 by completing his 100 miler at the age of 72 years and 11 months, thus becoming the oldest new Centurion ever in the world. Deryck's time was an impressive 22:39:55. Deryck quickly built on this first effort, and in just under 12 months, he completed the 100 mile distance within 24 hours on 4 occasions, once as a 72 year old and three times as a 73 year old. On the third of these four occasions, he achieved this feat during the first 24 hours in a 48 hour event. In the full 48 hours, he walked 257.877 km, the best ever by an Australian.
  


• Jill Green is the oldest woman to have completed the 100 mile walk within 24 hours in Australia - in 2005 at 63 years of age. A resident of the Isle of Wight in Britain, she had previously qualified in 1999 as C38 and this was her second walk on Australian soil.


• While we have 46 male members, we have only 7 women members, namely Carmela Carrassi, Sue Clements, Jill Green, Sandra Brown, Carol Baird, Lyn Lewis and Karyn Bollen Of these 7, Carmela, Carol, Lyn and Karyn are Aussies - Sue, Jill and Sandra are amongst the many overseas walkers who regularly come over for our events.


• Our 100 mile record is held by Ian Jack while our 50 mile record is held by Clarrie Jack. Clarrie and Ian are identical twins. Clarrie and Ian were top walkers in the seventies and still keep fit. They still look the same.


• Our most decorated member was for many years Chris Clegg who has completed the 100 miles in England, Australia, USA and Holland. He has completed 5 100 milers and currently lives in retirement in Los Angeles.


• Sandra Brown, arguably the greatest female ultra walker in the world, competed in our 1999 walk and set Open Womens records that will take some beating. Sandra has completed over 100 100 mile/24 Hour events. She is a multiple Centurion, having qualified the  British, Continental, New Zealand, Australian, American and Malaysian centurion standard. She has since been joined in this feat by Jill Green. Sandra and Jill are the only 2 walkers to have achieved all 6 Centurion badges.


• We have 7 men who have both walked and run the 100 mile distance in Australia inside 24 hours. These members are (in order of achieving this feat) Claude Martin, Jim Turnbull, George Audley, Stan Miskin, Yiannis Kouros, Geoff Hain and David Billett. Claude was a walker by sport while Jim, George, Stan and Yiannis, Geoff and David were all ultra-distance runners by trade.


• We have 3 women who have also achieved the ultimate double - having both run and walked 100 miles in 24 hours. These are Sandra Brown, Carold Baird and Lyn Lewis.


• Sometimes it takes determination and perserverance to gain this ultimate of prizes. Graham Watt failed 5 times in a row - 1998 54.8 km, 1999 66.8 km. 2000 60.0 km, 2002 97.2 km and 2003 100.8km - before finally achieving the Centurion distance in 2004. His time of 23:59:23 is the closest shave of any attempt. In fact, his last 2 hours were the fastest of the whole race as he pulled out all stops to beat the final gun.
  

Chris Clegg after finishing his 100 miler in USA in 1972. Press here to see picture in more detail.

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Tim Erickson (terick@melbpc.org.au)

Secretary, Australian Centurions Club
Melbourne, Australia