2015 Yearly Report
VALE Geoff Peters C20: 1927 - 2015
It is my sad duty to advise the death of South Australian centurion Geoff Peters (C 20) on Monday 21 February 2015.
Geoff, aged 88, and his wife Pat were both actively involved in athletics for over 60 years. Geoff started walking in 1942 when aged 15 and was, until his retirement a few years ago, the longest serving registered athlete and official in South Australia - a massive 66 years. Similarly, Pat was the longest serving of the women's officials - an equally impressive 64 years. Their involvement commenced well before the amalgamation of the men's and women's associations and well back before the 1956 Olympics.
Geoff competed in a multitude of events over the years, initially in the throwing and walking competitions and the popular handicap mile runs at Adelaide Oval during breaks in the football matches. Like most men of his age, his sporting career was interrupted by the Second World War and he enlisted and served out his time like everyone else.
Once the War had finished, he returned to civilian life and restarted his stalled athletics career. He was Club Captain for many years at Western Districts and won the State hammer throw in 1950. He eventually moved to distance and endurance events, running a marathon in 1956 and taking part in the Western Districts 1959 Adelaide to Port Pirie Relay event. He had success in the walks over a long period but, in 1980, he completed what he regarded as his greatest achievement, becoming Australian Centurion number 20 with a one hundred miles time of 23:34:10 on the old Adelaide Harriers cinders track in Adelaide.
I have updated his centurion biography to now reflect his passing - http://www.vrwc.org.au/tim-archive/articles/wa-geoff-peters.pdf.
Coburg 6 Hour Championships, Coburg, Sunday 8 March 2015
A late move from Coburg to Clifton Hill was needed due to council works being undertaken at our usual venue but it all worked out well on the day. The 6 Hour Walk Championships saw wins to Michelle Thompson (C 58) with an impressive 55.073km and Robin Whyte (C 29) with 50.741km and Australian Walk age group records to ACT partnership Robin Whyte (M70-74 50.741km) and Val Chesterton (W70-74 39.965km) and Karyn O'Neill (W60-64 46.308km). The men's walk saw a great battle between Robin and John Kilmartin with less than one lap separating them for almost the full event. But try as he might, John was not able to bridge the short gap and he had to settle for second place.
| Coburg 6 Hour Walk - Men | |||
| 1 | Robin Whyte | ACT | 50.741 km |
| 2 | John Kilmartin | VIC | 50.479 km |
| 3 | Clarrie Jack | VIC | 46.195 km |
| 4 | Saul Richardson | NSW | 43.492 km |
| 5 | Gary Turner | VIC | 38.639 km |
| 6 | Michael Whimpey | VIC | 38.247 km |
| 7 | Terry O'Neill | VIC | 37.738 km |
| 8 | Ken Carter | VIC | 26.111 km |
| Coburg 6 Hour Walk - Women | |||
| 1 | Michelle Thompson | VIC | 55.073 km |
| 2 | Karyn O'Neill | VIC | 46.308 km |
| 3 | Val Chesterton | ACT | 39.965 km |
Australian Centurions 24 Hour Walk, Coburg, VIC, 18-19 April 2015
Our 2015 Australian Centurions qualifier was held in Melbourne on the weekend of 18-19 April. As usual, we joined Coburg Harriers in their annual Coburg 24 Hour Track Championships which also included the AURA Australian Track Running Championships. The field of 49 starters included 13 walkers (9 men and 4 women) and saw some fantastic running and walking. The weather was atrocious - it rained for some 5 hours in the early evening of Saturday and, from then on, conditions were cold with further showers. The attrition rate was high with a number of entrants having to take time off the track or, in some cases, stop completely.
The 24 Hour Walk event was a race of 2 halves. The first 12 hours was dominated by Michelle Thompson as she powered through, well ahead of anyone else and on record pace. She was rewarded with Australian Open records for 100km (11:38:04) and 12 Hours (103.209km), performances which only a small number of Aussie men have ever bettered. She then stopped to have her feet checked and decided to retire on advice as the rain had wreaked havoc with her toes and it was a case of stop now or do some real damage.
From then on, it was the John Kilmartin show as he powered through to his 100 miles with almost unbelievable consistency, never more than 1-2 secs variation from lap to lap. His 50 mile splits tell the story: 10:33 followed by 10:38 for a final 100 mile time of 21:11:56. He then walked a couple of extra laps for insurance purposes and called it quits, job done for the day, having become Australian Centurion number 67.
Other walk record breakers included Karyn O'Neill (a new W60 12 Hour record of 83.864 km) and Val Chesterton who set inaugural W70 records for 50km, 12 Hours and 24 Hours.
| Australan Centurions 24 Hour Walk - Men | |||
| 1 | John Kilmartin (C 67) | VIC | 161.734 km |
| 2 | Chris Kelly | VIC | 131.413 km |
| 3 | Saul Richardson | NSW | 127.825 km |
| 4 | Lou Commins | NSW | 110.102 km |
| 5 | Laurie Tinson | VIC | 101.602 km |
| 6 | Robyn Whyte (C 29) | ACT | 100.733 km |
| 7 | Clarrie Jack (C 4) | VIC | 46.861 km |
| 8 | Ian Hoad | VIC | 43.958 km |
| 9 | Ken Carter | VIC | 41.470 km |
| Australan Centurions 24 Hour Walk - Women | |||
| 1 | Karyn O'Neill (C 45) | VIC | 133.534 km |
| 2 | Diana Kelly | WA | 128.827 km |
| 3 | Michelle Thompson (C 58) | VIC | 106.000 km |
| 4 | Val Chesterton | ACT | 63.864 km |
The carnival also saw the annual Racewalking Australia 100km walk championships which were won this time around by Michelle Thompson (11:48:14) and Saul Richardson (17:37:23).
| RWA 100km Championships - Men | |||
| 1 | John Kilmartin (C 67) | VIC | 13:03:50 |
| 2 | Robin Whyte (C 29) | ACT | 13:59:00 |
| 3 | Chris Kelly | VIC | 16:15:20 |
| RWA 100km Championships - Women | |||
| 1 | Michelle Thompson (C 58) | VIC | 11:38:04 |
| 2 | Karyn O'Neill (C 45) | VIC | 17:01:23 |
| 3 | Diana Kelly | WA | 18:25:13 |
American Centurion Qualifier, Minneapolis, 6-7 June 2015
Justin and Sharon do it again
Australian centurions Justin Scholz (C 61) and Sharon Scholz (C 63) were amongst 5 new American Centurions to be welcomed into the fold at their annual qualifying event in Minneapolis on the weekend of 6-7 June 2015. For the record, they were the first two walkers to reach the milestone in 22:29:51 and become American Centurions C76 and C77respectively. It is Justin's third centurion walk performance and Sharon's third.
English Centurions Qualifier, Castleton, IAugust 2015
John Kilmartin becomes an English Centurion
An amazing 49 walkers completed the requisite 100 miles distance in the
annual English Centurions 24 Hour walk, held in August 2015 in
Castleton on the Isle of Man. And Ballarat based Australian Centurion John Kilmartin (C 67) was
amongst them. He qualified as a centurion in Australia in April with a
fine 100 mile walk time of 21:11:56. He walked a similarly powerful
race in Castleton, well back early (down towards 30th place) and then
storming through the field to finish 7th overall with 21:26:48.
It was a dream come true for John who had targeted this walk earlier
this year. He had been putting in a lot of long walking through the
bitterly cold Ballarat winter and it all paid off with a superb
performance.
NZ Centurion Qualifier, Auckland, 3-4 October 2015
Justin and Sharon do it again
Australian centurions Justin Scholz (C 61) and Sharon Scholz (C 63) have
added third centurion badges to their collection, both completing 100
miles in Auckland in the annual NZ Centurions qualifying event on 3-4
October 2015. As usual, they walked together, passing their 100 mile
target in a time of 22:24:28 and
going on to a total distance of 170.853km within the 24 hour period.
Justin becomes NZ Centurion 20 and Sharon becomes NZ Centurion 21.
Records in 2015
2015 was a bumper year with lots of records falling to our talented walkers.
| Val Chesterton Val Chesterton Val Chesterton Karyn O'Neill Karyn O'Neill Michelle Thompson Michelle Thompson John Kilmartin Robin Whyte Val Chesterton Michelle Thompson | W70 50km All-Comers/Residential W70 12 Hours All-Comers/Residential W70 24 Hours All-Comers/Residential W60 12 Hours Residential W60 6 Hours Residential Open & W45 100km Residential Open & W45 12 Hours Residential M60 100 Miles All-Comers/Residential M70 6 Hours All-Comers/Residential W70 6 Hours All-Comers/Residential W45 50km Road All-Comers/Residential | 9:04:47 63.776km 63.684km 83.864 km 46.032km 11:38:04 103.209 km 21:11:56 50.741km 39.965km 5:33:10 | Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Coburg, VIC Middle Park, VIC | 18-19/04/2015 18-19/04/2015 18-19/04/2015 18-19/04/2015 8/03/2015 18-19/04/2015 18-19/04/2015 18-19/04/2015 8/03/2015 8/03/2015 13/09/2015 |