Preston Harriers Fell Section :- fellblog

Harrier Hall of Fame

1954 Jim Woodhouse's 100 mile walk

Extracts from Jim Woodhouse’s Letter, dated 9^th November 1954.

Blackpool to Manchester and Back, 100 Mile Road Walk 1954.

This 100 mile walk started at the Town Hall, Blackpool , at 4 am, on Friday 23^rd July. So Dick and myself and our attendants went about dinnertime to feed and have a good rest beforehand.

 It had been raining continually for a couple of days and we felt sure that by the time we started it would have cleared up. But not a bit of it, we got changed, with all the usual fancy preparations beforehand and it was still chucking it down.

We lined up at the start, the gun went and we were off, It was sheeting down and we were paddling in water about 2 inches deep along the promenade, the waves from the sea were crashing over the promenade and the wind blew (cold and chilling) cutting through us like a knife.

 Anyhow you know how I always start off pretty fast, well, I did it again, but even so after about 2 miles, Vic. Stone was just a spec in the distance with Hughie Neilson close on his heels. Dick was lying about 4^th and for the first 20 miles, Joe Wigglesworth and myself were together lying 7^th and 8^th.

 At Preston I left Joe and was crashing on steadily through Bamber Bridge when I heard footsteps behind me, nearer and nearer they came and when they finally past me, I nearly dropped dead, it was Tommy Richardson (World record holder and winner of the Bath to London 1953).

 Gee! I thought I must be going to fast, then I slowed down a bit and dropped back to about 10^th through Chorley, It was still pouring down and I was shivering by this time, but luckily mother turned up with a plastic mac, which I put on and which kept out the cold and wind lovely.

 On we trudged through Adlington, Horwich and Bolton and about three miles from Manchester I met Vic. Stone coming back in the lead, “Boy” was he going great guns, he may be a brag, Hell can he walk!

 After the race I learned that Neilson (Woodford Green) had stuck with him for 40 miles, but after that Stone left him cold.

 After Stone I met Hartley of Sheffield, then Neilson and then Dick – we had a good laugh, shouting things to each other. I turned round at Salford Fire Station, the 50mile mark in 9 hrs 50mins, thus beating my time for a single 50.

 It was smashing when meeting all the others who were behind, I remember one chap when I was 5miles out of Manchester, so he must have then been 18miles behind Stone, no one else passed me until Willie Watson (Lozells) said Hallo at Horwich, but by that time I was having a bad spell (65miles) and had slowed up quite a bit.

About Adlington I stopped, put on some more vaseline and decided I had better get a move on.

 I went through Chorley (71miles) in 15hrs 2mins. I know that because Ernest Neville was standing at the town hall with his watch in his hand. I really started to move again, went through Bamber Bridge and Preston like a bomb or so it seemed to me.

 At Lea Gate (84miles) my time was 18hrs 15mins, and that was my best, for trying too hard to catch up Willie Watson, a ligament went behind my right knee and from then on I was limping slowly all the way to Blackpool.

 It was maddening to have chaps passing you, when you knew you had the energy to lick them, if only your leg would let you. Anyhow it took me approximately 4 and 3/4hrs to cover 16miles from Lea Gate, where as when I had set off it took me 3hrs dead!

 Well Maurice you know the result, I managed to finish, which was much to my satisfaction, but I would have romped home in about 21 and 3/4hrs, if only my knee had not let me down. Anyway you cannot have luck all the way in a race like this, my feet stood up to the punishment wonderfully, and really I am satisfied to become a Centurion, as I have always wanted.

 My number is Centurion 227 and I am hoping some day when you get back from Singapore , you will join the club and have a badge too.

 Dick did wonderfully and beat all his previous times to pulp. He finished 4^th in19hrs 17mins and managed to beat Tommy Richardson into 5^th place. Vic Stone broke the World Record with17hrs 22mins, so fast did he walk, he arrived on the outskirts of  Blackpool, on Saturday morning, before His Lordship, the Mayor was out of bed, so his Lordship had to be hastily awakened, in order to receive him.

Out of the 54 entered on the programme, 44 started the race, and only 20 finished, so that there was 9 new Centurions this year. Well I think that’s all about the walk.

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Lots of fell runners break away from their original running clubs, mainly because they have no interest in track & field, fell running being their main interest. The fell running section of our club decided to have their own website, probably for the same reason. Now a V70, George Arnold is our oldest active fell runner. There are a few more of us close behind! One of our top female road runners, whilst marshalling recently at Chipping Show Fell Race commented on just how friendly fell runners are.