William Brown finished 8th in the AAA 2-mile walk in 1908 to earn a place on the Olympic team. On 17-18 September 1909 he demonstrated his talents were better suited to long distances when he set British records at various distances from 51 to 85 miles and various time records from 9 to 15 hours (84 m, 564y). One of the founder members of the Centurion Club, for walkers who covered 100 miles in 24 hours, he was uniquely, in 2016, the only Centurion to also be a centenarian, as he celebrated his 100th birthday in 1978. Brown twice completed 100 miles in under 24 hours, the first being in 1907 when he covered the 104 miles from London to Brighton and back in 20-38:01. Brown worked in the boiler house at the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham before retiring to Leigh-on-Sea.
Great Britain