The Australian Centurions

We now have 62 members of this exclusive club, the first in 1938 (Gordon Smith - C 1) and the most recent in 2012. Who will be next?

Select any of the pages listed above to find out more about our club and the exclusive world of long distance walking.

Michelle Thompson (C 58) in record breaking mode at Coburg

Australian Centurion Michelle Thompson (C58) was in a class of her own in the walk division at the Coburg 6 Hour and Coburg 24 Hour Championships which were held in Melbourne earlier this year.

First to the 6 Hour event. Covering 9.3km in the first hour, she held that same pace throughout the entire race to break her own Australian Women's 6 Hour Walk Record with 55.865km (she held it previously with 54.636km, set here at Coburg in 2012).  It was a dominant display by Australia's best female ultra walker and this performance adds to her growing collection of records. An inspection of her lapsheets indicate she passed the 50km mark in 5:22:00, an Australian Women's 50km track best.

Then in the 24 Hour event, she walked so well that only the top 6 male runners and the top 3 female runners actually ran further than she walked in the required timeframe. Her final distance of 184.724 km was an Australian Women's Open 24 Hour Walk record and her 100 mile split of 20:22:36 was an Australian Women's Residential 100 Mile Walk record, but her final distance could have been even further if she had not finally succumbed to fatigue in the last couple of hours (the first 12 Hours saw her cover 98.118km).

Michelle now holds the Australian track and road bests for 50km and the Australian records for all ultra distances up to 24 hours - 6 Hours, 50 Miles, 12 Hours, 100km, 100 miles and 24 Hours.

Michelle Thompson in action in the Coburg 6H event

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