They were the first Officers in 1907 of the R.W.A's predecessor, the S.C.R.W.A., being respectively President, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer.
The duties were onerous. The President had four Vice Presidents to support him, the Secretary needed to keep track of fifteen affiliated Clubs and the Treasurer must have been dreadfully worn down by caring for the balance-in-hand of £2/6/- that he had at the end of his second year. Despite the tiny size – and the fact that it held only one Championship each year and was entirely confined to the south of England – the Association's Committee met every month, sometimes with extra meetings in between, and seems somehow to have kept busy enough.
The preliminary discussion of the possibility of calling a public meeting to found the Association took place in a restaurant and no doubt the original gentlemen also refreshed themselves in an appropriate manner after each meeting; there would seem to be no other reason for assembling so frequently at The Edinburgh in Milford Lane, Strand (which was probably the location for the preliminary meeting itself), rather than at the Regent Street Polytechnic, where the formal foundation meeting had taken place.
Whenever an anniversary has occurred since then, the Association has shown boundless enthusiasm for getting its snout in the trough, and we shall be keeping faith with our predecessors by marking the centenary of the early endeavours with a Dinner at the Royal Air Force Club, Piccadilly, London, on the 13th October, 2007, at 6:45 p.m. for 7:00 p.m., although the doors will be open from 6:00 p.m. for warming-up purposes. Among the speakers will be Mr.Peter Matthews. Tickets are available at £25·00 – enough to have kept the original Organisation going for several years – from:
Peter Marlow,
134G, Southgate Street,
BURY ST.EDMUNDS,
IP33 2AF
(Cheques are to be made payable to the Race Walking Association.)
Bon Appétit!
Anyone attending the Dinner and wishing to loosen up with a preliminary snifter on the hallowed premises will find the Edinburgh Tavern (now described as a wine bar and pub) at No.1, Milford Lane, London, WC2R 2LL, about one-and-a-half miles from the R.A.F. Club. A map of the immediate area can be seen here.