The unfolding discussion sparked by Chris Bolton’s proposals in his ‘The future of Lancashire Walking Club’ has been thought-provoking. In a couple of week’s time, I’ll endeavour to summarise the main arguments as a contribution to moving matters forward.

In the meantime it might be useful to clarify Chris’s proposal of a One Hour Challenge as a fresh way of reviving the Club’s Novice Race. The challenge to both new and old participants would be ‘how far can you walk in an hour?’ In planning for the event there are obvious marketing/media possibilities in posing this question.

Following Ian Vaughan’s helpful suggestion Chris proposes that we have the following targets rewarded with badges: 8k Bronze; 9k Silver; 10k Gold; 11k Diamond; 12k Platinum; and 13k Five Star.

In terms of the Race Walking Association the smart lapel badges are now collector’s items on Ebay. As of a few years ago RWA 10k cloth badges were distributed at the Jeff Ford 10k race in Sheffield, but there is no mention of the the One Hour award on the RWA web site. However there is every reason to believe that our Club awards can be complementary if the RWA scheme is still alive .

Whatever our reactions to other parts of Chris’s argument about the future I think the One Hour Challenge proposal is something we should pursue. Quite when we can make it happen is of course in the present climate another matter.

AND ANOTHER REMINDER THAT WE ARE ACCEPTING 5 KILOMETRES CLOCKINGS FOR OUR CLUB VIRTUAL SERIES THROUGH TO MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY, JULY1