The 100km Association was founded by Ron Hindley who organised the UK's first 100km road race in 1980 from Harlaxton Manor to Lincoln and back.

This classic Lincoln 100km continued to run from Lincoln Cathedral to Grantham alternating the start/finish every year. The race also incorporated a 50km race. This race was really the foundation of the 100km Association.

Ron Hindley was the Association's first President for many years to be succeeded by Geoff Oliver, our current President.

Ron died in 2008  Read more about Ron...

Ron's account of the foundation of the Association:The Lincoln Run 1978

"On 16^th JuIy 1978 Malcolm Campbell and I ran from Grantham to Lincoln and back. We did about 54 miles in 7 hours 50 mins, consuming a considerable quantity of beer and strawberries served by my daughter Sheila, and decided that there would just have to be a race through where we had been. I consulted Peter Goodsell, the Road Runners Club secretary, who suggested a double Marathon, but after considering what Malcolm had to say about developments on the Continent, I decided on 100 km. This set the style of a project that has always looked forwards, never backwards.  more on the early days...

The 100Km Association

The prospect after the first race became hopeless when the sponsor withdrew unexpectedly.  So far as I was concerned the project was at an end, but then Peter Millar, who had been marshal in Grantham, earnestly asked me to try again. My reply was that it could only be done if we formed a club dedicated to the purpose, and in May 1981 the 100 km Association was born, at an inaugural meeting held at Leadenham under the chairmanship of the Mayor of Grantham.

Peter Millar also gave inestimable service by laying a new course for the 1982 race. and by finding a sponsor, RM. Wright (Grantham) Ltd., in the person of Tony lvens, whose support in succeeding years was vital. In one year the race was heavily sponsored by Jeffrey Gordon, of Thames Valley Harriers.

The word Association has puzzled many members. It comes from the fact that the race was a huge multiple-community project carried out essentially by an Association of corporate bodies. each of which had the right to send its representative to the Executive Committee.
This is quite a different thing from an ordinary local athletic club, the structure of which was grafted on to the constitution purely to qualify for affiliation to the A.A.A. We must not forget, that our club was founded upon a new conception of road race promotion, whereby the project is the work of a community - in this case many communities joined together representing the combined effort of a large part of the county of Lincolnshire. This was a momentous step forward in the development of the sport and of its relationship with the supporting population, apart from being the only means of providing the services at a standard that has never been surpassed. We must be prepared to use the model again.

The Logo and the Motto (where maths and science take over - be warned!)

Eratosthenes (276 — 195 BC), perhaps better known for having invented a process for isolating prime numbers called The Sieve of Eratosthenes, had an ingenious method of measuring the Earth using observations of the direction of the Sun‘s rays at different places.  His unit of measurement was the stadium, the length of the athletic track as it was in his day....hence our logo... more about the logo...

Ron Hindley

22/1/99