Ron Hindley  (1921-2008)

RONALD Westwell Hindley sprang to fame locally and in the world of running as the founding member of the club and also the 100km Association, of which he was the president for many years.

He organised the country’s first 100km road race – that’s 62 miles – in 1980. It started and finished at Harlaxton Manor with a course which included Lincoln’s Steep Hill.

He was born on Holy Innocents Day with the aid of an unqualified midwife, in Leigh Lancashire.

His father, a telephone salesman for the GPO, brought the family to Lincoln when Ron was three. He became a pupil at the Wesleyan School, where his mother was a teacher.

He moved to Preston for a bit before returning to Lincoln.

Ron enjoyed running then, but his father would not allow him to go on cross-countries, arguing it was bad for his heart.

After leaving school, he worked first at Lincoln’s labour exchange, then 17 others across the UK. After intense self-education, he became a schoolteacher.

At the age of 50, and by now living in Grantham, he tackled his first serious run – a 10 mile trot around the town to celebrate the birth of his first grandchild.

From that point there was no stopping him. A chap who came to lay a carpet told Ron about a veteran’s race at Sheffield. Ron came 140^th out of 280 runners.

He formed Grantham Athletics Club in 1975, although not really adapting to the democracy of committees soon left.

He then chaired the steering group of Grantham Sports Council and helped set up the rule book.

Then, under the eyes of the Sports Council, he set up the UK’s first ultra-marathon race. Since then he ran eight of them himself include 81 miles in the Cranwell 24 hour race.

As well a running, his mathematical brain devised a format for athletics economy which was adopted by many major runners with great success.

Ron was also a member of the national Road Runners Club, Ropsley Road Runners, and the Columbia Track Club, Missouri.

The American club adopted Ron’s ‘serial competition’ computerised ranking system which he devised in the 1990s to record the achievements of runners in Lincolnshire.

He continued training and racing into his eighties and only announced his retirement from racing at the age of 85.

When he died, he was buried wearing his 100km Association vest alongside his loving and supportive wife, Ona.