The challenge of becoming a walking Centurion is not a new one to Isle of Man native Chris Burn.

To become a Centurion an individual must walk (no running allowed!) 100 miles in less than 24 hours. If they walk 23:59.59 they are a officially classified as a Centurion, but if they finish in 24:00:01 they are not.

They need to average no slower than 14min 24sec for each mile to complete the 100 inside one day- no mean feat.

Centurion lists are currently held in six different locations - USA, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Continental and South Africa.

Chris and his wife Shardean travelled to Owego, a small village in Upstate New York about four hours drive from New York City for this year’s Centurion competition.

Having already earned Centurion status on three previous occasions, he knew what he needed to do. Thankfully the heatwave that the area had been experiencing broke, the heavy rains came and went, leaving the best weather the event had ever seen on race day.

Although Chris still found it quite warm, the race went as anticipated with no real problems or hitches. His wife, Shardean, helped out two other participants without proper support.

For good measure, there was some Isle of Man-type heavy rain during the early hours of Sunday morning to make Chris feel right at home.

Because of Covid, there were fewer entries than in past years, but it did not lack walkers of experience and quality.

Burn took the lead from the gun, passing through 50 miles in 10hr 41min 05sec with an advantage of more than 18 minutes on Jeff Weaver, a local walker from the area and first-timer over the distance.

Both of the leading men went through rough patches, ultimately dropping Burn to second place, but he never wavered and clocked up 100 miles in 23:09.36 to officially became US Centurion #96. Weaver became US Centurion #95 in 22:54.21.

This result ties Burn on four with fellow Isle of Man ultra walker Andrew Titley.

’I managed to get a 100-mile walk in before the Covid hit in 2019 for my third badge, so I was glad to be able to finally get my fourth badge completed,’ he continued. ’I am particularly happy to achieve my US Centurion unique badge number, and also be in the overall standings on the centurion list of multiple badge holders in the world.’

With only two more badges left to achieve, Chris hopes to travel to New Zealand next year to compete in his next Centurion competition. If he is successful there he would have an astounding five Centurion badges to his name, something that only 14 people in the world have so far accomplished.

The 2022 UK Centurion competition is being held at the Middlesbrough Sports Village on August 20 and 21.