Apart from 1960 Olympic Gold medal winner Don Thompson, probably the most famous name to turn out for the recent Golden Anniversary walk at Steyning was Read.

Not, unfortunately, Norman of that name who had won the Olympic walk in 1956 and unfortunately died several years ago.

But younger brother Dennis, who to a large extent made a greater impact on Sussex race walking than Norman.

Dennis is one of the longest members of the Steyning Club, having joined the club on his 11th birthday in November 1951 just six months after the club was formed.

He recalls: "Johnny Henderson, the club's founder was always around my house talking to Norman, who was several years older than me. I had been walking in the Easter Monday walks since I was seven so I joined the club just as soon as I was old enough.

"There were far more walkers competing in those days and although the leading walkers are going much faster these days than they did 50 years ago, there are not the number of top walkers racing at the moment.

"I didn't win a national senior title but did win a junior championship and in 1959 I did set an English junior one-mile record at Enfield when I clocked 6min. 58sec."

Read gave up serious race walking in the Seventies, but has still managed to keep himself fit and will usually race in the Easter Monday 15-mile race.

"I still walk a lot, particularly rambling, but I don't put myself under pressure," he added. "Because I haven't bashed away at hard training I have not developed the knee or back problems that most race walkers get in later life.

"It was good to see so many walkers competing at Steyning and great to see so many old faces, but it is a pity that there are not more races nowadays with nearly 100 competitors."

Dennis regards his one-mile time in 1959 and his 1963 victory in the London to Brighton Walk as the highlights of his career and this spread from one-mile to 52 miles is a remarkable span of talent.

"I think 1963 was my best year," he recalled. "Not only did I win the London at my first attempt and was the youngest ever winner, but a few weeks earlier I had won the Hastings to Brighton and I think only Don Thompson had ever won both events in the same year before."

Although Dennis was one of the top walkers, his best years were before the introduction of all weather tracks. The comparison between times recorded on grass or cinder and the synthetic surfaces was considerable and who knows what Dennis could have achieved had he come along just a few years later.

ALTHOUGH the fields for last weekend's Sussex veterans cross country championships held up quite well despite being held at the far eastern end of the county, the support for the intermediate championships certainly slumped.

The Pestalozzi Children's Village between Battle and Sedlescoombe is more than one hour drive from Brighton and considerably longer from Crawley and Horsham, let alone the west of the county.

Around 100 veterans, a little down on recent years but not that much, completed the men's and women's races, but just 12 runners faced the starter for the intermediate race, an event that a decade ago was attracting nearly 100 runners.

The race is a little bit of an anachronism and was started some 50 years ago when the South of Thames junior race became a district event rather than a separate county event as it was before the Second World War.

The introduction of the Sussex League some 20 years ago removed one of the reasons for increasing competition for these athletes but what may prove to be the death knell is the increasingly congested fixture list which has virtually decreed that it is scheduled on the same day as the veterans' championships.

Many of the veterans used to compete in the event when it was held on a separate day and there may yet be a lifeline if a suitable date in the calendar can be found.

The race was a success as far as the winner was concerned though. Dave Rayner has been a reliable and devoted member of the Crawley cross country and road running squad for the past decade, having come into athletics rather late in life.

County cross country secretary Dave Olliffe said: "The cross-country committee will be discussing the situation shortly and it is possible there may be some relaxation of the barring clauses."

Next Saturday the third of this season's Sussex Cross Country League races moves on to Lancing with the first race starting at noon.

Reg Hook reg.hook1@btinternet.com