5.1 Extra touches

Because the Annual Hundred is a major and exceptionally demanding event these extra touches are extremely important. If you can think of any others that are likely to add to the walkers' enjoyment (?!) of the event, preferably at little or no added expense, then use them. 'The attitude of marshals and officials is crucial. They should appear cheerful and (even though they may be tired and fed up)........encourage the walkers'

5.2 After the event

As the hundred is such a major undertaking the feelings of exhaustion, relief and anticlimax will almost certainly be accentuated. Steps can be taken to guard against the ill consequences, e.g. making sure that those responsible for clearing up at HQ, removing notices etc. have had some rest during the weekend. Make sure before the event that each post-event task is allocated to a particular member of the organising committee and that the Chief Organiser is aware when each task has been completed.

'THANKYOUS' ARE IMPORTANT

Keith Warman (Kent Group) keeps statistics of all completions of hundreds so the report and results should be sent to him - ask for the address if it isn't in 'Strider'

5.3 The organisers' responsibility

This whole section and especially the bullet points on page 49 is an excellent reminder of the duty the organisers have to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety and well-being of entrants: reading it after the event is worse than useless.

Profit or Loss

It is also the responsibility of the Organising Committee to 'do the sums' promptly and to decide what should be done with the surplus (if any).

Any loan(s) from the Group(s) running the event should have been repaid by now and, of course, all bills from food suppliers etc. paid. If expenditure has exceeded income the National Committee may be approached for a grant or, if appropriate, e.g. if a Group event in the near future is expected to make a profit, a loan.

Any surplus should NOT, unless it is absolutely minimal (i.e. pence not pounds) be returned to the Group(s) as the Hundred is not intended to be a fund-raising event. Amongst the possibilities which can be considered are:-

• Transferring all or part of the sum to National Committee to be earmarked for use in supporting future Hundreds;
• Making a donation to an appropriate charity, in consultation with National Committee, of some or all of the surplus;
• Making ex-gratia payments to all groups (inc. non-LDWA) who have run checkpoints (see also 3.4);

These possibilities are not mutually exclusive and it may be appropriate to consider the last first. However, it is important that decisions as to 'who gets what' should be based on a formula that is fair and readily understandable. The formula used for the Millennium Hundred gave points for distance travelled, opening hours of checkpoint and complexity of menu: the surplus was allocated to each Group in proportion to the points scored. Details can be obtained from the Kent Group Secretary but it is also worth asking Organisers of other recent Hundreds.

5.4 Was it all worth it?

The predominant feeling when leaving HQ after clearing up will probably be 'Thank Heaven it's all over!' but soon the feelings described in the last paragraph of this section will come to the fore as many walkers and marshals congratulate you on achieving a complicated collection of tasks. It will make it even more worthwhile if, not too soon afterwards, the organising committee get together to compose a paper on 'lessons to be learnt', 'things we might have done differently' or some such title. The paper can then be forwarded to the Hundreds sub-committee of the National Committee (see the most recent August edition of 'Strider' for the Convenor) who will make sure that organisers of future Hundreds can learn from your experiences, good and not-so-good.