nationality birth_date known_for residence article_title name organization
english 16 december 1928 race walking athletics administration walsall beryl randle
 beryl randle birchfield harriers race walking association midland counties athletics association
beryl randle

beryl randle -lrb- born 16 december 1928 -rrb- is a former race walker and an athletics administrator .
she raced for birchfield harriers .
she took up competitive walking in 1946 , after coming last in a 100-metre sprint , and was coached by dorothy nelson neal .
to train , she would walk from her home in walsall to her workplace in digbeth , birmingham , and back - each day .
on 29 may 1954 , she broke the world record for the one-mile walk , with a time of 7 minutes 49 seconds .
on 19 june 1954 , she shaved over ten seconds from her own record , at the white city stadium , with a time of 7 minutes 38.4 seconds .
in doing so , she became the women 's amateur athletic association champion .
she was honoured for this achievement with a brooch depicting the stag logo of birchfield harriers in solid gold , commissioned by g.h. alexander , then president of the club .
she later said : randle is a six-time midland mile track champion , four-time british mile track champion , and three-time midland road-walking champion .
after winning # 1,000 for coming in second in a 1960 john o'groats -- land 's end walk sponsored by billy butlin -- she lost the lead to wendy lewis after twisting her ankle -- she had to relinquish her amateur status , though it was later restored , and she resumed competing .
during the 1980s , she coached birchfield harriers ' girls ' teams .
at the age of 71 , she broke the over-70s age group world record for the 3000-metres walk .
she was honorary general secretary of the race walking association from 1988 to 1991 , and its president from 1996 to 1998 .
she was subsequently made an honorary life member , and was given their lifetime achievement award in 2014 .
in 2009 , she was elected president of the midland counties athletics association .
