Just a comment on New Zealand.

We are probably not the best country to hold up as an example, partly because we are so small (4 million people). As a result we have only one 24hr race a year (put on by the Sri Chinmoy folks), and a very small pool of ultra distance walkers.

The Sri Chinmoy race is always open to those who would like to attain Centurion status, but whether we actually have a Centurion event really depends on whether one of the handful of people who are capable of attaining the standard chose to do the event, or whether we have any overseas Centurions who are looking to gain Centurion status in New Zealand. Most of the New Zealanders who could attain the standard think of themselves aas racewalkers, and limit themselves to pure racewalking events. 

Given our small numbers the chance of us having Centurions walking in a competition is, sadly, next to non-existent.

This might be my year to see whether I am up to the mark, although I have never walked for more than 14 hours so the sheer duration remains a little daunting. But it would definitely be a more attractive prospect if there was a reasonable prospect of competition from other walkers, rather than just from under-prepared runners.

Andrew