The world's greatest walker: a Victorian pioneer of ultra-marathons (and coke)
sportingintelligence832.substack.com
By Paul Marshall and Nick Harris 21 March 2010 The exploits of the British runner William Sichel and his competitors in the current 1,000-mile race in Athens are extraordinary, but these "long distance" athletes are not products of the modern age alone. There was a time in the Victorian era when such races were staged in front of paying crowds of tens of thousands of people. That was when "professional pedestrianism" was in its heyday. And the greatest walker of that heyday - certainly the most flamboyant - was an American called Edward Payson Weston.
The world's greatest walker: a Victorian pioneer of ultra-marathons (and coke)
The world's greatest walker: a Victorian…
The world's greatest walker: a Victorian pioneer of ultra-marathons (and coke)
By Paul Marshall and Nick Harris 21 March 2010 The exploits of the British runner William Sichel and his competitors in the current 1,000-mile race in Athens are extraordinary, but these "long distance" athletes are not products of the modern age alone. There was a time in the Victorian era when such races were staged in front of paying crowds of tens of thousands of people. That was when "professional pedestrianism" was in its heyday. And the greatest walker of that heyday - certainly the most flamboyant - was an American called Edward Payson Weston.