In the Independent:
When peds walked the earth.
The Victorian ‘pedestrian’ predecessors of today’s ultra-marathoners earned massive sums and had rivalries to match Federer-Nadal.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
PAUL MARSHALL
A poster advertising the 1887 race between Dan O’Leary and Edward Weston in Islington
When Edward Payson Weston struck a bet with a friend on the 1860 US presidential election, part of the stake was a jar of peanuts. The outcome of the wager was anything but. Weston unwittingly invented an extreme sport that took the Victorian world by storm and is enjoying a renaissance today.
Back then it was called pedestrianism, and it evolved from “heel and toe” walking into “go as you please” races where jogging became common. Today, what is essentially the same discipline falls under the “ultra-marathon” umbrella.
Read the whole article in the Independent
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