Handbook of summer athletic sports, comprising; walking, running, jumping, hare and hounds, bicycling, archery, etc by Whittaker Fred

Author:Whittaker, Fred, [from old catalog] ed
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Sports, Athletics
Publisher: New York, Beadle and Adams
Published: 1880-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

as Captain Robert Barclay Allardice, who made a match of two thousarid i^uineas at ISTewmarket, England, that he could T\^alk 1,000 miles in 1,000 consecutive hours, and did it, too. This was the first of these endurance matches publicly attempted, and was walked in the open air on the hii»h road, where two inns were found, just a mile apart, near the town of Newcastle. Captain Barclay favored himself in this match by walkin*^ a mile at the end of one hour and going on with the next mile at the beginning of the succeeding hour, thus giving himself an hour and a half clear sleep or rest between each two miles. He won his bet, beginning June 1st, and end-infr July 12th, 1809.

This feat remained unexcelled till 1877, when William Gale beat it all to pieces. Starting on August 26th of that year, and ending October 6th, he succeeded in walking 1,500 miles in 1,000 hours, a mile and a lialf each hour, commencing on the stroke of the hour. This feat was done at Lillie Bridge, England, and was followed in November of the same year by 4,000 quarter miles done in 4,000 consecutive periods of ten nnnutes each. This Gale was the same person who trained IMa^lam Anderson to bring the quarter-mile match to the United States; and that lady made a great monetary success out of it, though her feais were not remarkable, save as being executed by a woman.

The first flutter of interest in pedestrianism excited in the United States, was when E. P. Weston started, Oct. 29, 1867 to walk from Portland, Maine, to Chicago, Illinois, which he reached November 28th, (Thanksgiving JDajO having successfully accomplished the task he set himself.

Up to that time, while there had been some races, where good runners had contested, walking was at a discount in the United States; but from the date of Weston's feat, pedestrianism became a fashion d)le amusement, and rich club-nien were found who would walk matches on foot,'instead of lolling in carriages, or trotting their horses.

The professionals during that time had been chiefly confined to England, where the best records liad been made.

The best lOO-yard sprinter of his day was George Seward, of Hammersmith, England, wlio made the amazing time of 9 1-4 seconds, Sept. 30, 1844, and did 120 yards in 11 1-4 seconds. May 3, 1847. Tliese records have not yet been beaten.

The oliier earl}^ records that are still unexcelled are those of W. G. Scarlet, Newcastle, England, Sept.7,184t, who ran 140 yards in 14 seconds; Charles Westhall, Manchester, England, Feb. 4, 1851, who did 150 yards in 15 seconds, and Seward's unapproachable record of 200 yards in 19 1-2 seconds, made March 22, 1«47.

Seward was one of the very few men who could keep np the rate of ten yardo a second for a distance over a hundred yards.

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