Pedestrianism; or, An Account of the Performances of Celebrated Pedestrians During the Last and Present Century.: With a full narrative of Captain Barclay's public and private matches; and an essay on training.Thom, Walter
History
Pedestrianism; or, An Account of the Performances of Celebrated Pedestrians During the Last and Present Century.: With a full narrative of Captain Barclay's public and private matches; and an essay on training.
Thom, Walter
Walking
At seven in the morning, which was rather hazy, Capt. Barclay appeared to
be somewhat dull from the dampness of the night air. Betting, however,
was two to one, and five to two in his favour. After refreshing, he was
more cheerful, and went sixteen miles more, with much apparent strength,
going each two miles in about twenty-five minutes and twenty seconds. By
eleven, he had gone fifty miles, and appeared to proceed on his course
with great ease and vigour.--Betting was now four and five to one in his
favour.
When he had gone sixty miles, he stopped to refresh, and change clothes.
He remained about ten minutes in the house, and came out in high
spirits, with much cheerfulness in his countenance. Betting was now in
his favour six and seven to one. He proceeded till he had gone seventy
miles, scarcely varying in regularly performing each round of two miles
in twenty-five minutes and a half, when he again refreshed and changed
clothes. He appeared well and strong, and resumed his match in a gallant
style.
He refreshed twice more, and performed the whole distance by twenty-two
minutes four seconds past eight o’clock on Tuesday evening, being one
hour, seven minutes, and fifty-six seconds within the specified time.
When he had finished, he was so strong and hearty, and in fact so well,
that he could have continued for several hours longer, and might have
gone twenty or thirty miles farther.--Thousands of spectators on foot
and on horseback, attended during the course of his walking, and he was
loudly huzzaed, and carried on the shoulders of the multitude.
In August 1802, Capt. Barclay walked from Ury to Dr. Grant’s house at
Kirkmichael, a distance of eighty miles, where he remained a day and
night, (but without going to bed,) and came back to Ury by dinner on the
third day, returning by Crathynaird, which lengthened the journey twenty
miles. The roads over which he performed this journey, were extremely
rugged, being through the mountainous parts of Aberdeenshire, and the
distance altogether was one hundred and eighty miles.
In June next year, he undertook to run a match for a mile and a half
against Burke, the celebrated pugilist, whom he beat with ease. In
the month of July, he walked from Suffolk Street, Charing Cross, to
Newmarket, in ten hours, in one of the hottest days of the season. The
distance is sixty-four miles, and he was allowed twelve hours to perform
it, which he did in two hours less.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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