In planning his itinerary, he will not fix the average distance and walk up to it each day. Let him go about the matter gradually—fifteen miles the first day, twenty the second; on the third day let him lie by and rest, and on the fourth do twenty again. With the fourth day he will find his troubles ended. The second day is, usually, the hardest—ankles tired, feet tender, shoulders lame from the burden of the knapsack; but, by sticking at it bravely through the afternoon, the crest of difficulty will be overpassed.
In this matter of speed and distance, figures are to be accepted with freedom. Individuals vary greatly in capacity. The attempt has been made to give fair estimates—a rate and range attainable by a fairly vigorous, active man, with clear gain. The caution should be subscribed, “Do not try to do too much.”
Stunt Walking
These are tests of endurance in speed, in distance, or in both; the play of the habitual pedestrian. Discussion of the matters of speed and distance gives opportunity for the introduction, somewhat illogically, of this and the following sections.
There is, in the environs of a certain city, a walk of ten miles or better, a favorite course with a little company of pedestrians. No month passes that they do not traverse it. Normally, they spend two hours and a half on the way; if some slower-footed friend be of the party, it requires an hour more; their record, made by one of their number, walking alone, is two hours and twelve minutes.
Fired by the example of a distinguished pedestrian, who in the newspapers was reported to have walked seventy-five miles on his seventy-fifth birthday, one of the company just mentioned essayed to do the like—a humbler matter in his own case. He is, however, so far advanced into middle age that he won with a good margin the trophy of the League of Walkers, given to every member who covers thirty miles afoot in a single day.
Championship Walking—World’s Records
| Event Time | Holder | Nation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mile—6m. 25 4-5s. | G. H. Goulding | Canada | June 4, 1901 |
| 2 miles—13m. 11 2-5s. | G. E. Larner | England | July 13, 1904 |
| 3 miles—20m. 25 4-5s. | G. E. Larner | England | Aug. 19, 1905 |
| 4 miles—27m. 14s. | G. E. Larner | England | Aug. 19, 1905 |
| 5 miles—36m. 1-5s. | G. E. Larner | England | Sept. 30, 1905 |
| 6 miles—43m. 26 1-5s. | G. E. Larner | England | Sept. 30, 1905 |
| 7 miles—50m. 50 4-5s. | G. E. Larner | England | Sept. 30, 1905 |
| 8 miles—58m. 18 2-5s. | G. E. Larner | England | Sept. 30, 1905 |
| 9 miles—1h. 7m. 37 4-5s. | G. E. Larner | England | July 17, 1908 |
| 10 miles—1h. 15m. 57 2-5s. | G. E. Larner | England | July 17, 1908 |
| 15 miles—1h. 59m. 12 3-5s. | H. V. Ross | England | May 20, 1911 |
| 20 miles—2h. 47m. 52s. | T. Griffith | England | Dec. 30, 1870 |
| 25 miles—3h. 37m. 6 4-5s. | S. C. A. Schofield | England | May 20, 1911 |
| 1 hr.—8 miles 438 yards. | G. E. Larner | England | Sept. 20, 1905 |
| 2 hrs.—15 miles 128 yards. | H. V. L. Ross | England | May 20, 1911 |