Reed, the noted pedestrian of Hampshire, in 1774, ran ten miles within an hour, at the Artillery Ground, London. In 1787, he walked one hundred miles in one day at Gosport; and on the sands of Weymouth, in 1791, he performed fifty miles in little more than nine hours.
In May 1762, Child, the miller of Wandsworth, walked forty-four miles in seven hours and fifty-seven minutes, on Wimbledon Common; and in August the same year, Mr. John Hague of Binns near Marsden, performed one hundred miles in twenty-three hours and fifteen minutes.
Mr. Foster Powell was the most celebrated pedestrian of his time; and in the performance of long journies has seldom been equalled.—In 1773, he walked from London to York, and back again, in six days, for a wager of one hundred guineas. In the same year, he beat Andrew Smith, a famous runner, on Barham Downs, in a match of one mile. In 1776, he ran two miles in ten and a half minutes, on the Lea-bridge road, but lost his match by half a minute. In September 1787, he walked from the Falstaff Inn at Canterbury to London Bridge, and back, in ten minutes less than twenty-four hours, being a distance of one hundred and nine miles. On the 8th June 1788, he set out from Hicks’ Hall on a second journey to York, and back again, which he accomplished in five days, nineteen hours, and fifteen minutes. In the July following, he walked one hundred miles in twenty-two hours. In 1790, he took a bet of twenty guineas to thirteen, that he would walk from London to York, and return, in five days and eighteen hours, which he performed in less time than was allowed, by one hour and fifty minutes. He was so fresh on his return, that he offered to walk a hundred miles the next day for a considerable wager. In the same year, he went from Hyde Park corner to Windsor, and back, in seven hours. In July 1792, he undertook to walk from London to York, and back, in five days and fifteen hours, which he accomplished within his time by an hour and twenty-five minutes. In 1792, when in the fifty-seventh year of his age, he offered to walk six miles in one hour; to run a mile in five minutes and a half; and to go five hundred miles in seven days. He required a bet of one hundred guineas on the last undertaking, and twenty guineas on either of the other two. But no person appearing to accept his offer, he afterwards declined all pedestrian performances for wagers.
This celebrated pedestrian was born in the year 1736, at Horsforth, near Leeds, in Yorkshire. He was bred to the profession of the law, and was clerk to an attorney in New Inn, London. He was beat by West of Windsor, in walking forty miles on the western road, for a wager of forty guineas. He was, however, a first-rate walker for either a long or a short journey; and his stature was no more than five feet eight inches; but his legs and thighs were stout, and well calculated for performances of this kind.
Mr. Joseph Edge, of Macclesfield in Cheshire, in 1806, when at the age of sixty-two, walked one hundred and seventy-two miles in forty-nine hours and twenty minutes. He started from the Angel Inn at Macclesfield, at twelve o’clock on Wednesday night, and arrived at the Swan with Two Necks, Ladlane, London, at twenty minutes past one on Saturday morning. This performance is remarkable from the age of the pedestrian, who walked at the rate of three miles, three furlongs, thirty-five perches, and 11/74ths feet per hour.
Long journies have been frequently performed at the rate of from fifty to eighty miles a day, for four, six, eight, ten, or more successive days, which have evinced the great strength and perseverance of the pedestrians.
In July 1788, John Batty, when fifty-five years of age, walked seven hundred miles in fourteen days on Richmond Course. He performed this long journey at the following rate: first day, fifty-nine miles: second, fifty-five and three-quarters: third, fifty-two and three-quarters: fourth, fifty-one: fifth, fifty-one: sixth, fifty-one: seventh, forty-three: eighth, forty-two and three-quarters: ninth, forty-four and three-quarters: tenth, fifty-one: eleventh, fifty-one: twelfth, fifty-four and a half: thirteenth, fifty-one: and on the fourteenth day, thirty-six miles and a quarter, having finished the whole distance within five hours of the time allowed.
In 1792, Mr. Eustace walked from Liverpool to London in four days. He was then seventy-seven years of age, and the distance exceeds two hundred miles. On a journey from Chester to London, when eleven years younger, he went ninety miles the first day.
Mr. Downes is well known as a first-rate pedestrian. In February 1808, he walked four hundred miles in ten days for a bet of a hundred guineas. He was greatly fatigued by the exertion; and his weight was reduced more than two stones. He performed thirty-five miles a day for twenty successive days, without much difficulty. He walked twenty miles in two hours and forty minutes, on the 11th of July 1809. He matched himself to go thirty miles in three hours and a quarter, for a bet of one hundred guineas; but the task was evidently beyond his power, and he failed in the undertaking. He was more fortunate, however, in a match with the celebrated Captain Aiken, which took place this year, on the 26th September, at Thorpe, in Hampshire. The bet was, which of them should go the greater distance in forty-eight hours. They started together at the extremities of a piece of ground of five miles, and met each other. Mr. Downes walked ninety miles the first day, and rested two hours. His adversary went eighty-eight miles, and had only an hour to rest. On the second day, Mr. Downes had accomplished seventy-two miles, and had five hours to spare. Captain Aiken had done only fifty-six in the same time, and therefore resigned the match.