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.

by Walter Thom

TO THE READER

The following Journal of this extraordinary performance was regularly kept by the attendants, under the inspection of a person appointed by Mr. Webster, for the purpose of watching the time, that his interest might be protected in the event of any failure on the part of Capt. Barclay. It may, therefore, be deemed perfectly correct. In the original, the performance of each hour is certified by the initials of the attendant’s name, which we do not think necessary to insert here.

In the first column, the hour of the morning, day, and night, is marked; in the second, the exact time past that hour at which he started; in the third, the exact time at which he returned; and in the fourth, the number of minutes in which he walked the mile. In the last column, the state of the weather is mentioned; and at the foot of the page will be found the total time of performing the twenty-four miles, with the average of each.

First Day.—June 1st, 1809.

Hour.		Started min. past.	Returned min. past.	Time per Mile.	State of the Weather.
N.	12	2	14	12	Rainy.
	1	½	15	14½	Fair but cloudy.
	2	42	57	15	Do. do.
	3	½	14½	14	Do. do.
	4	42	56	14	Windy and stormy.
	5	½	14	13½	Do. do.
	6	40	55	15	Windy and sunshine.
	7	½	14½	14	Do. do.
	8	41	55½	14½	Very hot.
	9	½	14½	14	Do. do.
	10	41	55½	14½	Windy and hot.
	11	½	15	14½	Cool and pleasant.
D.	12	42½	57	14½	Windy and hot.
	1	½	15	14½	Windy and dusty.
	2	41½	56	14½	Hot, windy, and dusty.
	3	½	14½	14	Do. do.
	4	42½	56	13½	Do. do.
	5	½	14½	14	Do. do.
	6	39	55	16	Stormy.
	7	½	14½	14	Moderate.
	8	29	45	16	Cool and pleasant.
	9	½	15	14½	Do. do.
	10	41	55½	14½	Dark and cloudy.
	11	½	14	13½	Dark with rain.
N.	12	43	56	13	Clear moon-light, and fair.

Average time of walking each mile, 15 minutes 15 seconds.

—Total, (25 miles,) 5 hours 50 minutes.

Second Day.—June 2.