This post is a little research on an event that took place in Newmarket Suffolk in 1809 by a famous pedestrian.
If you are not familar with Suffolk England where I run then I guess you may have at least heard of Newmarket . Some 16 miles west of Bury St Edmunds on the border of Cambridgeshire is the world famous home of
horse racing.
Whilst horse racing has taken place for over 2000 years it was Charles II who did more than any other monarch to advance the sport of horseracing in England. In 1665 he instituted the first race to be run in Britain under written rules and exported the name of Newmarket and the sport of horseracing to
America that same year. The first race track in the USA the
Newmarket Course was built in 1665 in New York
The Jockey Club, a London gentlemen's club, came to Newmarket in 1752, and because it gradually bought up the land in Newmarket, it was able to regulate how racing took place there; these rules became adopted throughout the country, and emulated throughout the world.
During the 18th and 19th centuries pedestrianism was a huge spectator sport in Britain. It was an early form of race walking and was competitive with large wagers being stacked. Its similarity to horse racing being obvious - large crowds and big bets equestrianism (horse racing) pedestranism (race walking).
Samuel Pepys had written in the 17th century of footmen in service to aristocrats competing for large wagers. Footmen were employed to accompany coaches and walk ahead with important letters and to clear a path in narrow alleyways.
Born in 1777 near Stonehaven in Scotland
Robert Barclay Allardice, who was universally known as Captain Barclay, was born in August 1777 at Ury House just outside Stonehaven in Scotland. Barclay was one of the strongest men of his time, which seems to have been a family trait. His family were famous for their muscular prowess and pastimes such as wrestling bulls, carrying sacks of flour in their teeth and uprooting trees with their bare hands were part of the Barclay family tradition. As a boy, Barclay played with a two handed sword which was too heavy for most grown men to lift. By the age of 20, he could lift an 18 stone man from the floor to a table with one hand. Hammer throwing and caber tossing were like children's games to Barclay.
However, it was his extraordinary walking feats that earned Barclay his greatest renown and the title of the 'Celebrated Pedestrian'. Long distance walking was a popular spectator sport in the 18th and 19th centuries with huge crowds willing to pay entrance fees to watch walking events. It could also be extremely lucrative for its top competitors, particularly if, like Barclay, they were not adverse to a degree of gamesmanship to stack-up the odds. In 1801, he wagered a thousand guineas that he could walk 90 miles in 21 hours, but reputedly caught a cold, and lost. He then increased the stake to 2,000 guineas, and lost again. He then got odds which would pay him 5,000 guineas if he won, which he did, with an hour to spare.
His first recorded competitive walking performance was in 1796 when he walked for 110 miles in 19 hours 27 minutes in a muddy park; in the same year he did 90 miles in 20 hours 22 minutes; in 1802 he went 64 miles in 10 hours; in 1805 he walked 72 miles between breakfast and dinner; in 1806 he walked 110 miles 100 miles over bad roads in 19 hours; and in 1807, 78 miles on hilly roads in 14 hours. In 1808, he started at 5am, walked 30 miles grouse shooting, walked 60 miles home in 11 hours, dined and walked 16 miles to a ball, returned to his home by 7am, and spent the next day shooting, having travelled 130 miles and gone without sleep for two nights.
In 1809, at Newmarket he accomplished his most noted feat of endurance walking. This involved walking one mile in each of 1,000 successive hours. In other words Barclay was required to walk a mile an hour, every hour, for forty-two days and nights. Barclay started on the 1st June and completed his historic feat on the 12th July. His average time varied from 14 minutes 54 seconds in the first week to 21 minutes 4 seconds in the last week.
Some reports on the event :-
"It was the afternoon of Weds 12th July and by now the crowds on Newmarket Heath had grown so vast that most of the men, women and children had very little possibility of seeing the action. It was hot with the midsummer sun beating down as more and more people arrived, drawn by the weeks of almost incessant media coverage in The London Chronicle, The St James Chronicle and The Times… Among the general hubbub, the noise of enthusiastic spectators and the smells from the food stalls, the mood was of excitement and satisfaction. Just being able to tell people when you got back home that you were there at the finish. Just being able to tell your children and grandchildren that you had been there and part of it. Part of the greatest human feat ever attempted. That was enough."
From The Celebrated Captain Barclay by Peter Radford
Richard Dunwoody marked the 200th anniversary of Barclay's achievement by replicating the walk in 2009.Dunwoody was on the road for 255 hours 57 minutes and 36 seconds walking the '1000 Miles in 1000 Hours', 39 hours and 51 seconds quicker than Captain Barclay. Although a superior diet and trainers would have helped.
His fastest walking mile was 12 minutes and 19 seconds and his slowest, 17 minutes and 9 seconds with the average at 15 minutes and 21 seconds.
Dunwoody was accompanied for most of his walk with supporters and famous stars such as Jilly Cooper, Michael Holding, Frankie Dettori, AP McCoy, Miss England, jockey Hayley Turner and Sir Michael Stoute.
For England and East Anglia January 2010 will be remembered by many as an unusally snowy month. Certainly for the first 2 weeks any runners venturing out had to combat the elements. Snow in Suffolk in recent years has often been confined to February.
For my long run this morning I did 11 mile on road to Risby and then on to Barrow in Suffolk. I did a 5.5 mile out and back run. I don't normally take a drink with me but today decided to take an isotonic bottle. To be honest it didn't work well carrying a bottle in one hand , it was too heavy and at about 8 miles it was a relief to bin and suddenly my arm felt free to move unburdened.
