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By Davy Crockett
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On April 24, 1897, ultrarunning/pedestrian champion Alice Robison was running in second place on the last day of a three-day race held at the Fifth Street Rink in East Liverpool, Ohio, with five runners. She was very intent on catching her long-time friend who was a few laps ahead of her. Needing a rest, she retired to her room provided at the Hotel Grand next door.
That afternoon, a man came into town on a train from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The mustached man wore a new suit with a price tag still attached, and a white hat with a black band. He went to the hotel and inquired where Alice was staying. He ascended the stairs and went to the third-story room. Shortly after, a gunshot was heard! The porter of the hotel rushed into the room and found the woman on the floor bleeding from a gunshot wound in her head and saw the man leaning over her, holding a revolver. How could this happen, an ultrarunner was murdered during a race!
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By 1906, when the pedestrian era was over, most of the elite pedestrians turned to legitimate professions to support their families. 
Today’s ultras usually have few disruptions from outsiders or spectators. The most serious disturbances are typically from people who take down course flagging which can cause runners to go off course, potentially putting them in serious danger. But during the era of ultrarunning more than 120 years ago, with thousands of spectators watching exhausted runners go in circles for six days, strange disruptions were commonplace. During high profile races, squads of policemen were required to keep the order. This is the fourth part of the Ultrarunning Stranger Things series. See 
Sadly, some professional walkers and runners from the “pedestrian” era, more than 120 years ago, became afflicted by mental and physical illness during and after six-day runs, likely caused by the powerful drugs and stimulants that were used at the time, and also due to mental stress breakdowns. Enormous pressure was put on them by their financial backers to be successful. Their “trainers” or crew would at times resort to measures that would have long-term effects on the health of their runners to get a short-term financial windfall. Not only would they load their runners full of stimulants, but would use cruel methods to keep them awake, including sticking needles in their skin, whipping them, and waking them up with very loud horns.
The sport of ultrarunning during the 19th century was truly filled with tales of strange things that are unthinkable and shocking to us today. This series of episodes presents a collection of the most bizarre, shocking, funny, and head-scratching events that took place in ultrarunning during a 25-year period that began about 150 years ago.
On March 3, 1879, at the Fifth Regiment Armory in New York City, during Peter Van Ness’ attempt to walk 2,000 half-miles in 2,000 consecutive half-hours, one of the most shocking events in ultrarunning history took place. Van Ness, sleep deprived, drunk, and in intense pain, got hold of a gun and shot his trainer, Joseph Burgoine, in the arm, next took a shot at his manager, Simon Levy, grazing his silk hat. Panic resulted among the spectators. It could have resulted in mass murder. How could this be?
Many women participated in six-day races during the 1800s. With the great publicity of the