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By Davy Crockett
In 1873, Jules Verne published his classic adventure novel, Around the World in 80 Days, which captivated imaginations of the possibility of traveling around the world in a given time and the wonders that could be seen.
Also at that time, Pedestrianism, competitive walking, was in its heyday. Starting in 1875 individuals began to discuss if it would be possible to somehow walk around the world. Wagers were made and attempts began. They had no true idea how far it was or how long it would take. It wouldn’t be until more than 100 years later that some guidelines would be established for those who truly wished to walk around the world.
Yes, such an activity was real and still is today. How far is it to walk around the world? Today the World Runners Association has set a standard that it must be at least 16,308 miles. Early pedestrians were estimating that it would be between 14,000-18,000 miles. Today the fastest known recognized time is 434 days returning to the point of origin.
It all started in earnest around 1875. During that year, circumnavigation ultrawalkers emerged along with frauds who fooled the public to win wagers and made a living off giving lectures about their “walk.” Most American transcontinental walks of the 1800s involved fraud and fabrication. Some examples are covered in: “Dakota Bob – Transcontinental Walker.” The same was true for most early attempts to circle the globe on foot, but their tales are still fascinating. This multi-part article will share the stories and make some corrections on false claims that have been published in many books.
Old Soldier Barnes was a Civil War veteran from Pennsylvania who became a very popular professional ultrarunner in 1900 when he was in his early 50s. He must have not worn his age well, because people always thought he was much older than he really was. He entered the sport when the six-day race was making a comeback in Pennsylvania, about 20 years since its heyday in the 1800s when it was a huge spectator sport, watching walkers and runners go in circles for six days trying to travel as many miles as possible.
Ruth Anderson pioneered women’s marathon and ultrarunning in the 1970s, at a time when virtually no American women participated in the sport. She established numerous American ultra women’s records and became an inspiration for the first generation of American ultrarunning women.
During the first half of the 1980s, Bernd Heinrich, of Vermont, was the fastest ultrarunner in America. Today, few know of him and his amazing running records and accomplishments. Heinrich is the birdman and beeman of ultrarunning. He also was unique from most other ultrarunners in that rather than competing in many races, he was very selective in his race choices. When he ran, he had specific goals to win or set records, with laser focused training for these few specific events. Using this approach, he was able to win and set several American records.
An ultramarathon held in 1911, The Mount Baker Race, was America’s first mountain trail ultramarathon. It was held in the state of Washington on a volcano, Mount Baker, located in the North Cascade mountains above the city of Bellingham. This historic forward-thinking race required participants to run between 28-32 miles and climb more than 10,000 feet through forests, over snow trails, across glaciers, and up to the wind-blown summit overlooking the Puget Sound to the west.
For more than a century there has been a “sport” involving combining ultrarunning with golf. No, this isn’t a joke. In 2016, Karl Meltzer of Utah, who has more 100-mile trail wins than anyone, set a world 12-hour speed golfing record of 230 holes, covering about 100 kms in the process. This created attention in ultrarunning circles, and we were left to wonder, how long has such a thing been going on?
Johnny Salo, of Passaic, New Jersey, was the greatest American ultrarunner of the first half of the 1900s. This is part two of the story of his amazing life and the story of the 1929 “Bunion Derby.” If you haven’t already, go read