Pedestrianism\u2019s Golden Age as the People\u2019s Sport<\/p>\n
The crowds reflected the sport\u2019s wide appeal. Factory workers, clerks and dockhands rubbed shoulders with society gentlemen and gamblers. Women became involved, both as enthusiastic spectators and as competitors. \u201cThe pedestrian mania has proved that women can walk,\u201d boasted the Philadelphia Chronicle in 1879<\/a>. \u201cMarried men will remember this when their wives ask them to carry their babies.\u201d<\/p>\n Weston\u2019s own success inspired a wave of challengers, many of whom became celebrities in their own right. \u201cThe first great race was between Weston and an Irish immigrant<\/a> named Daniel O\u2019Leary,\u201d says Algeo.<\/p>\n In 1874, O\u2019Leary stunned crowds by beating Weston in a six-day contest. Other competitors soon joined the circuit, such as Charles Rowell of England, known for his steady pace and iron discipline, and Frank Hart, a Black athlete from Boston. In 1880, Hart walked 565 miles in six days, a performance that won him not just prize money but nationwide acclaim.<\/p>\n The sport reached its height in the 1870s and 1880s with the creation of the Astley Belt races. Sir John Astley, a British sports promoter known as the \u201cSporting Colonel,\u201d sponsored a series of international competitions to crown the world\u2019s best pedestrian. The Astley Belt races brought together top competitors from around the world. They were held first in London\u2019s Agricultural Hall and later in New York City\u2019s Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n Pedestrianism Popularity Fades<\/p>\n \u201cBetting elevated the drama and stakes,\u201d says Fleeman. \u201cSpectators bet on everything, not just who would win, but who might drop out, who would collapse, even who might vomit first. Athletes often wagered on themselves.\u201d But with that excitement came volatility. Scandals over race-fixing, heavy drinking among competitors and unruly crowds began to tarnish pedestrianism\u2019s reputation. What once thrilled audiences now felt repetitive, as walkers circled indoor tracks for days on end.<\/p>\n By the late 1880s, the sport\u2019s popularity was waning. Faster, flashier entertainments emerged, bicycles captured the imagination<\/a> and newly organized team sports like baseball<\/a> and football<\/a> offered clearer winners and livelier action. The rise of the Olympic movement, with its emphasis on purity and prestige over prize money, also challenged pedestrianism\u2019s seedy reputation. Even so, race walking has been part of the Summer Olympics since 1904. <\/p>\n And while the sport itself has largely faded, its legacy lingers. In many ways, pedestrianism walked so modern sports like the ultramarathon could run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pedestrianism\u2019s Golden Age as the People\u2019s Sport The crowds reflected the sport\u2019s wide appeal. Factory workers, clerks and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-590396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-united-states-of-america","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}