Similar to today’s fitness influencers, pedestrianism celebrities used their platforms to monetize, popularize, and diversify walking. Edward Payson Weston attempted to walk 500 miles in six days.
Frank Leslie Illustrated Newspaper/Public Domain
Woking doesn’t need a publicist. The simplest and most accessible form of locomotion has been around since humans first began foraging and moving on land.
But today, walking seems to have entered the age of influencers.
It has been the subject of countless viral videos of people doing it quietly, collectivelyfor them mental healthfor them physical healthfor “Reason for “Hot Girl” And yes, even for them gastrointestinal needs.
But there’s more to these microtrends than fitness celebrities trying to make a quick buck on branded water bottles and $30 socks. A new wave of fitness personalities, many of them people of color and women of all body types, are reaching audiences that have historically shied away from leisure activities due to factors ranging from safety to systemic discrimination. It seems like it’s coming. This is exemplified by the explosion of walking groups in the United States in recent years. and heading rear heading record of rise of these Exchange meeting across of countryhave encouraged hundreds of strangers Get together every week to exercise.
This isn’t the first time a diverse group of influencers has expanded their walking range. In the 1870s and 1880s, the rise of pedestrianism turned an unlikely group of Americans into America’s earliest celebrities.
These professional walkers covered hundreds of miles around railroad tracks and across state lines to compete in one of the nation’s first spectator sports. Although this fad was short-lived, it left a legacy that challenges fitness stereotypes to this day.
American pedestrian malls began as a gamble of fate. In 1860, visiting bookseller Edward Payson Weston bet a friend that Abraham Lincoln would lose the upcoming presidential election. If Lincoln won, Weston declared that he would walk 778 miles from his home in Boston to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration within 10 days.
After Lincoln’s victory, Weston made good on his promise, advertising his itinerary in local papers along the East Coast. People waited for hours in the cold to watch him pass through their town. Due to a collision with a debt collector, Weston missed his goal by 4 hours and 12 minutes. Lincoln, who had been following his progress along with others around the country, was nonetheless so impressed by the feat that he offered to pay for the latecomer’s return fare. (Weston, a media savvy man, apparently knew that refusing would only get him more coverage, and countered.)
After the Civil War, Weston put on walking shows on the streets. Thousands of spectators lined up to buy tickets and bet on whether he could win in time. In a divided country, his walk was a unifying event. “He was very apolitical, and I think that contributed to his popularity,” says author Matthew Algeo. Pedestrianism: When watching people walk was America’s most popular sportsaid in an interview. “He could go and walk everywhere, and people wouldn’t object to that.”
Although walking was not a popular form of exercise in the United States when Weston began hosting exhibitions, Weston and the competitors who rose to challenge him created “pedestrian fever” among the public. We have spread the word. “Pedestrian priority petition” was published. new york times In 1878, it was a typical literary recommendation for leisure walking. The editorial provides readers with examples of walks around Staten Island, recommended clothing (“comfortable, durable lace-up boots with wide soles and low heels”), and what to eat (“a sandwich and a few boiled eggs”). was offering. “Put it in your pocket”), how to prepare (“Those who are not used to walking very much should practice moderately in a week before marching for a whole day in the country”).
Celebrity, long the preserve of royalty and politicians, has expanded to allow pedestrians, or “pedestrians,” to gain real influence as the country’s first mass-market stars. They used the platform to promote not just sports, but everything from shoe brands to trading cards. They were also the first company to sell advertising space on competition costumes.
Algeo suggested that one of the reasons the pedestrian mall resonated with so many people is because it took an activity that athletes could relate to, an “everyday expression,” and pushed it to the extreme. did. The results felt “personal,” “authentic” and “realistic” to people, he said.
Professional walkers also reflected a variety of Americans. These walking matches were largely unregulated, so there were no clear rules to exclude certain groups from the competition. One of Weston’s greatest rivals was Irish immigrant Daniel O’Leary, who defeated Weston in a six-day race and became the “World Pedestrian Champion” in 1875. O’Leary coached several athletes, including Haitian immigrant Frank Hart (real name Fred Hitchborn). Hart became one of the sport’s greatest stars. O’Leary belt, second in history in 1880; There he earned a total of more than $21,000, two-thirds of today’s $1 million.
Female “pedestrians” also had a huge impact on the sport. At a time when conventional science believed that strenuous athletic activity caused permanent harm to a woman’s body, robbing her of her “life force” and ability to reproduce, athletes like British woman Ada Anderson They stood up as powerful counterexamples and showed what sportswomen are capable of. .
“It’s good for women to see how much they can endure,” Anderson said. new york sun In 1878.
However, the women’s pedestrian mall also had a dark side. The sport was primarily promoted and organized by men (including one of PT Barnum’s publicists). The majority of women entered the profession out of desperation to escape poverty or abusive relationships. Then they pushed their bodies to the limit. They did the same things as men, such as walking 24 hours, walking 160 miles, and walking for 6 days, but also attempted more extreme stunts, such as walking 3,000 miles in 4/3000ths of an hour. I did.
“This was a really tough life,” says author Harry Hall. pedestrianhe told me. He said the women wore hard-soled shoes because of obstructions who threw stones, studs and glass onto the course in an attempt to modify the race results.
The same laissez-faire regime that allowed the sport to evolve organically also led to the sport becoming synonymous with exploitation and scandal. At the pedestrian mall, there was racial match-fixing, early steroid use, and an extortion attempt that ended in the manager’s suicide. With the rise of bicycle racing in the 1880s, the public shifted and the pedestrian mall faded into a footnote of history.
“A pedestrian mall can’t last forever,” Algeo said. “But it’s unfortunate that it took its own life.”
Today’s walking influencers have different aims and goals than the sports stars of a century and a half ago, not to mention a lot more agency. But Damon Swift, a kinesiologist at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, believes both walking waves encourage “physical activity in spaces that aren’t traditionally done or that weren’t easy to do in the past.” He said he could. myself.
If you’re looking to jump on today’s trend but aren’t quite ready to hit 10,000 steps every day, let alone trek from Boston to Washington, this 1878 record might give you some inspiration. times Trending article advises readers to “walk as long as possible” [one] I like it. ”
If you do, you are promised that you will return home “healthier” and “happier.”
