Pedestrianism was one of the popular sports from the later half of the 1800’s . It covered running and walking events from sprinting through to six day races and above.  Betting was the order of the day at all pedestrian events which are recorded as being held in Adelaide, Geelong, Melbourne, Sydney and various NSW country centres.  History records the ultra events in that period varying in distance from 30 miles to 1000 miles. Not much has changed in one hundred and forty plus years.

Perusing the results that we are lucky to have available to us there are several names that keep coming up in various results.  These names include William Edwards, Clifford, W Baker, J Assenheim, J C Williams and Raynor. 

There also appeared to be a thriving group of female ultra pedestrians as well during the second half of the 1800’s.  These ladies weren’t able to compete on the same track as the Men, but some of their performances  were quite impressive.  Some of their names that are recorded in the history books include Miss Phillips, Mrs Wallace and Miss Goodwin. They were even fortunate to have female competitors from France come out one year and compete against the local girls.  For the record it appears as though a French girl won the race.

Perhaps the best known of the male ultra pedestrians of the time was William Edwards. He competed all over Australia, over all distances and was rarely out of the placings.  Some of his performances include 111 miles in 24hrs at Bathurst in 1878,  432 miles in 6 days in Melbourne in 1882, a six day win in 1883 in Sydney, a win and two seconds in three different events in New Zealand in 1883, another 100 mile victory in NZ in 1877 but lost to a forteen year old by the name of Scott over three smaller ultra distances, a 100 mile effort in 24hrs in 1878 in Sydney ( this was done on a 74 yard indoor course), a second place in a six day race in Sydney in 1881, a 24hr attempt at the MCG in 1878 and possibly his last race was another six day race in Melbourne in 1886.  Edwards was possibly the only ultra athlete that has completed an ultra performance a the Melbourne cricket Ground. This was done in 1878 when he completed a hundred miles in under 24hrs to a small but appreciative crowd.

When you consider that these are only the races that we know about, William Edwards was quite a prolific performer and deserves his place in Australian ultra folklore.  It appears as though Edwards may have been one of the first professionals at the sport as there is reference to him picking up several small purses for his victories  in Australia and New Zealand.

The second very competitive ultra performer from the late 1800’s was Clifford.  There aren’t as many results known about him, but he had some good performances which included 120 miles in 24hrs at Adelaide in 1881 and 500 miles in a 6 day race at Geelong in 1882.  It is a pity that not more is known about these two performances as they were both the best known marks for those distances in that era!  It would also be nice to know for historical purposes if Clifford was to achieve other notable ultra achievements during his pedestrian days!

The third ultra performer from the late 1800’s was W Baker.  He also had results that would also rank him highly amongst today’s top ultra competitors in today’s modern era.  He was to walk over 100 miles twice in 1880.

Recorded history pays scant reference to a few ultra races involving females during that era.  They competed amongst themselves and were probably treated as more of a freak show than what the men were subject to.  Even so, there was a few notable performances amongst the women. These included Miss Phillips who took part in two six day races in 1882 and completed 282 miles and 321 miles respectively.  There was also a Ladies 24hr race in 1879 where the winner completed over 75 miles.

The longest ultra performance of the late 1800’s has to be awarded to C Williams. He walked 1500 miles in 1060 hours. The scene at the track was described as “ under most disadvantageous circumstances, flooded out of his tent three times, and walking for days on a sloppy track, 42 laps to a mile.  Some times take as much as 6 quarts of ale per day and latterly  one bottle of rum per day” .  42 laps per mile that works out at a lap of 40 metres!  Interesting!  One could also observe from the amount of alcohol consumed that it helped him put up with the terrible conditions for close to two months.

Researching the ultra history is an ongoing process which is continually finding new names and new performances.  I was fortunate the other week to read about one William Miller. He was English by birth, moved to Melbourne when he was four years old and then achieved a myriad of athletic achievements in various sports in Australia and America. He is recorded as having won a 64km match race and walking 164km in twenty four hours. Discovering new names and performances makes the research worthwhile. 

One can read more about Australian Ultra history from this period at: http://www.planetultramarathon.com/australianultrahistory.htm

Phil Essam
Australian Ultra Historian
May 2007.