PEDESTRIANISM

PEDESTRIANISM
This week I started into Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America's Favorite Spectator Sport, Matthew Algeo’s new book that documents the rise of competitive walking in the US in the late 1800's. Lest you think this is too dull or weird a topic for anyone but a walking-obsessed guy like yours truly, let me dispel that thought right now. I’m only about half-way into the book, but I’m totally captivated by this wonderful story of characters, rivalries and human achievement. We meet the colourful showman, Edward Payson Weston who transformed himself from an accidental messenger to the Father of Arena Walking in a few years. Bold and flamboyant in his velvet pants and riding crop, he set numerous endurance records, including the 500 mile in 6 day record that formed the basis of his rivalry with others, especially the fellow countryman, the taciturn Irishman, Daniel O’Leary. The two chased each other across two continents and in doing so gave birth to the whole phenomenon of arena-based sports entertainment. Who would have imagined thousands of people paying to cram into an old cattle hall to watch two guys circle a track for days on end. And we needn’t think this was a boys’ club, the book also introduces Madame Anderson, a similarly colourful character who typifies that New Woman spirit of late Victorianism. By coincidence, this same historical period also marks the rise of other sports phenomena like roller skating, baseball, hockey and virtually every other modern-day spectator sport, and the emergence of sports venues and journalism themselves.
The book is lightly written and not the least pedantic. The pace, like Weston’s walking style, is even and full of little side-amusements. It never rambles off the track, even when it introduces side-stories. Like Weston’s cornet-playing while he walked, this title announces the nearly lost history of a unique and important period of our history. Required reading for any aspiring pedestrian.

Yours , on the journey,                           
Ray
Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet
Thich Nhat Hahn