9: The Walkathon of the 1930s

The orginal walkathons were not the relatively tame fundraising walks of the 1970s for causes. Instead these walkathons were brutal endurance events that had their heyday in the mid-1930s. These walkathons were not ultrarunning events. They were rather twisted walking events, if it could even be called walking. They were mostly a crazy test of enduring sleep deprivation. But still, it is important to understand the history of these competitions, because they had a negative impact on true extreme endurance sports such as ultrarunning in the minds of Americans for future decades.



The Walkathon was believed to be invented in America, in 1913, at Terra Haute, Indiana.  Achieving miles was not the objective.  The goal for the walkathon was to survive for weeks and to be the last one standing.



The walkathons were similar to the more despised dance marathons of that time. Both involved couples. The difference was that the walkathon contestants walked instead of danced. Because the name referred to walking, they didn’t carry the stigma of that time against dancing in many areas of the country. These contests were held in halls, playhouses, theaters, fairgrounds, and tents where participants walked nearly non-stop for days, weeks, and even months. Most walkers were quite young and they shuffled along with the hope of obtaining large prize money. Walkathons became big business because they attracted a huge number of spectators who were thrilled to witness suffering and to cheer their favorite couple. Thousands, and even tens of thousands of curious onlookers would pay 25-50 cents to watch the carnage as long as they pleased. The walkathons were so popular that they were even regularly broadcast multiple times per day by radio stations.