‘Who Walked against Time’: Nineteenth Century Intersections of Pedestrianism and Medicine

Abstract

During the nineteenth century, both medicine and sport were transitioning into recognizably modern identities but no formal relationship between the two existed. It has been suggested that the medical profession had little engagement with sport during this period. One sport that was particularly popular during the nineteenth century was pedestrianism in which athletes performed a range of endurance walking challenges for money and fame. While it has previously been recognized that some medical practitioners were involved in the support of pedestrian athletes, to date there has been no formal evaluation of the magnitude or nature of that involvement. Hence there is a potential that the contribution of medicine to aspects of sport in the nineteenth century may have been under-recognized. Using predominantly contemporaneous reports, this paper investigates the medical support utilized by nineteenth century professional pedestrians. It illustrates that during a period in which medicine underwent a seismic paradigm shift, some doctors were actively involved in both the clinical support and scientific assessment of pedestrians. In so doing, the role that nineteenth century medical practitioners played in supporting endurance pedestrians is clarified and a gap in the literature addressed pertaining to the nineteenth century interactions of medicine and sport.