6 Day Race

For the bicycle race see Six-day racing

The 6-Day Race became a standard footrace distance in the 1870s and was a popular form of entertainment where up to 70,000 paying visitors, in 1877, came to watch the Pedestrians battle it out. However the widespread use of the bicycle from 1890 caused it to be replaced as spectator sport by cycle races of the same duration. It was in two forms: strict "heel-and-toe" racewalking, or "go-as-you-please" combination of walking, jogging, running.

Edward Payson Weston in 1867 walked from Portland, Maine to Chicago, Illinois in 26 days, a distance of 2,134 km (1,326 mi), earning him $10,000 and national fame. In 1874 Weston walked his first 6-day race and was challenged by Daniel O'Leary, who completed 500 miles (800 km) in 153 hours. The big battle took place in Chicago in November 1875 with O'Leary emerging victorious with 503 miles (810 km) and Weston finished with 451 miles (726 km).

In a re-match in 1877 O'Leary was victorious again and the excitement created enough interest for Sir John Dugdale Astley, a British Member of Parliament, to inaugurate a series of 6 day races to determine the "Long distance Champion of The World". These became known as the "Astley Belt" races and cash prizes were offered. O'Leary won the first two and was thwarted by Charles Rowell in his quest for three in a row. Weston won the fourth, setting a record of 550 miles (890 km) and Rowell won the final three multiday races to permanently keep the Astley Belt.

Intermediate results:

In 1880, Fred Hitchborn set a new record of 565 miles (909 km) earning $17,000 dollars, a fortune at the time.

Between 26 November and 1 December 1888, George Littlewood of Sheffield, England, created a new world record of 623 miles 1,320 yards—a record world that wasn't beaten for 96 years.

By the early 1890s the six-day races were in decline and no longer drawing the public or offering large prizes.

It wasn't until Don Choi hosted a 6-day race in 1980 in California that interest began to grow again. Briton Mike Newton became the first man to cover 500 miles/800 km in a modern 6-day race at Nottingham in November 1981. In 1982, Tom O’Reilly took the 6-day total to 576 miles/927 km. In 1984 Yiannis Kouros twice ran over 1,022 km (635 mi) setting a new world record that would stand until 2005 when he broke his own record again with 1,036 km (644 mi) at the Cliff Young Australian 6-day race in Colac, Australia.

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