Athletics and Football (extract)

WALKING AND WALKERS 129 championship walking event is that some of the shifty goers find it impossible to conceal the true secret of their mode of progressionafter the first few miles. The longer the distance is the more likelihood is there that a real walkerwill provethe winner, for besides the chances of detection we believe it is reallyveryhard to run on the heels for more than a mile or two. The first walking champion was J. G. Chambers, a gentle­ manwhowasone of the pioneers of the athletic movementboth at the Universities and in London, and whose name will always be remembered in connection with the Amateur AthleticClub, now extinct. Chambers was not what we should call now a first-class walker,and his onlyopponents in the championship of 1866 were three other University men, the time being only 28 secondswithin the hour ; but as regards Cham­ bers' reputation as an athlete, it must be recollected that he could not only walk his seven miles within the hour, but was, if not the very best oarsmanand sculler of his day, at least one of the best. It is, perhaps, worthy of shortstride, note that the work fromwhichwe have studied the account of Chambers' championship defines ' fair walking' as ' having one leg on the ground at the time,' and adds, ' the straightnessof the legsdoes not proveor alter fair walking.' It is scarcely any wonder,therefore, that walk­ ing should have begunvery early to be open to abuse. The account we have seen of the championship of 1867 is rather curious. The three men who were really in the hunt were Chambers, T. H. Farnworth, the Northern celebrity,and R. M. Williams, of the Civil Service, a fine walker, who travelled K