Walking doesn’t need advertisers. The simplest, most accessible form of exercise has been around since humans first foraged on the ground and traveled.

But today the march seems to have entered its impressive age.

It has been the subject of countless viral videos and people making it quietly, collectivelyfor them sanityfor them physical healthfor “reasons for “hot girl” and yes, even for them gastrointestinal needs.

But there’s more to these microtrends than fitness personalities looking to make a quick buck on branded water bottles or $30 socks. A new wave of sports personalities, many of whom are women of color with different body types, appear to be reaching an audience that has historically shunned leisure activities due to factors ranging from safety to layers of systemic discrimination. An example of this is the explosion of marching groups in the United States in recent years. with title after title chronicling the rise related to these meetings against the countryencouraging hundreds of strangers Meeting every week to exercise.

This isn’t the first time a diverse group of influencers has expanded the scope of the march. In the 1870s and 1880s, with the rise of the pedestrian movement, an unlikely group of Americans became some of the country’s earliest celebrities.

These professional walkers traveled hundreds of miles around tracks and across state lines to compete in one of the nation’s first spectator sports. Although the craze was short-lived, it left a legacy that challenges the hitherto stereotypical face of fitness.

American pedestrianism began with an important bet: In 1860, door-to-door bookseller Edward Payson Weston bet a friend that Abraham Lincoln would lose the upcoming presidential election. Weston declared that if Lincoln won, he would walk the 478 miles from his home in Boston to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration, and would do so in less than ten days.

After Lincoln won, Weston set out to fulfill his promise, publicizing his travel plan in local newspapers along the East Coast. People stood in the cold for hours to watch him pass through their town. An encounter with a debt collector left Weston 4 hours and 12 minutes short of his goal; Lincoln, who followed his progress along with the rest of the country, was still so impressed by this achievement that he offered to pay the latecomer’s fare home. (Press-savvy Weston objected, apparently knowing that refusing would gain him more coverage.)

Following the Civil War, Weston took his parade on the road. Thousands of spectators lined up to buy tickets and place bets on whether he could beat the time. In a divided country, his marches were a unifying event. “He’s very apolitical, and I think that helped his popularity,” said Matthew Algeo, author of the book. Pedestrianism: Watching People Walk Was America’s Favorite Spectator Sporthe told me in an interview. “He could go and walk anywhere and people wouldn’t object.”

Walking was not a popular form of exercise in the United States when Weston began organizing his exhibitions, but Weston and the competitors who rose to challenge him spread “pedestrian fever” among the public. “Pedestrian PetitionPublished in the magazine ” New York Times In 1878, it was a typical literary endorsement of leisure walks. The column provided readers with a sample hike they could take on Staten Island, recommended attire (“easy but sturdy lace-up boots with wide soles and low heels”), what they should eat (“a sandwich and a few hard-boiled eggs”). your pockets”) and how to prepare (“Those who are not used to walking a lot should get moderate practice for a week before going on a full-day walk in the countryside”).

The fame long reserved for royalty and political figures was expanding; it allowed pedestrians, or “pedestrians,” to gain real influence as some of the country’s first mass-market stars. They used their platforms to promote not only sports but also everything from shoe brands to trading cards. In fact, they were the first to sell advertising space on competition outfits.

Algeo suggested that one of the reasons pedestrianism resonates with so many people is that these athletes take a relatable activity — “an expression of the everyday” — and push it to the extreme. He said the outcome affected people “personally”, “authentically” and “authentically”.

Professional hikers also mirrored a range of Americans. Because these marching matches were largely unregulated, there were no clear rules excluding certain groups from the competition. One of Weston’s greatest rivals was Irish immigrant Daniel O’Leary, who became the “Pedestrian Champion of the World” in 1875 after beating Weston in a six-day race. O’Leary took many athletes under his wing, including Frank Hart (born Fred Hichborn), a Haitian immigrant. Hart became one of the sport’s biggest stars and The second O’Leary Belt in 1880, In total, he earned more than $21,000; This is equivalent to two-thirds of a million in today’s dollars.

Female “pedestrians” also made a significant impact on the sport. At a time when conventional science suggested that strenuous athletic activities permanently damaged women’s bodies, sapping them of their “vital energy” and reproductive abilities, athletes such as British woman Ada Anderson emerged as powerful counterexamples of what female athletes were capable of. .

“It’s nice for women to see how much a woman can take,” Anderson said. New York Sun In 1878.

But women’s pedestrianization also had a dark side. The sport was largely sponsored and organized by men (including one of P.T. Barnum’s own public relations people). The majority of women came to professional walking to escape desperation, poverty or abusive relationships. Then they pushed their bodies to their limits. They did what men did (24-hour marches, 100-mile marches, six-day marches) but also attempted more extreme stunts, such as walking 3,000 quarter miles in 3,000 quarter hours.

“It was a really hard life,” said Harry Hall, author of the book. pedestrianshe told me. The women walked in hard-soled shoes, he said, because saboteurs threw rocks, tacks and glass onto the tracks in the hope of correcting the race results.

The same laissez-faire regime that has allowed the sport to develop so organically has also led to it becoming synonymous with exploitation and scandal. The anti-pedestrian race saw match-fixing, early steroid use and an attempted extortion that resulted in the suicide of a manager. With the rise of bicycle racing in the 1880s, the public moved on, leaving pedestrianism as a historical footnote.

“There was no way pedestrianism could last forever,” Algeo said. “But it’s a shame he kind of killed himself.”

Today’s walking influencers have different goals and objectives than the sports stars of a century and a half ago, not to mention more action. But as exercise expert Damon Swift of the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development says, both waves of walking can be seen as encouraging “physical activity in areas that haven’t traditionally been done or haven’t been done as easily in the past.” I.

For those who want to keep up with today’s trend but aren’t ready to count 10,000 steps a day, let alone walk from Boston to Washington, you can find some wisdom in that 1878. Times trending story advising readers to “walk as much as (one) wants.”

He promised that if you did just that, you would return home “healthier” and “happier.”