As recently as 1878, a crowd of about 15,000 people paid to watch 18 men spend six days walking in endless circles around the Royal Agricultural Hall, in a 500-mile race for the inaugural Astley Belt for endurance pedestrianism. The competitors were made to eat, sleep and go to the toilet in little tents set up by the side of the track.
According to the reports, by the fourth day there were three “forlorn, destitute, ragged” men left in contention. “Their boots were hanging to their feet by shreds.” Everyone else had been finished off by injuries, irritation and exhaustion.
