John Merrill (marathon walker)
John Merrill, from London, England, is a marathon walker,[1] a profession which he can be said to have created, and of which he remains a leading, if not the only, member. He attended Wennington School in Wetherby Yorkshire between 1955-61.[2] He is active in two areas: firstly undertaking extremely long walks, and secondly publishing books about walking, dealing with both his experiences and describing routes for readers to follow. In January 2003, he was made an Honorary Master of Derby University, for his walking and writing.[3] He also lectures extensively about walking. By 2013 he has walked more than 206,000 miles, worn out 118 pairs of boots, over 1,000 pairs of socks and 43 rucksacks.
On July 17, 2010, John was Ordained as an Interfaith Minister. See www.thejohnmerrillministry.co.uk
Marathon walks undertaken
Some of his main walks
- Hebridean Journey - 1,003 miles (1,614 km).
- Northern Isles Journey - 913 miles (1,469 km).
- Irish Island Journey - 1,578 miles (2,540 km).
- Parkland Journey - 2,043 miles (3,288 km).
- Land's End to John o' Groats - 1,608 miles (2,588 km).
First walk around entire British coastline - 7,000 miles (11,000 km) Across america - coast to coast 4,260 miles (6,860 km) Appalachian trail 2,500 miles (4,000 km) Pacific crest trail 2,800 miles (4,500 km) Continental divide 4,500 miles (7,200 km) Buckeye trail, first thru hike, 1,300 miles (2,100 km) Le puy to santiago 1,100 miles (1,800 km) Seville to santiago 750 miles (1,210 km) Laos, algarve via fatima to santiago 650 miles (1,050 km)
- East of England Heritage Route - 450 miles (720 km)
- Entire coastline of Great Britain - 6,824 miles (10,982 km) - first ever undertaking.
Continental Europe
- Across Austria – 712 miles (1,146 km).
- Loire Valley – 450 miles (720 km).
- Europe crossing – 2,806 miles (4,516 km).
- Camino de Santiago – French route – 1,100 miles (1,800 km).
- Camino de Santiago – Seville route – 700 miles (1,100 km).
- Camino de Santiago – Portuguese route – 650 miles (1,050 km).
- St. Olav’s Way – 440 miles (710 km).
America
- Appalachian Trail - 2,200 miles (3,500 km).
- Mexico to Canada via the Pacific Crest Trail – 2,700 miles (4,300 km).
- Buckeye Trail in Ohio – 1,310 miles (2,110 km) - first ever undertaking
- Virginia Beach on the Atlantic coast, to San Francisco on the Pacific coast – 4,226 miles (6,801 km) – taking a record 178 days.
Overall
In all Merrill has calculated that he walked over 200,000 miles (320,000 km) between 1969 and 2010, raising over £756,000 in charity sponsorship.
Books published
Merrill is author of more than 340 walking guides which he prints and publishes himself, and his book sales are in excess of 4 million. His best known work is possibly ‘Turn Right at Land’s End’ about his walk around Britain’s coastline. He has created many long distance walks including The Limey Way, The Peakland Way, and Jennifer's Challenge Walk. He has also written about non-walking matters such as Sir Joseph Paxton and other famous Derbyshire figures.
Walking practices
Merrill has an idiosyncratic methodology which involves never taking breaks during a day’s walk, carrying no water, travelling unaccompanied and walking thirty miles a day and more at a constant rate of three miles per hour. He has suggested that the limit of endurance is approximately 200 miles per week. He claims on his website that “you need to walk 500 miles (800 km) before you are settled into the task and have comfy feet. After 1,000 miles (1,600 km) you are really adjusted and by 1,500 miles (2,400 km) you can push yourself relentlessly. By 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of continuous walking you are at your peak performance, but after 2,500 miles (4,000 km) you are physically declining”.
See also
References
- ↑ "Soap's Ken Barlow graduates". BBC. 2003-01-24. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
- ↑ "about John Merril own Web". Self Web. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ↑ "John Merrill - Honorary Master of the University". University of Derby. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
External links
|