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Six-day footraces in the post-pedestrianism era

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  • Salvesen Greg

    (Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA)

Abstract

In a six-day footrace, competitors accumulate as much distance as possible on foot over 144 consecutive hours by circumambulating a loop course. Now an obscure event on the fringe of ultra running and contested by amateurs, six-day races and the associated sport of pedestrianism used to be a lucrative professional athletic endeavor. Indeed, pedestrianism was the most popular spectator sport in America c. 1874–c. 1881. We analyzed data from 277 six-day races spanning 37 years in the post-pedestrianism era (1981–2018). Men outnumber women 3:1 in six-day race participation. The men’s (women’s) six-day world record is 644.2 (549.1) miles and the top 4% achieve 500 (450) miles. Adopting the forecasting model of Godsey (2012), we predict a 53% (21%) probability that the men’s (women’s) world record will be broken within the next decade.

Suggested Citation

  • Salvesen Greg, 2019. "Six-day footraces in the post-pedestrianism era," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 117-127, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:jqsprt:v:15:y:2019:i:2:p:117-127:n:3
    DOI: 10.1515/jqas-2018-0005
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