John Merrill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Merrill, from Derbyshire, England, is a marathon walker, a profession which he can be said to have created and of which he remains a leading, if not the only, member. He is active in two areas: firstly undertaking extremely long walks, and secondly publishing book 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. He also lectures extensively about walking.
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[edit] Marathon walks undertaken
[edit] UK
- Hebridean Journey - 1,003 miles.
- Northern Isles Journey - 913 miles.
- Irish Island Journey - 1,578 miles.
- Parkland Journey - 2,043 miles.
- Land's End to John o' Groats - 1,608 miles.
- East of England Heritage Route - 450 miles
- Entire coastline of Great Britain - 6,824 miles - first ever undertaking.
[edit] Continental Europe
- Across Austria – 712 miles.
- Loire Valley – 450 miles.
- Europe crossing – 2,806 miles.
- Camino de Santiago – French route – 1,100 miles.
- Camino de Santiago – Seville route – 700 miles.
- Camino de Santiago – Portuguese route – 650 miles.
- St Olav’s Way – 440 miles.
[edit] America
- Appalachian Trail - 2,200 miles.
- Mexico to Canada via the Pacific Crest Trail – 2,700 miles.
- Buckeye Trail in Ohio – 1,310 miles - first ever undertaking
- Virginia Beach on the Atlantic coast, to San Francisco on the Pacific coast – 4,226 miles – taking a record 178 days.
[edit] Overall
In all Merrill has calculated that he walked 182,000 miles between 1973 and 2006, raising over £150,000 in charity sponsorship.
[edit] Books published
Merrill is author of more than 240 walking guides which he prints and publishes himself, and his book sales are in excess of 3 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.
[edit] 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 before you are settled into the task and have comfy feet. After 1,000 miles you are really adjusted and by 1,500 miles you can push yourself relentlessly. By 2,000 miles of continuous walking you are at your peak performance, but after 2,500 miles you are physically declining”.
