6th October 1816
Published in Windlesora 22 (2006)
© WLHG
Tuesday afternoon, a foot race, which had excited much interest, was run in the Long Walk, between Wansall, a young man of Eton, and Layton, a cabinet-maker of Windsor. The distance was six miles, over a ground of two miles in length; they started after four o’clock, when Wansall left Layton the two first miles near a quarter of a mile behind. Great odds were laid in favour of the Eton man.
Wansall, in completing the distance, beat Layton about three quarters of a mile. Wansall ran the six miles in 37 minutes and a few seconds, and Layton in less than 42 minutes. A most numerous
assemblage was collected together by this performance.
- The distance of 6 miles is very nearly 10,000 metres. The current world record for this distance is 26 minutes 22.75 seconds, run by a full time professional runner on a flat track with the aid of modern training methods.
Windsor Local History Group 