frank hart, a very famous african american as i mentioned, probably the most famous black athlete inamerica. >> what do you call the doctors who diagnose you? pathologists? their consensus was either he contracted enself it's or took a stroke. so it took a huge toll. you would think that walking would make you healthy, but walking for six days straight for 500 and toward the end they were walking 600 miles in six days. that i wouldn't recommend as a health regimen. did they use special shoes? early on, no. many of them would walk in just their work boots. there were many stories of toenails falling off after two or three days. and serious injuries to their feet and legs. as it became more famous and more lucrative, and as the competitors could afford it, they would go to -- in fact, there were several competition ins london. apparently, they went to the most famous shoe maker in london that actually specialized in making shoes for pedestrians which were really a kind of soft leather that was bound very fightly to their feet. but this definitely improved. the equipment they worked wit

frank hart was a very famous black pedestrian, for a time he was the most famous black athlete in theted states. women raced, too. there were six day women's races. the women, they had a special problem because the victorian gilded age convention of the time demanded that they wear a full length skirts or dresses usually of kind of a heavy velvet. you know, god forbid we see their shapely calves seems to be the reason for that. and so while they did race, the women's races were quite popular as well, they were at a disadvantage, let's just put it that way. in 1880 it looked like the history of pedestrian -- that pedestrianism would last forever. it really was de facto america's pastime but several things happened that led to its demise. one, there were gambling scandals. as it became more popular in the public, pedestrianism became popular with the betters. who would finish last. so many different ways. and so some of the lesser pedestrians would collude with gamblers and fix races. agree to be the first one to drop out, bookie takes the bets on it and then splits the winnings with th

frank hart won a major race in 1881 and for a time was the most famous black athlete in the united stateswomen race today. there were six-day women's races. the women, though, they had a -- they had a special problem because the victorian age demanded that they wear full-length skirts or dresses usually of a heavy velvet. god forbid we see their shapely calves seems to be the reason for that. and so, while they did race and the races -- the women's races were quite popular as well, they were at a disadvantage. let's just put it that way. in 1880, it looked like the history of pedestrian -- that pedestrianism would last forever. it really was de facto america's national past time. but several things happen that led to its demise. one there were gambling scandals as it game more popular with the public, it became more popular with gamblers. there were all kinds of ways to wager. you could wager on who would be the first to drop out, who would finish last. so many different ways. some of the lesser pedestrians would collude with gamblers and fix races. agree to be the first to drop out the b

frank hart was a very famous black pedestrian.on a major race in 1881 and for a time, was the most famous black athlete in the united states. women raced, too. there were six-day women's races. the women though, they had a special problem because the victorian guilded age conventions of the time demanded they wear a full length skirts or dresses usually of kind of a heavy velvet. you know, god forbid we see their shapely calves. the women's races were quite popular as well. they were at a disadvantage. let's just put it that way. in 1880, it looked like the history of pedestrian, that pe dis ranism would last forever. it really was de facto america's national past time. but several things happened that led to its demise. one, there were gambling scandals. as it became more popular with the public, pedestrianism also became more popular with gamblers. there were all kinds of ways to gamble on a match. who would be the first one to drop out. who would finish last. some of the lesser pedestrians would collude with gamblers and fix ra

frank hart won a major race in 1881 and for a time was the most famous black athlete in the united statesre were six-day women's races. the women, though, they had a -- they had a special problem because the victorian age demanded that they wear full-length skirts or dresses usually of a heavy velvet. god forbid js%j8pd8ol[d34

frank hart won a major race in 1881 and for a time was the most famous black athlete in the united stateswomen race today. there were six-day women's races. the women, though, they had a -- they had a special problem because the victorian age demanded that they wear full-length skirts or dresses usually of a heavy velvet. god forbid we see their shapely calves seems to be the reason for that. and so, while they did race and the races -- the women's races were quite popular as well, they were at a disadvantage. let's just put it that way. in 1880, it looked like the history of pedestrian -- that pedestrianism would last forever. it really was de facto america's national past time. but several things happen that led to its demise. one there were gambling scandals as it game more popular with the public, it became more popular with gamblers. there were all kinds of ways to wager. you could wager on who would be the first to drop out, who would finish last. so many different ways. some of the lesser pedestrians would collude with gamblers and fix races. agree to be the first to drop out the b

frank hart, very famous african-american, as i mentioned, probably the most famous black athlete in america after he won his major six-day race, 1880-1881 he suffered a complete collapse. don't really know what happened. i sent what i could get from the papers to a couple of -- what do you call the doctors who diagnosis you? pathologist? and their consensus either he contracted encephalitis or suffered a stroke. you think that walking would make you healthy but walking six days straight for 500 to 600 miles in six days, that i wouldn't recommend as a health regimen. >> did they use special shoes? >> did they use special shoes? early on, no. many would walk just in their work boots and there are many stories of toenails falling off after two or three days. and serious injuries to their feet and legs. as it became more famous and more lucrative and as the competitors could afford it they would go to -- there were several competitions in london and they went to the famous shoemaker in london that actually specialized in making shoes for pedestrians which were a soft leather that was bound very