This weekend over 45,000 people will complete the New York City marathon and a good number will be walking. Walking marathons are a growing trend and a new form of athletic tourism. Virtuous Traveler Leslie Garrett explores what it takes to walk your way through 26.2 miles.
In my mind, a marathon should be completed as quickly as possible, in order to end the agony of aching muscles and battered toes. But with the world undergoing a slow revolution – slow food, slow travel, slow design – perhaps the time has come for those of us in a hurry to embrace the slow marathon. Or, put another way, a walking marathon.
Of course, a walking marathon isn’t exactly a merry saunter along a 26-mile, 385-yard cobblestone street. (For that, please embrace World Sauntering Day on June 19.) The purpose, as with any marathon, is to finish. Sooner rather than later.
As Bart Yasso, marathoner and Runner’s World Chief Running Officer points out, “You can’t stroll. You have to be serious about it.”
Nonetheless, walking the route is a more accessible way to check “completing a marathon” off your bucket list.
