The London to Brighton road race was a competitive running race held on public roads from Westminster Bridge over the river Thames in central London, England, to the south coast resort of Brighton. The route was first covered by a professional pedestrian in 1825, and the first race took place in 1837. The era of open races organised by athletics clubs started in 1899, and in 1903 a newspaper offered significant prize money resulting in a race with almost one hundred starters that brought the event to much wider public notice.
In 1924 an Englishman named Arthur Newton came from Natal in southern Africa specifically to break the record for the journey, and thirteen years later he mentored a South African named Hardy Ballington to break his own record. In 1951 a race was organised as part of the Festival of Britain, and the following year that became an annual event organised by the Road Runners Club. The first woman to cover the route was Dale Greig of Tannahill Harriers in 1972, and women's races started unofficially in 1979 and officially in 1980.
Competitors came not just from England but also from Canada, Eire, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States. The distance of the race varied over the years so that the fastest time may not necessarily be the best performance. For the men, the fastest time was recorded by Alastair Wood of Aberdeen who ran 5 h 11 min 2 s in 1972, while the best performance is 5 h 15 min 15 s by Ian Thompson of Luton United Athletic Club in 1980 when the course measured 54 miles 460 yards (87.3 km). For the women the shortest time is the best performance since Carolyn Hunter-Rowe's 6 h 34 min 10 s in 1993 was achieved over the longest version of the course when it measured 55 miles (88.5 km).
Advances in the volume and speed of traffic on the roads made it increasingly difficult to provide for the safety of both competitors and officials, and harder to recruit appropriate numbers of volunteer marshalls, and the race was last held in 2005. In 1921 Surrey Athletic Club organised a 10-stage relay run over the route and in 1924 this became an open race that was held annually until 1966 when the sponsor withdrew.
History
The first man to run between London and Brighton was the, "celebrated runner" Tomlinson, who made a match for 100 guineas that he could go from "the extremity of Brighton," to the Quadrant Coffee House, Regent Street, London, in less than ten hours. On Monday 19 December 1825 he covered the first 20 miles (32.1km) in a few minutes less than three hours, and after 26 miles (41.8km) he stopped and had a short nap on some straw in a covered van that accompanied him. He got to the top of Reigate Hill, 31 miles (49.8km), in 4 h 30 min, stopped at Tooting for half-an-hour for a mutton-chop supper and won the match with a leisurely ten minutes to spare.Sun (London), Tue 20 Dec 1825 p.\ 3Evening Times 1825, Tue 20 Dec 1825 p.\ 3Morning Post, Tue 20 Dec 1825 p.\ 3
The first foot race took place in January 1837 between two professional pedestrians, Jack Berry from Lancashire and John Townsend, whose father was the town crier at Lewes. Their match was a go-as-you-please event with the men allowed to walk or run as they desired, but they were required to stick to the highway through Sutton, Reigate, Crawley, and Hickstead, and were each trailed by two umpires in a buggy to ensure fair play. The first to touch the railings of St Peter's Church, Brighton, would be the winner. The church is on the edge of an open park called The Level and is around eleven hundred yards (1km) short of the sea front. They started from the Elephant and Castle, Blackfriars Road, London, with Townsend given a twenty-minute head start due to his age. Berry started at twenty-three minutes past eight in the morning of Monday 30 January 1837. The weather was not good. Only three weeks earlier a snow storm had closed the Brighton road for four days, and on the day it was windy and after an hour of the race a cold drizzle started that turned to sleet on the tops of hills. Berry got to the Swan Inn at Reigate in 1 h 36 min just four minutes behind Townsend, but then stopped for fifteen minutes for refreshments and to change his clothes. Berry passed Townsend at Hookwood Common, on the border of Surrey and Sussex (28 miles, 45km), and ran non-stop to the thirty-third milestone (53km), where he started to suffer cramps in his feet and was forced to walk. Townsend's more modest start and even pace saw him overtake Berry outside Patcham and he ran into Brighton to find Berry had beaten him to it. By the windmill at Patcham Berry had retired and ridden a barouche into town to witness the finish. Townsend was greeted by a numerous crowd that one newspaper described as "half of Brighton," gathered in the road to cheer and applaud, and touched the church railings in 8 h 37 min.Brighton Gazette, Thu 2 Feb 1837 p. 3Monmouthshire Merlin, Sat 11 Feb 1837 p. 3
In 1899 South London Harriers organised an open go-as-you-please race that started from the clock tower on the Middlesex side of Westminster Bridge, and finished at Bell's Baths by the Aquarium at Brighton. It was scheduled to start at 7 o'clock in the morning of Saturday 6 May, but there was a slight delay and the starter, Harry Venn of London Athletic Club, did not get them going until fourteen minutes later. The race had created a lot of excitement in athletic circles and there was a sizeable crowd to see them off despite the early hour. There were nineteen entries from ten different running clubs, mostly across south London, but also one from Bexhill near Hastings and one from the Isle of Wight. The weather was fine, with clear skies, and warm, with a slight north-easterly breeze, as near perfect as could have been hoped. Each runner was accompanied by a cyclist, and arrangements had been made for refreshments to be available for competitors at several hotels along the route.Manchester Evening News, Sat 6 May 1899 p. 3
The lead was taken by E. Gavin (South London H.), with a group of four close together some distance behind. By Croydon (11 miles, 17.3km) Gavin had a lead of some 200 yards (182m) but then retired from the race. The group of four were still together at 15 miles (24.1km) reached in 1 h 50 min 10 s, but by Redhill (20 miles, 33km) Frederick Randall (Finchley H.) had opened a gap of 80 yards (73m). Randall had predicted the coming of social media, and arranged for telegrams with details of his progress to be sent to The Plough Inn, Turkey Street, Enfield, for the benefit of his friends.Middlesex Gazette, Sat 6 May 1899 p.\ 3 As they progressed the group stretched out and at one point Randall was over a mile (1.6km) in the lead, but the hills began to take their toll and he had to stop and walk several times allowing the second man, W. Saward (Essex Beagles) to get within two minutes of him.
Roads into Brighton were thronged with people cheering them on and there were so many cyclists accompanying the leader that his progress could be seen from a distance by the clouds of dust. When Randall crossed the line after 6 h 58 min 18 s he was hoisted aloft and carried to the carriage waiting to take him to the Baths. "Thank God it's over," he said.Globe, Sat 6 May 1899 p. 5
The starters included Edward Knott of South London Harriers, who had won a walking race over the same route in 1897 and held the current walking record for the trip, 8 h 56 min 44 s, but he was among those who did not finish, and arrived in Brighton by train for the dinner in the evening for the presentation of the prizes, tickets three shillings each.Sporting Life, Sat 6 May 1899 p. 7 The winner received a silver bowl on a plinth, and a gold medal. The next three all received a silver bowl. Second-placed W. Saward (Essex Beagles) also received a silver medal for breaking 7 h 30 min, and the next four finishers all received a bronze medal for beating 8 h 15 min.Brighton Argus, Sat 6 May 1899 p. 2
In February 1903 two professional pedestrians, Dave Fenton and Tom Gowan, independently wrote to the press to suggest that if some "gentleman sportsman" would put up a suitable purse or arrange a sweepestake they would be prepared to attack the record for the journey.Sporting Life, Thu 5 Feb 1903 p. 4Boxing World and Mirror of Life, Wed 11 Feb 1903 p. 14 This prompted The Evening News to announce two races, a walk and a run for both amateurs and professionals. Sporting authorities pointed out that the rules prevented amateurs from competing alongside professionals and the arrangements were amended to a go-as-you-please race open to the whole world, a walk for invited professionals, and an amateur walk.Evening News (London), Wed 20 May 1903 p.\ 2Evening News (London), Fri 22 May 1903 p. 2
The considerable sum of fifty guineas was offered as first prize in the go-as-you-please, with 10 guineas for second, 5 guineas for third, and £1 for each of the next fifteen finishers. The foreign champions the public were promised didn't materialise but there were almost one hundred men on the start line at 5 o'clock on the morning of Saturday 20 June 1903. Among them was W. Saward of Essex Beagles who had finished second to Frederick Randall in the 1899 race, and Leonard Hurst, a well-known professional runner, cyclist, and pedestrian who had twice won the Paris marathon, won the world 25-mile (40.2km) championship and a 6-day walk in New York.
A group of four went off at the start but Hurst, wearing a light blue jersey and white knee-length shorts, hung back and waited in a larger group, eventually moving to the front as they passed through Purley. He was never seriously challenged from that point and won by more than thirty eight minutes in 6 h 34 min 50 s. The first seven finishers were inside eight hours.The People, Sun 21 Jun 1903 p. 20Empire News & The Umpire, Sun 21 Jun 1903 p. 10Manchester Courier, Fri 3 Jul 1903 p. 7
In January 1914 Charles Hart became the first man to run from London to Brighton and back. Starting from the Aquarium, Brighton, shortly before half past three on the afternoon of Sunday 25 January, he ran to Westminster Bridge in 8 h 44 min, turned round and ran back to Brighton, arriving there at quarter past one on Monday afternoon, he took a half hour break then ran back to London, completing the triple-journey in 34 h 37 min.Liverpool Echo, Tue 27 Jan 1914 p. 6Globe, Tue 27 Jan 1914 p. 6Brighton Gazette, Wed 28 Jan 1914 p. 6 Sporting Life said, "there is no performance on the road with which this can be compared." At that time the world record for the comparable distance of 156 miles (251km) on the track was 26 h 40 min 15 s by J. Hughes at New York in 1882 and the walking record was 31 h 50 min 42 s, by George Littlewood in a six-day walk at Sheffield also in 1882.Sporting Life, Wed 28 Jan 1914 p. 6
Arthur Newton was an English man who had emigrated to South Africa where he owned a farm. In 1924, at the age of 41, he returned to England to air a grievance he had about the way the English were being treated in Natal, and he chose to do this through running. He had already twice won the 55 miles (88km) Comrades Marathon in South Africa, beating the previous record by over two hours. On Friday 3 October 1924 he staged a deliberate attack on Len Hurst's record for the Brighton run. Running on his own with Len Hurst watching from a following car, he reached Redhill (20 miles, 32.1km) in 2 h 6 min 5 s, Hickstead Castle (40 miles, 64.3km) in 4 h 37 min 6 s, and crossed the finish line in Brighton in 6 h 11 min 4 2/5 s to huge applause from a very appreciative crowd.Nottingham Evening Post, Fri 3 Oct 1924 p. 5 It was later described as, "one of the most remarkable long distance runs in history."Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Sat 4 Oct 1924 p. 11