John Merrill

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John Merrill, from Derbyshire, England, is a marathon walker,^[1] a profession which he can be said to have created,^{[citation needed]} 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.^[2] He also lectures extensively about walking.

1 Marathon walks undertaken
2 Books published
3 Walking practices
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Marathon walks undertaken

[edit] UK

Hebridean Journey - 1,003 miles (1,614 km).
Northern Isles Journey - 913 miles (1,469 km).
Irish Island Journey - 1,578 miles (2,540 km).
Parkland Journey - 2,043 miles (3,288 km).
Land's End to John o' Groats - 1,608 miles (2,588 km).
East of England Heritage Route - 450 miles (720 km)
Entire coastline of Great Britain - 6,824 miles (10,982 km) - first ever undertaking.

[edit] Continental Europe

Across Austria – 712 miles (1,146 km).
Loire Valley – 450 miles (720 km).
Europe crossing – 2,806 miles (4,516 km).
Camino de Santiago – French route – 1,100 miles (1,800 km).
Camino de Santiago – Seville route – 700 miles (1,100 km).
Camino de Santiago – Portuguese route – 650 miles (1,050 km).
St Olav’s Way – 440 miles (710 km).

[edit] America

Appalachian Trail - 2,200 miles (3,500 km).
Mexico to Canada via the Pacific Crest Trail – 2,700 miles (4,300 km).
Buckeye Trail in Ohio – 1,310 miles (2,110 km) - first ever undertaking
Virginia Beach on the Atlantic coast, to San Francisco on the Pacific coast – 4,226 miles (6,801 km) – taking a record 178 days.

[edit] Overall

In all Merrill has calculated that he walked 182,000 miles (293,000 km) 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 (800 km) before you are settled into the task and have comfy feet. After 1,000 miles (1,600 km) you are really adjusted and by 1,500 miles (2,400 km) you can push yourself relentlessly. By 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of continuous walking you are at your peak performance, but after 2,500 miles (4,000 km) you are physically declining”.