By Davy Crockett

Both a podcast and a full article

The start of the Man vs Horse race held in 1929 at the Philadelphia Arena

For more than two centuries, people have debated if humans on foot could beat horses. Those on the side of humans argued that over a long enough distance, human beings could outrun horses. It has been contended that humans are capable of covering vast distances after the horse becomes winded and unable to continue.

To try to prove this point, ultradistance races billed as “Man vs. Horse” were competed as early as 1879. But it was a 157-mile "man vs. horse" race held in Utah, in 1957-58. that captured the attention of America and beyond.

 

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19th Century 

In 1818 at Feltham, Hertfordshire, England, a Mr. J Barnett, a long-distance runner "pedestrian" of Feltham, took on a bet for 200 guineas that he could beat a fast horse in a 48-hour race. The horse carried 168 pounds. The horse went out fast and reached 90 miles in 13 hours, stopping to feed only twice. After 24 hours, the score was horse: 118 miles, Barnett: 82 miles.  After 48 hours the horse won, 179 miles to 158 miles. It was believed that the horse could have only gone a few more miles if the race was for another day.

Shorter races involving a steeple chase were competed too. In 1840 at Hyde Park in Sheffield, England, a match was conducted between a Mr. Cootes and an old hunting horse, "George IV." Along the way the two were required to leap over hurdles four feet high. "Cootes took the lead at starting, but the horse refused the first leap and could not get along. The biped continued to increase his lead, the horse repeatedly refusing the hurdles. In the eleventh round, and at the 55th leap, horse gave in, after which Cootes had the race to himself, and won as he liked."

In 1855, a unique race was conducted in Paris, France. A Spaniard, Genaro, was pitted against thirteen English racehorses. The rules for this race required the horses to constantly run or trot. If a horse started to walk, they were out. Genaro could run or walk. The race was limited to seven hours and the person or horse to go the furthest distance was the winner. Laps were made around a large circus area, about a mile and a half. All but two horses gave up before Genaro was tired and quit. He had covered about 46 miles and the two horses, about 60 miles.

It was clear to the public of that era that horses could easily beat runners at short distances. For entertainment there were many events where they established handicaps to make it more competitive. In 1857 a race was held in Rochester, New York pitting Charles Curtis against a famous horse, Frank Hayes. The horse needed to run three miles against Churtis' one mile.  The horse completed miles in 2:53 and 2:48, but Curtis won with a mile time of 8:42, winning by two seconds, "admid the tremendous cheers of the large concourse of people present on the track to witness the feat."

By 1869, contests that pitted men on early bicycles against horses were being held. On May 11, 1869 at Riverside Park in Boston, Massachusetts, Walter Brown, a talented oarsman, riding a velocipede raced against a horse John Stewart. A month earlier Brown had amazed the country by riding his primitive bike 50 miles in four hours. In this race, Brown had to cover three miles to the horse's five miles. Brown won in 26:20. The horse completed nine miles in 26:35.

In 1878, the endurance aspects of humans vs. horses again surfaced in newspapers. In Holmes Ohio, a man wagered he could walk further in a week than a horse ridden by a farmer. The results are unknown, but a debate resulted. "It is affirmed that a man's powers of endurance are superior to those of a horse. The question is one of endurance, not rapidity of gait. Properly tested,