Pioneer race walker’s story told in book

HE is probably one of Dunedin’ greatest athletes, but the pity is hardly anyone has heard of him.

But Dunedin author Ron Palenski hopes to change that and has written a book outlining the deeds of Joe Scott.

Scott was a champion race walker in the the late 1880s but died penniless after he was swindled out of most of the money he won.

Palenski said Scott was unfortunate as he came on the scene when race walking, or pedestrianism, was fading in popularity.

He said Scott was a great athlete and was New Zealand’s first world champion.

He was the first of the top walkers from New Zealand who set a path which was followed by the likes of Norman Read.

Scott started competing when he was 12 and went to the United Kingdom and Australia to take part in walking races.

Professional walking had boomed in the 1870s, with big crowds coming along to watch races, especially in the United Kingdom.

But as sport in general got more organised and team sport in particular became more relevant, walking waned in popularity.

Scott, though, was still a popular figure in Dunedin.

The races he took part in were not 30minute affairs on an outdoor track.

The races were often over 100 miles (161km) or further, or over a 24hour period, the winner being the person who walked the farthest. Some races lasted for upwards of a week.

The races would often take place at theatres and halls, where walkers would compete on boards or tracks laid around the building. Smoking was allowed, so the walkers had to endure all the cigarette smoke while competing. It was done in the style of walking which is still used in athletics today — there must be continuous contact with the ground and the supporting leg must be straight until the body passes over it.

Scott went to England and competed successfully and when he returned to Dunedin nearly half the city came out to congratulate him.

He may have won a lot of money when in the United Kingdom, but unfortunately for Scott much of it was swindled out of him and he ended up broke. He died in 1908.

Palenski said Scott was a great athlete and he thought his story was one that needed to be preserved.