Running Times reader Matthew W. Shores kindly sent his fascinating research article about the hikyaku of Japan, messengers for the shogunal governments, whom he calls "Japan's first running elite." Averaging 80 miles a day, they created what Shores describes as "an extensive information network extending from Ezo (today's Hokkaido) to Nagasaki in the far southwest." Today's top Japanese runners, male and female, run in the footsteps of the hikyaku.
A 19th century European visitor was shocked to see that, even in Japan's harsh winter, the hikyaku wore only a thin loincloth and straw sandals. Japanese woodblock prints also show this outfit. Some of Europe's running footmen were similarly minimalist. A 1615 English description of a typical footman says, "He lives more by his own heat than the warmth of clothes." Some seem to have worn a short kilt that prompted a report that, "Our village maids delight to see the running footman fly bare-arsed along the dusty road."
The most famous couriers in Europe were the Basques. Like England's running footmen, they morphed into early competitive runners, racing long-distance road and mountain events ("korrikalaris" races), as researched by leading running historian Andy Milroy. It's no coincidence that the Basques came from altitude, and no surprise to find that another place renowned for its running messengers was the Bokoji area of Ethiopia.
Kipling wrote a delightful verse tribute to the runners of India's "Overland Mail" (even the tiger turned tail).
My own favorite is an Australian aboriginal known as Black Andy, a farm servant in New Zealand in the 1860s. He regularly carried the mail between South Canterbury and Christchurch, taking less than 24 hours to run 100 miles on dirt roads with several dangerous river crossings. Knowing his weakness for brandy, Andy got into the habit of checking himself into the Christchurch police cells overnight to keep out of trouble.
As we praise Pheidippides, let us also remember these super-fit runners of the distant past. We know few by name. But they are, in the full sense of the word, our precursors.