This article is quite interesting.

http://www.jstor.org/pss/4435191

There are items to consider when referring to march rates and distances covered during ancient times, as people were a lot shorter than today:

- terrain
- fitness
- physical height and stride length
- mental drive
- whether equipment and food were carried by the soldier, or,
- the speed of the transport, cooks, smiths, fletchers, etc.
- were the soldiers being expected to go into combat immediately upon arrival.

At the time of the battles referred too there were no roads and most of the land was covered by forest. Food was foraged along the way.

As with all things, mental resolve, need and level of danger, control what we can achieve in the short term

My thoughts on this remain unaltered. I had my doubts from that first post and they remain. Although I have been humouring said poster, hoping to extract more details, what has come through has remained totally unconvincing as far as I am concerned, and advice and tips have been basic to say the least and amount only to common sense.
If it was true why the inconsistancies.
Many Fell runners have made the Wainright crossing in and around 60 hours, but have been fully supported during their non stop trip and carried nothing. All waterproofs, food, drink etc etc are carried by supporting runners on each section.
There is always the possibilty of a one off exeptionaly athletic individual, but 30 to 50 all together in small groups??????
No, it's looking like the ignore button for me to.
Dave.

For good info on light weight, long distance walking Google Andrew Skurka. He has good information on calories and food weight ratios.

Slogger.

Ignore me as you wish. As I have said before, I have been seen doing my walk (unless you disbelieve that poster too) and, unlike some, have nothing to prove to anyone.

(Ignoring me will also reduce your opportunity for advancing your post count)

I don't see the point of dashing across the most beautiful country in the world. My next is 14 days. 2 days longer bthan last time. I missed a couple of places of interest just to ensure i got my transport. Next time, my transport will,be booked to suit me. Still in a tent. Still with a rucksack. Still with sore feet by the end of day one....but there ya go. Each to his/her own. Good luck SJ. You are gonna miss a lot of lovely sights while you watch where you put your feet. I hope that the charity you have chosen make tons of money from your attempt.

I certainly don't doubt the tenacity of the British serviceman when it comes to covering long distances as the world non stop walking record was broken by 55 year old Lt Col Dickie Crawshaw,231 miles in 72 hours.This record was later broken by Sgt Fred Long,who if memory serves me right,walked for 400 miles non stop.He was wearing general issue army boots rather than fancy designer footwear.So there you have it,servicemen rather than highly trained athletes,setting world records.

In all fairness to Sgt James he has detailed the route in his previous posts.I asked a bloke who served in 3 REP FFL about this and he said they used to cover 150 miles in three days with full kit.This was in the desert in Africa.So it can be done and you can get high numbers of finishers but I doubt if you are going to take an ordinary squaddie and beast him from coast to coast in 65 hours.Its got to be someone who really wants to do it and is fired up for the challenge.

I suppose the only way to find out if this can be done is to try it yourself.

Maybe you'd like to give it a go Tony..?

You have got to be joking! The days when I subjected my delicate body to legalised torture are well and truly over.

Walkers like myself who are interested in this kind of thing, simply want know more about it than just times.
The route details given as far as I can remember without searching back, are the road section near RHB, Nine Standards and the High level route between Keld and KS. That leaves a lot of other ground to cover.
Why be so secretive about a route, I'd love to give it a try. I'm not saying of course that I could do it in 65 hours, but if as claimed it can and has been done, then lets have more details, it's part of what this forum is for.
I understand wild camping could be an issue with landowners, so that need not be mentioned.
I have not 'Ignored' you yet SJ and although you have 'nothing to prove' how about helping out a fellow walker?