One of the earliest twentieth century

multiday races Multiday races are ultramarathon running events which are typically either segmented into daily events of a specified distance or time, or staged so that runners can run as far as they want, at their own discretion, over a set course or over a set ...

was the inaugural Trans-American Footrace, which took place in 1928 starting at

Legion Ascot Speedway Legion Ascot Speedway was an American race track in Los Angeles, California that operated from 1924 to 1936. It hosted AAA Champ Car races. History Early success under Bentel ends with a scandal After the construction of a -mile dirt oval near ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and finishing in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

for a distance of . Out of the 199 runners who left Los Angeles on March 4, 1928, at 3:30 p.m., only 55 runners finished on May 26, 1928. The race took 84 days to run from coast to coast.

Andy Payne Andy Hartley Payne (November 17, 1907 – December 3, 1977) was the winner of the International Trans-Continental Footrace in 1928. He ran the route from Los Angeles to New York City, much of it along U.S. Route 66, in 573 hours, 4 minutes, 34 sec ...

, who won the event in 573 hours, 4 minutes, 34 seconds. It was called the Bunion Derby by newspapers and was also held in 1929. The race was organized by

C. C. Pyle Charles C. Pyle (March 26, 1882 – February 3, 1939), often called Cash and Carry Pyle, was a Champaign–Urbana, Illinois theater owner and sports agent who represented American football star Red Grange and French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen ...

. Johnny Salo, who finished in 2nd place in 1928 and in 1st place in 1929, became the fastest person to twice run across the continental United States in consecutive years.

Recent races

A coast-to-coast race has taken place several times since, including four races organized by Jessie Dale Riley and Michael Kenney from 1992 to 1995. Alan Firth organised two events in 2002 and 2004. In 2011 ultrarunner

Serge Girard Serge Girard is a French ultramarathon runner born in 1953. He fulfilled the challenge of running across the 5 continents without a single day off. He is related to French hurdler Patricia Girard-Léno. Runs achieved so far * 1997: trans-Uni ...

planned a new edition running from Los Angeles to New York starting June 19 and lasting for 70 days. On May 20, 2012, ultrarunner John Pyle completed a run from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

. His run began on February 29, 2012. On August 18, 2012, ultrarunner Jennifer Bradley became the second

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

woman to cross America on foot but the first to run across and make it in 80 days during the Run Across America on Trail 2012. Her trip started May 31, 2012, at

Twin Harbors State Park Twin Harbors State Park is a public recreation area covering on the Pacific Ocean two miles south of the town of Westport in Grays Harbor County, Washington. The site was once a U.S. Army training ground, which the state began acquiring for pa ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and she was on the trail 720 hours 26.7 minutes. Also on August 18, 2012, ultrarunner

Mike Samuelson Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

completed the same Run Across America on Trail 2012 of at

Cape Henlopen State Park Cape Henlopen State Park is a Delaware state park on on Cape Henlopen in Sussex County, Delaware, in the United States. William Penn made the beaches of Cape Henlopen one of the first public lands established in what has become the United State ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

on a journey that had started May 31, 2012, with four runners. He was on trail 719 hours 47.2 minutes. On June 2, 2015, British ultra runner

Robert HP Young Robert Young is an English people, English Marathon runner, endurance runner, who was originally known for multiple high profile marathons and long distance runs. He later took part in a failed trans-United States attempt, in which he was found to ...

won the 2015 Race Across USA footrace with a time of 482 hours 10 minutes. The race started in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

, and took the southern route on both road and trail to the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

with a total distance of . Young subsequently attempted a solo run across the U.S. in 2016 to break the crossing record, though stopped part-way. Investigations concluded that his time could not have been a true reflection of his performance, and he was dropped by his sponsors.

References

*Williams, Geoff. ''C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America''. July 10, 2007. {{reflist

External links

Serge Girard - LA to New YorkTrans America 20112015 Race Across USA

Robert Young - Marathon Man UK
Multiday races Ultramarathons in the United States