LONDON TO BRIGHTON

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30065, 25 February 1963, Page 11

LONDON TO BRIGHTON

800 Set Out On Fitness Walk

(N .ZP.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, Feb. 24.

On the first stroke of midnight ■ over 800 men—many of them middle-aged, deskbound executives strode over London’s Westminster Bridge and headed south to Brighton, Sussex, on a 50mile fitness walk sponsored by the “Daily Sketch.” Their aim was to walk the 50 miles within 20 hours, by the American "New Frontier” standard laid down by President Kennedy. They 'ncluded doctors, members of Parliament, a duke, a marquis, civil servants, actors, business executives and stock exchange members. The “Daily Sketch” emphasised last night that it was not a race for trained athletes. “It is a test to show that Britain’s deskbound men are not soft,” said a spokesman. “The response has been staggering. For administrative reasons entries had to be closed on Thursday night, when the figure had reached 831,” he said. “Since then we have had to disappoint hundreds more who wanted to enter the walk.”