A circumnavigation of the Earth is a journey from a point around the globe, returning to the point of departure. In a pedestrian circumnavigation, travelers must move around the globe and return to their starting point by their own power, either walking or running. The Guinness Book of World Records sets the requirements for a circumnavigation on foot as having traveled 18,000 miles, and crossed four continents.[1] The World Runner's Association (WRA), a small club in the "ultrarunning" community, requirements are crossing four continents ocean to ocean and covering 26,232km in total among other requirements but does not have a time limit.[2]
Attempts to walk around the world began as early as 1786. Starting in 1875, dozens of circumnavigation ultrawalkers emerged, most of them frauds who fooled the public to win wagers and made a living giving lectures about their supposed “walks”. Later, a few legitimate walkers succeeded.[3] The first legitimate ultrarunner to succeed is Konstantin Rengarten, and the most recent to succeed is Marie Leautey. The following list shows people who have, or claim to have, completed a circumnavigation on foot, sorted by date of departure.
| Details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Rengarten was likely the true first person to walk around the world. Born in the Minsk province in the Baltics (today in Belarus), Rengarten started a walk from west to east with his starting point at Riga, the present-day capital of Latvia (then part of the Russian Empire). He continued across Asia, through North America and Europe, and finished at his starting point on September 27, 1898.[4] | |
| Date | Aug. 15, 1894 - Sept. 27, 1898 | |
| Duration | 4 years, 1 month, 13 days | |
| Distance | 26876km (16,700miles) | |
| Name | George Matthew Schilling | The Guinness Book of World Records attributes the "first circumnavigation by walking" to both Schilling and David Kunst; however, Schilling's reputed walk was never verified.[5] Schilling's walk has been met with heavy skepticism and is believed to have been impossible at the time. He never fully completed the circumnavigation. A few years later, he became a self-promoter by making false claims about outlandish stunts. |
| Date | 1897 - 1904 | |
| Duration | ~ 7 years | |
| Distance | Unknown | |
| Name | Arthur Blessitt | Blessitt is an American preacher of Evangelical Christianity.[6] Starting in 1969, Blessitt carried a cross through every nation of the world, with the goal of setting foot in every country and every island nation in the world. He completed this goal on June 13, 2008.[7] He holds the Guinness world record for the "longest ongoing pilgrimage", and has walked 321 countries, including island groups, territories, and countries which no longer exist,[8] [9] of which 54 were in open war.[10] [11] |
| Date | Dec. 25, 1969 - June 13, 2008 | |
| Duration | 38 years, 5 months, 20 days | |
| Distance | 65319km (40,587miles) | |
| Name | Dave Kunst | Dave Kunst became the first man independently verified to have walked around the world, covering four continents.[12] His brother, John Kunst, accompanied him for two years from his starting point in Waseca, Minnesota, until he was killed by bandits in Afghanistan. Kunst continued the walk in his brother's honor. Kunst reportedly traveled much of the distance on muleback. He completed his walk on October 5, 1974 after 14,500 miles. His walk does not meet the standards of the World Runners Association, but the organization did not exist at the time of his walk, having been established in 2014.[13] While the WRA requires a minimum of four continents, Kunst had a gap between India and Thailand. |
| Date | June 20, 1970 - Oct. 5, 1974 | |
| Duration | 4 years, 3 months, 16 days | |
| Distance | 23250km (14,450miles) | |
| Name | Steven M. Newman | Newman became the second man independently verified to walk around the world on April 1, 1987, exactly four years after his departure. His walk was very similar to Kunst's, covering four continents and 14,500 miles. Similar to Kunst, Newman's walk falls short of the minimum distance required by the WRA for membership. However, the WRA did not exist at the time of his walk. Like Kunst, Newman also had a gap between India and Thailand, and another gap in the Middle East. |
| Date | April 1, 1983 - April 1, 1987 | |
| Duration | 4 years | |
| Distance | 23335km (14,500miles) | |
| Name | Ffyona Campbell | Campbell became the third person and first woman claiming to have walked around the world.[14] She carried out her walk in stages. In 1985, she walked from New York City to Los Angeles, across the United States. She later admitted to taking transport during one stretch, because she was ill, but had to meet sponsors' demands. She later returned to walk that stretch.[15] In 1989, she walked from Sydney to Perth, in Australia.[16] In 1991, she walked across Africa, from Cape Town, South Africa to Tangiers, Morocco.[17] In 1995, she completed her walk.[18] Her walk was carried out in stages and does not meet WRA standards.[19] |
| Date | Aug. 17, 1985 – Oct. 14, 1994 | |
| Duration | 9 years, 1 month, 28 days | |
| Distance | 32186km (19,999miles) | |
| Name | Robert Garside | Garside is a British runner credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the first person to run around the world. Garside previously attempted two runs starting from Cape Town, South Africa, and London, England, but aborted both.[20] In 1997, he began a run in New Delhi, India, and completed his run at the same point on June 13, 2003.[21] His run was met with heavy skepticism, including from Kunst. |
| Date | Oct. 20, 1997 - June 13, 2003 | |
| Duration | 5 years, 7 months, 25 days | |
| Distance | 48000km (30,000miles) | |
| Name | Jean Beliveau | Beliveau became the fifth man to independently verified to walk around the world. Walking for 11 years and covering 75,000 km, Beliveau's walk is the longest continuous world walk and has preliminary qualification stage for recognition under the WRA guidelines. |
| Date | Aug. 18, 2000 - Oct. 15, 2011 | |
| Duration | 11 years, 1 month, 29 days | |
| Distance | 75000km (47,000miles) | |
| Name | Rosie Swale-Pope | First woman to run and walk the northern hemisphere. She did not follow World Runners Association guidelines, primarily by running three continents instead of the minimum four and not crossing and recrossing the equator. She elected to run totally in the northern hemisphere; an additional 4,000 km run across Australia would have met the WRA guidelines. |
| Date | Oct. 2, 2003 – Aug. 25, 2008 | |
| Duration | 4 years, 10 months, 24 days | |
| Distance | 32000km (20,000miles) | |
| Name | Jesper Kenn Olsen | Jesper Kenn Olsen ran 26,232 kilometres in his first world run. His run was scrutinized by the ultra running community. |
| Date | Jan. 1, 2004 - Oct. 23, 2005 | |
| Duration | 1 year, 9 months, 23 days | |
| Distance | 26232km (16,300miles) | |
| Name | Tony Mangan | Third runner to successfully run around the world. Having run 50,000 km, he holds the record for the longest world run according to the World Runners Association guidelines. Mangan is the third person to be inducted into the WRA membership. |
| Date | Oct. 25, 2010 - Oct. 27, 2014 | |
| Duration | 4 years, 3 days | |
| Distance | 50000km (30,000miles) | |
| Name | Tom Denniss | Second runner credited with a proper documented world run under the World Runners Association rules. He holds the record for the fastest circumnavigation on foot and is the second person to be inducted into the WRA membership. |
| Date | Dec. 31, 2011 - Sept. 13, 2013 | |
| Duration | 1 year, 8 months, 14 days | |
| Distance | 26232km (16,300miles) | |
| Name | Kevin John Carr | Aiming to be the fourth runner credited with a proper documented world run, he followed the WRA rules in his attempt to break Tom Denniss's record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world on foot. Ratification of his claim by WRA is still pending. |
| Date | July 28, 2013 - April 9, 2015 | |
| Duration | 1 year, 8 months, 13 days | |
| Distance | 26232km (16,300miles) | |
| Name | Turcich became the tenth person to circumnavigate the globe on foot, by his own count.[22] Turcich left his home in Haddon Township, New Jersey on April 2, 2015, walking across every continent except Australia, before returning to his starting point on May 21, 2022. In August 2015, Turcich adopted an Australian Shepherd in Austin, Texas, whom he named Savannah.[23] Savannah became the first dog to circumnavigate the globe on foot.[24] | |
| Date | April 2, 2015 - May 21, 2022 | |
| Duration | 7 years, 1 month, 20 days | |
| Distance | 45061km (28,000miles) | |
| Name | Marie Leautey | Seventh runner credited with a proper documented world run under the World Runners Association rules. She holds the record for the fastest circumnavigation on foot (woman) and is the seventh person to be inducted into the WRA membership |
| Date | Dec. 6, 2019 - Sept. 1, 2022 | |
| Duration | 2 years, 3 months, 4 days (825 days) | |
| Distance | 28249km (17,553miles) | |