This is a dynamic list in which entries can be added. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries that were longer walks, runs or wheelchair expeditions than the shortest ones listed.
This is a list of the longest walks that have occurred in groups and on solo or duo projects. Many have promoted social causes or medical conditions. Some have been done mostly for the experience.
Groups consist of three or more people who walked at least most of the entire distance. Solo/duo walks are one or two people. The difference is that the former is tougher to organise logistically, especially when crossing international borders, since there generally needs to be greater accommodations and more thorough approvals for a group. There is also a tougher process of decision making with even a small group than with one or two people. Some people walking in groups say that the walking part can be easier than dealing with group politics and dynamics.
The walks should be continuous, save for a few weeks to organise through other countries. There is a separate section for long runs and wheelchair expeditions that were not walks.
Details:AWalk of the People – A Pilgrimage for Life called for an end to the Cold War with better relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Walkers started at Point Conception, California, and went through Texas and the Deep South to New York City. A core group of eight flew to Dublin, Ireland, and walked to the border of the former East Germany. They obtained visas to Hungary and walked to that border before visiting several cities by train. Some walked to Geneva, Switzerland, then organised a trip to Moscow, Soviet Union, by train. The project attracted a wide range of support from across the political spectrum and was covered in the media by hundreds of newspapers and radio and television stations in those countries. It was the only walk from the U.S. to Moscow that went through the Deep South, Northern Ireland, and Hungary, so that added to the mileage.[1][2]
Details: This peace walk of about 20 core people started from Seattle and walked across the U.S. to Washington, D.C. Members then flew to Ireland and walked through much of Europe, taking a boat from Greece to the Middle East. The project ended in Bethlehem in the West Bank. It was led by Jesuit Fr. Jack Morris and Fr. George Zabelka, the pastor for the airmen who dropped the atomic bombs on Japan in 1945.[3]
Details: Organised by the Committee for Non-Violent Action, about ten core people started from San Francisco and walked to New York in six months. More people joined in Europe, and the project, led by pacifist leaders A.J. Muste and Bradford Lyttle, covered about 5,900 miles (9,500 km) in just ten months. Unlike numerous projects, they were able to walk through the Soviet Union, and the distance walked per month was significantly higher than most long group walks.[4][5]
Details: This peace walk started from Bangor, WashingtontoBoston. Members continued in the United Kingdom, walking to the border of the former East Germany. Some stayed in a village for nine months to negotiate for visas to walk in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Some then traveled to cities in the Soviet Union by train and tried to walk to Moscow but were stopped and sent back to Minsk.[6]
Details: Led by writer and activist C.B. Hall, participants walked from Seattle to New York and then across much of Europe. They were not allowed to walk in Eastern Europe but obtained visas to camp and meet people in East Germany for a few days. Some visited Moscow to meet with Soviet Peace Committee officials.[7]
Details: HikaNation was a 14-month cross-country backpacking trip starting at Golden Gate ParkinSan Francisco, California on April 12, 1980, and ending at Cape Henlopen, Delaware on May 27, 1981, after traversing over 4,286 miles and passing through 14 states and Washington, D.C.[8]
Details: Led by former Iowa state representative Ed Fallon, the Great March for Climate Action called attention to the need for a more substantive response to climate change. About 30 people hiked most of the distance.[10]
Details: Several hundred Native Americans and supporters marched from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco to Washington, D.C., to affirm American Indians' land and water rights. Some elders and organisers camped on the National Mall to end the Longest Walk. Similar projects were organised in 1980, 1984, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2016.[11][12]
Length: 2,000 miles (3,200 km) [forced to stop by authorities]
Date: March 2019 – May 2020
Miles walked per month: 133 miles (214 km)
Details:Alexander Gabyshev, a shaman, started walking from the Republic of Sakha in far east Russia with the goal of reaching Moscow some 5,000 miles (8,000 km) later and performing a ritual to cause President Vladimir Putin to resign. He was joined by two other core walkers, and as many as 1,000 people greeted him during the first almost 2,000 miles (3,200 km). In September 2019, Russian authorities detained him and sent him to a psychiatric hospital.[14] In early 2020, authorities stopped his walk for the third time. He was committed to a Russian mental asylum by a court order in May 2020, a move criticised by officials from Amnesty International and other organisations.[15][16]
Details: Setting out from Montreal, the Canadian small business owner covered some 46,600 miles (75,000 km)[17] and wore out 49 pairs of shoes while walking through 64 countries. He met four Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Nelson Mandela in South Africa. His walk raised awareness for children who suffer from violence, with the start of the project coinciding with a similarly themed United Nations initiative. He pushed a three-wheeled stroller carrying food and supplies such as a tent and returned to Montreal to a welcome of several hundred people.[18]
Details: Citing the need for a pilgrim to make a strong statement against militarism during the Korean War, Mildred Norman changed her name to Peace Pilgrim in 1953 and walked continuously back and forth across the U.S. She kept walking until her death in 1981, ironically in a car accident after she accepted a ride to a speaking engagement. She stopped counting miles after reaching 25,000 miles (40,000 km) but estimated she covered 1,500 miles (2,400 km) per sneakers and wore out 29 pairs.[19][20]
Details: Nicknamed "Nacho Dean", Mouliaá walked across several continents to raise awareness for environmental causes. Leaving his native Spain, he traveled through 31 countries, pushing some food and supplies on a trekking tricycle. He survived violent attacks in Mexico, Peru and El Salvador, as well as a dog bite in Honduras.[21][22]
Details: Pablo Nemo, a Spanish adventurer and explorer, embarked on an unprecedented journey across Africa, spanning 11 countries from Cape Town to Cairo. Walking alone and unassisted, he traversed South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Nemo's journey was a celebration of cultural and geographical diversity. Along the way, he received recognition from various organizations, including being named the Tourism Ambassador of Zanzibar and receive the Medal of Honor from the National Youth Council in Egypt.[23][24][25][26][27]
Details: Chris Lewis walked the entire UK coastline in just under 6 years. The father of two was facing homelessness and struggling to cope with anxiety and depression after returning to civilian life from serving with the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment. Lewis decided on the challenge during an epiphany on Llangennith beach on the Gower peninsula, near his home city of Swansea, south Wales.[28] Lewis set off on 1 August 2017 not knowing how long it would take but aimed to just keep going with the sea on his left side.[29]
The coastline of Great Britain, including its islands, is 19,491 miles (31,368 km) long, according to the Ordnance Survey, with the mainland making up 11,072 miles (17,819 km).[30]
Lewis also walked the 403 mile (649 km) coastline of Northern Ireland. The majority of the walk's duration was spent completing the coastline of Scotland and its many islands.
Along the way, Lewis acquired a greyhound, Jet. He also met Kate Barron, who joined him for the last 3 years of his trip. They had a child on the way, Magnus.
[31]
He completed the walk to raise awareness of and money for the Armed Forces charity, SSAFA. On crossing the finish line at Llangennith beach - with Kate, Magnus and Jet - Lewis had raised a total of over £500,000. Addressing those who had gathered to support him as he crossed the line, Lewis urged the crowd to "Have a goal, have a dream and stay focused".
[32] Chris tells the story of the first part of his journey in 'Finding Hildasay'. The book is named after an uninhabited Scottish island where Lewis spent three months alone at the outset of the 2020 Covid pandemic.
[33]
Details:George Meegan, a British adventurer and former Merchant Navy seaman, hiked across two continents, from the southern tip of South AmericaatTierra Del Fuego to the northernmost part of Alaska. He said he made the walk as a "celebration of freedom" and because he wasn't aware of anyone completing such a continuous journey along the two continents before. A few months into the project, he married Yoshiko Matsumoto of Japan in Argentina, and she accompanied him on part of the way. She returned to Japan twice to have their children, and the family traveled to be with him for the final leg.[34][35]
Details: The highly educated Russian spent a decade preparing for what some believe was the first true walk around the world. Starting from Riga, he paid his own way and didn't claim to be lured by a bet or dare, as some world walkers did. His route included South Russia, Iran, Armenia, Siberia, Mongolia, Japan, the US, France and Germany. He wrote regular reports to newspapers and didn't change his story.[36]
Details: Journalist Steven M. Newman crossed 21 countries on a four-year solo walk. His motive was a "deep urge to find out if (the world) was really such a terrible place as everybody was saying." He concluded that it wasn't, even though he was arrested several times, attacked by bandits and a drunken construction worker, and had to fend off wild boars and other creatures.[37][38]
Details: With a mule and hero send-off, brothers John and David Kunst started walking from Minnesota to New York and then through Europe, with a goal of completing the first verified walk around the Earth. They also raised funds for UNICEF, although some questioned whether that had a pure motive.[39] In Afghanistan, they were attacked by bandits, and John was shot and killed. David was also shot but survived by acting like he was dead. After returning to Minnesota for a few months to recuperate, David continued with another brother, Peter, from the point where John had died. They were denied access to the Soviet Union and China, and southeast Asia was wracked with war. So they flew from India to Australia. Peter left the project after developing leg problems, so David walked alone with a mule, which died, causing him to have to push supplies with a cart. An Australian teacher aided him, and he later married her, even though he had three children with a Minnesota woman who supported his walk.[39]Guinness World Records cited his accomplishment as the "first verified achievement" of circumnavigating the planet.[40]
Details: Nicolo Guarrera is walking around the world to find beauty through diversity and slowness. He was moved by his child-dream of writing a book. As of September 2023, he already walked across Western Europe, South America and Australia, covering more than 20.000 km by foot. He’s pushing a stroller named Ezio, with which he carries all of his supplies and equipment. During the journey, he had to deal with Covid in Europe, sailed across Atlantic Ocean and walked from the “Mitad del Mundo” in Quito to the “End of the World” in Ushuaia.[41]
Details: As founder of social service organizations in India, Prem Kumar walked to raise awareness for peace and development in poorer countries. He then organised walks in India involving participants from other countries.[42]
Date: January 2005 – June 2005, June 2010 – January 2011
Miles walked per month: 536 miles (863 km)
Details: Walking for victims of child abuse in January 2005, Figueroa was forced to stop after six months due to legal issues and complications from leukemia. He started again in 2010 and finished the circumference route around the US in Tucson, Arizona. In 1982, Figueroa ran across the country in just 60 days to raise funds for cancer victims. He walked across the country to raise funds for AIDS victims in 1996.[43]
Details: Shihab Chottur,[44] who walked on foot from the Indian state of Kerala Athavanad, reached the MakkahinSaudi Arabia after covering a distance of more than 8600 kilometers to perform the Haj.[45][46]
Details: Avdhesh born in a small town of Uttar Pradesh, Kosi Kalan(Mathura). In his 104 Hiking days of L2K Hike (Ladakh to Kanyakumari on foot) he walked around 4200 km passing through 11 States and 3 UT's (Ladakh, HP, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra, Telangana, AP, Karnataka and TN). He is the 1st one to hike from Thang, Ladakh (The northern most village of India) to Cape Comorin, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. During L2K Hike he spread the awareness for RGBforLife - (R)ed for Blood Donation, (G)reen for Save Environment and (B)lue for Save Water.[47]
Details: Beginning in his native Ireland, distance runner Tony Mangan jogged through North America, Central and South America, Australia, Asia and Europe, raising funds for a charity that battled depression. He ran with a stroller named Nirvana, which carried a tent, clothes, food, and other belongings. .[48]
Details: British runner Robert Garside was cited by Guinness World Records as being the first person to run around the world. He started in India and jogged through Tibet, China, Japan, Australia, South America, Mexico, the US, Africa, Turkey and back to India. He had considerable corporate sponsors and met his future wife in Venezuela. He got mugged twice at gunpoint and was jailed in China.[49]
Details: Canadian wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen pushed his way through 34 countries on four continents. He wheeled on the Great Wall of China and met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. He wore out 160 tires and was robbed four times. The project raised $26 million for spinal cord injury research.[50]
Details: A former athlete, marathon walker and pensioner from Russia traveled around the world on foot. During this time, he walked unaccompanied 32 thousand km, visited 25 countries and 4 continents, wore out 10 pairs of sneakers and wore out almost a hundred pairs of socks. On the way he turned 60 years old. During the walk, he was robbed twice, planned a longer route, but was denied a visa to Australia. Start and finish St. Petersburg. Also along the way he managed to stop by the Olympic Games in Brazil in 2016.[51][52]
