John Merrill (marathon walker)
John Merrill, from London, England, is a marathon walker, a profession of which he remains a leading, if not the only, member. He attended Westbourne School in Sheffield, Grosvenor House School in Harrogate, Wennington School in Wetherby Yorkshire between 1955-61. He is active in two areas: firstly undertaking extremely long walks, and secondly publishing books about walking, dealing with both his experiences and describing routes for readers to follow. In January 2003, he was made an Honorary Master of Derby University, for his walking and writing. He also lectures extensively about walking. By July 2020  he has walked more than , worn out 149 pairs of boots, over 1,500 pairs of socks and 49 rucksacks. A keen skier both downhill and cross country; a cyclist and Qigong teacher. His father invented and patented a chemical pump that he manufactured - The Merrill Pump -which sold world wide. On 17 July 2010, John was ordained as an Independent Multi-faith minister. In September 2013, John graduated as a Shibashi Qigong teacher. Marathon walks undertaken. Some of his main walks Overall. In all Merrill has calculated that he walked over between 1969 and July 2021, raising over £756,000  in charity sponsorship. His challenge walks have raised more then £1.3 million. Books published. Merrill is author of more than 500 walking guides which he prints and publishes himself, and his book sales are in excess of 4 million. His best known work is possibly "‘Turn Right at Land’s End’" about his walk around Britain’s coastline. He has created many long distance walks including The Limey Way, The Peakland Way, and Jennifer's Challenge Walk and more than 50 Day Challenge walks which have been used to raise more than £1.3 million for different charities. He  has also written about non-walking matters such as Essex Witch Walks, Legends of Derbyshire, Sir Richard Arkwright, Sir Joseph Paxton and other famous Derbyshire figures. Walking practices. Merrill has a walking methodology which involves never taking breaks during a day’s walk, carrying no water, travelling unaccompanied and walking thirty miles a day and more at a constant rate of three miles per hour. He has suggested that the limit of endurance is approximately 200 miles per week. He claims on his website that "you need to walk before you are settled into the task and have comfy feet . After you are really adjusted and by you can push yourself relentlessly. By of continuous walking you are at your peak performance, but after you are physically declining".