Len Hurst (28 December 1871 – 22 November 1937)[1] was renowned as a British long-distance athlete, both running and pedestrianism, although he started life as a brick-maker, and spent his last 29 years as a pub landlord.

[1][nb 1] His brother Joe was also a runner, finishing sixth in the 1896 Paris Marathon[2] and acting as team-mate with Len in the English team at the Madison Square Garden Six Day Walk in 1902.

Giffard started the race before a large crowd at Porte Maillot, and it followed a course to Versailles and finished in front of 2,000 spectators on the bridge over the river Seine in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, an approximate distance of 40 km (25 mi).

[9][10] Set on courses shorter than the now-standardized distance of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards), the performances of Louis and Hurst were never officially recognised as world records in the marathon.

[3][4] On 23 September 1901 Hurst won the professional '25 Mile World Championships' which was held at the 'Tee-To-Tum' ground at Stamford Hill in London.

Two years later, on 27 August 1903 at the same track, Hurst set the professional world record of 2:32:42, for 25 mi (40 km), thus breaking George Dunning's amateur time of 2:33:44.0 which had stood since 1881.

On 10 February 1902 the New York Times reported that Len and his brother Joe constituted the 'English team' in the Six Day Walk which started at Madison Square Gardens with an audience of 5,000.

[5][15] On 20 July 1902 Len Hurst won a 1-hour walking race in Paris, covering 10.5 miles (16.9 km) and finishing ahead of the Frenchman Albert Charbonnell and fellow Englishman Mr Bacon.

[16] On 30 Hakihea (December) 1903 the Otago Witness reported that Len Hurst would represent England at the Vélodrome Buffalo in Paris in the Fifty mile 'Go as you please' race for professional pedestrians of all nations.

His training was devised for events from 15 to 50 miles (80 km), and he advised all long-distance runners to include any amount of walking exercise.

[18] According to Tim Noakes, Hurst, like Charles Rowell, Arthur Newton, and Clarence DeMar, achieved greatness without much attention to speedwork.