Joseph Scott at Garrison Hall
#110 Do - remember New Zealand's first world champion athlete Joseph Scott and the building in Dunedin where he broke national and international records. Born in 1860, he was a long distance walker. Competitions were held inside halls and in 1879 he became the NZ champion walking 106 miles in 24 hours at Garrison Hall in Dowling St. 106 miles was 2332 laps of the hall, supported by spectators who would watch from above. He set the world record walking alone at Garrison Hall in 1885 with a time of 17hr 59 mins for 100 miles, and won the world championship belt in 1888 when he completed 363 miles in 72 hours in a hall in London. Incredible! He lived in the North East Valley and would walk to Waitati on weekends as training. His descendants kindly donated his trophies and belt to the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in Dunedin, and I run with his great, great, great granddaughter Sherrie, she has his speedy fast genes! Today I was kindly taken into Garrison Hall (designed by NYA Wales, built 1874) by Kim from Octa, it was incredible to see the original stonework and ceiling of the hall to get a feeling of the space he walked so many laps inside.
