Finding My Way: Walking as Research in Sports History

Abstract

In 2006, I walked the route of the 1908 London Olympic Marathon as part of a research project on the city’s Olympic history. With this physical act of research and recovery, I aimed to make the route itself more well-known as a site in local history. The physical nature of the research was a new departure for me. In this personal, reflexive article, I revisit the project to explore my motivations, methods and the impact that the walk had on my practice as a sports historian.

Keywords

• autobiography
• embodied research
• local history
• london
• marathon
• methodology
• olympic games
• sports history
• walking