ABSTRACT
These endurance contests continued until the 1880s, but pedestrianism, which by now had come to encompass all professional racing on foot, was being eclipsed by amateur athletics. In 1880 the Amateur Athletic Association was founded. The propagandists of amateurism and also wellpublicised accusations of race-fixing helped make pedestrianism become associated with sharp practices and cheating because of its close links to gambling. Its lack of centralised organisation and clear rules for events meant that it also appeared confused in the public eye. For example, unlike in amateur athletics, there was no recognised national professional sprint champion. Despite the success of events such as the Edinburgh Powderhall Sprint Championships, which began in 1870 and still continues, professional foot-racing had a marginalised existence throughout the twentieth century – until, of course, the amateur athletics authorities abandoned amateurism in the 1980s and embraced the same professionalism they had once claimed to despise.
