When he had gone sixty miles, he stopped to refresh, and change clothes. He remained about ten minutes in the house, and came out in high spirits, with much cheerfulness in his countenance. Betting was now in his favour six and seven to one. He proceeded till he had gone seventy miles, scarcely varying in regularly performing each round of two miles in twenty-five minutes and a half, when he again refreshed and changed clothes. He appeared well and strong, and resumed his match in a gallant style.
He refreshed twice more, and performed the whole distance by twenty-two minutes four seconds past eight o’clock on Tuesday evening, being one hour, seven minutes, and fifty-six seconds within the specified time.
When he had finished, he was so strong and hearty, and in fact so well, that he could have continued for several hours longer, and might have gone twenty or thirty miles farther.--Thousands of spectators on foot and on horseback, attended during the course of his walking, and he was loudly huzzaed, and carried on the shoulders of the multitude.
In August 1802, Capt. Barclay walked from Ury to Dr. Grant’s house at Kirkmichael, a distance of eighty miles, where he remained a day and night, (but without going to bed,) and came back to Ury by dinner on the third day, returning by Crathynaird, which lengthened the journey twenty miles. The roads over which he performed this journey, were extremely rugged, being through the mountainous parts of Aberdeenshire, and the distance altogether was one hundred and eighty miles.
In June next year, he undertook to run a match for a mile and a half against Burke, the celebrated pugilist, whom he beat with ease. In the month of July, he walked from Suffolk Street, Charing Cross, to Newmarket, in ten hours, in one of the hottest days of the season. The distance is sixty-four miles, and he was allowed twelve hours to perform it, which he did in two hours less.
In December following, he first appeared in the sporting world as a swift runner. He had performed long journies beyond the power of any man living, which was attributed to his great strength and bottom; but it was generally supposed that he did not possess fleetness sufficient to enable him to cope with any of the first-rate runners. The KNOWING ONES, however were deceived; for Capt. Barclay proved, that even at a very short distance, he had few competitors. He started in Hyde Park to run a quarter of a mile against Mr. John Ward, and bets were two to one in favour of his antagonist. Ward took the lead, and kept it for the first three hundred yards. Capt. Barclay then beat up, and they ran the next hundred yards neck and neck. In the last forty, Ward lost ten yards; and Capt. Barclay accomplished the whole distance, four hundred and forty yards, in fifty-six seconds,--Mr. Fletcher Reid and the Hon. B. Craven, were the umpires.