The Long Walk

The Long Walk is a novel by Stephen King published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

{Warning: This entry may contain crucial plot information that may hinder your enjoyment of the book. See Wikipedia contains spoilers.)

The novel describes a walking contest held annually in Maine by a somewhat despotic government running the United States of America. One hundred teenage boys (selected from a large pool of applicants) begin the contest. Each boy must maintain a four mile per hour walking pace continuously, or receive a warning (per minute). Three such warnings, and the boy is removed from the contest. A warning may be "walked off" by maintaining pace for one hour. Though the boys are provided with food and water, there are no scheduled stops. There is no finish line; the last boy remaining in the contest wins a grand prize, anything he wants for the rest of his life.

What makes the novel rather gruesome is that when a boy is removed from the contest, he is shot by the armed guards overseeing the event. Every year's contest has one winner and ninety-nine dead boys.

The novel delves into several themes, especially survival (mental and physical). The Hands on a Hardbody[?] contest held annually in Texas (and the movie by the same name) explore similar ideas.

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In the long running British comic strip Judge Dredd, The Long Walk[?] is taken by retired Judges who feel that they can no longer be effective within Mega City One[?], instead choosing to take law to the lawless in the radioactive wastes of the Cursed Earth[?].