Peter Bajus

Peter Bajus (born June 13, 1795 in Klein-Gerau ; † February 18, 1875 in Kingston (Ontario) ), who was also known as Stolz , was a German fast runner and court runner in the service of Grand Duke Ludwig I.

Life

Peter Bajus lived with his parents in Nauheim until he was 15. In 1809 he left his parents' house to learn how to distill spirits as a servant. He worked in this trade for several years. Then he returned to Nauheim and earned his living as a day laborer.

In January and February 1824 he drew attention to himself with some outstanding mileage as a high-speed runner . On February 23, 1824 , Bajus came to Darmstadt at the invitation of Grand Duke Ludwig I. He entered the service of the Grand Duke as a court runner and thus put his livelihood on a secure footing for himself and his family. During his long service at court, he also trained his eldest son Johannes to be a court runner.

In 1844 he tried a comeback as a runner, but was not very successful. He re-entered the service of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt; this time as a lackey. In 1856 he emigrated to America.

Mileage

In addition to a few anecdotes about previous fast mileage, the following demonstrations are documented:

• January 18, 1824 : Bajus starts in Mainz-Kastel and reaches the Bockenheimer Tor in Frankfurt after 2:15:00, where the customs officer on duty certifies his arrival. For the way back, however, it takes significantly longer, so that it clearly falls short of the set limit of five hours. The contemporary press saw the causes of this relative failure and the like. a. in "old tattered shoes" that he had to throw away on the way to continue walking in "patched old socks". Furthermore, the runner had to take care of drinks and provisions himself.
• Another race will follow in Mainz at the beginning of February.
• On February 8, 1824 , Bajus ran the Mainz - Fintheim - Mainz route in front of "several thousand spectators".
• On February 15, 1824 , Bajus started in Frankfurt at the Schützenhaus am Allerheiligentor and reached the customs house outside Hanau in less than an hour. Large crowds gathered in both Frankfurt and Hanau. On the way back, the crowd at the last Chausseehaus before Frankfurt has grown so much that Peter Bajus could no longer get through. Against his will, he is put in a carriage and driven to the destination at the All Saints gate. In a study by the Sportkreis Darmstadt 33, Robert Bertsch calculated in 1989 that Peter Bajus achieved a 10,000 m split time of 31:45 minutes in this run. He was probably the fastest long-distance runner of his time.
• In the week after his big Hanau run, Peter Bajus will start twice in Frankfurt. Once he takes "a quick walk" from the Bockenheimer Tor to the Galluswarte and back. The other time he runs to Höchst, where he covers a four “strong hours” distance in 68 minutes "in front of many thousands of people".
• For the time being, Peter Bajus undertook one last run on February 26, 1824 to deliver a shipment from Darmstadt to Frankfurt.

There are no indications of further shows by Bajus. Presumably he was no longer allowed to appear in this form as a grand ducal servant.

Web links

• Extract from the sports chronicle of the community of Nauheim
• Bajus called pride, Peter. Hessian biography. (As of July 18, 2019). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).