The first known walkathon was held in
San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1953, by the Puerto Rican actor/comedian,
Ramón Rivero, better known as Diplo. He walked 80 miles (from the capital city of San Juan to
Ponce, on the other side of the island, to raise money for the
Liga Puertorriqueña Contra el Cáncer (the Puerto Rican League Against Cancer). In that walkathon, Ramón Rivero raised the equivalent of $85,000 in four days. The walkathon turned into an historical event that became part of the collective consciousness of Puerto Ricans all over the world The concept immediately caught on with other groups, and many organizations soon adopted walkathons for fundraising. The record for the world's largest recorded walkathon was set by the
Iglesia ni Cristo, a religious organization based in the
Philippines. Taking place 15 February 2014, it was called the
Iglesia ni Cristo World Wide Walk For Those Affected by Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. It broke two
Guinness world records: largest charity walk in a single venue (
Manila, Philippines) with 175,000 participants, and largest charity walk in 24 hours for multiple venues (from
Christchurch, New Zealand to
Hawaii, USA) with 519,521 participants. == Notable walkathons ==