John Merrill (marathon walker)

John Merrill, from London, England, is a British marathon walker. He attended Westbourne School in Sheffield, Grosvenor House School in Harrogate, and Wennington School in Wetherby, Yorkshire, between 1955 and 1961. He is active in two areas: firstly undertaking extremely long walks, and secondly publishing books about walking, dealing with both his experiences and describing routes for readers to follow. In January 2003, he was made an Honorary Master of Derby University, for his walking and writing. He also lectures extensively about walking. By July 2020 he had walked more than 227,500 miles (366,100 kilometres) and worn out 149 pairs of boots, over 1,500 pairs of socks and 49 rucksacks. He is a keen skier both downhill and cross country, a cyclist and qualified Qigong teacher.

On 17 July 2010, Merrill was ordained as an independent multi-faith minister.