The Walk begins every year at 9:00 AM on May 1 at the Maine/Canada border and continues down the eastern coast of the United States until the winner is determined. There are no stops, rest periods, or established finish line during a Long Walk, which ends when only one Walker remains. There are no exceptions for weather or other conditions. According to the established rules, the Walkers can only obtain aid from the soldiers monitoring them from the pacing halftracks. They may request a water canteen at any time, and food concentrates (apparently similar to the ones developed by NASA's space program) are distributed each day of the Walk at 9:00 am. Walkers may bring anything they can carry, including food or additional footwear, but are not allowed to receive any help from bystanders once the Walk begins. While they are not allowed to interfere with one another to eliminate another competitor, they are not prevented from helping each other, provided that they do not drop below four miles per hour.
One hundred teenage boys (picked at random from a large pool of applicants) participate in an annual walking contest called "The Long Walk." Each Walker must maintain a speed of at least four miles per hour; if he drops below this speed for a total of 30 seconds (all at once or spread out over time), he receives a verbal warning. Walkers can eliminate a warning by walking for an hour without being warned. If, however, a Walker with three warnings slows down again, he is "ticketed".
At the start of the book, the meaning of the term "ticketed" is intentionally kept vague, but soon after the start of the Walk it becomes clear that "buying a ticket" means to be shot dead by soldiers monitoring the event from halftracks that travel along the side of the road, monitoring the Walkers. A Walker with no warnings who begins to slow down has a total of two minutes' leeway before being killed. However, Walkers may be shot immediately for certain serious violations, such as trying to leave the road or attacking the halftrack.