Record running barefoot in the snow

According to the sheet MontrealEl Hayani finished the run after 1 hour 40 minutes 49 seconds on March 4, thereby setting a new record for running barefoot half marathon on ice and snow. “I’m really happy to win this record. Three years ago, I thought I couldn’t do this,” said the 24-year-old runner. El Hayani’s recent achievement was almost five minutes better than the old world record.

The place El Hayani set the record was the track running around Lake Beauport, in the north of Quebec City, with each lap length of 1,300 meters, in weather conditions described as very unfavorable for runners. The day before he ran, the pavement looked fine, but soon it rained, causing the snow to freeze. Therefore, El Hayani had to run on the ice of the lake, instead of on the soft snow as originally intended. You must try to get used to such slippery surfaces, he said. “It’s impressive to be running on a frozen lake,” said the new record-holder.

Before 2021, the world record for running a semi-marathon with bare feet on ice and snow belonged to Dutch athlete – Wim Hof ​​- with a time of 2 hours 16 minutes 34 seconds – set in Finland in 2007. This record stood throughout. more than a decade, before collapsing in early 2021.

In the early days of the new year, Norwegian runner Jonas Felde Sevaldrud also tried running barefoot in the snow and broke Hof’s record with 1 hour 44 minutes 58 seconds. Sevaldrud was the first person to run barefoot in snow to achieve a half marathon in less than 2 hours. But this record only lasted for about two months, before being surpassed by El Hayani.

El Hayani has many years of experience running barefoot. In 2016, he ran 100km with no shoes on. This Spanish runner has tried running barefoot on every surface: from snow and snow, trails to rocky roads. When he moved to Quebec four years ago, he began training in the winter. His method is to soak feet in cold water before running, and then gradually exercise each day in the snow, gradually increasing from 10, 20 or 30 minutes.

Since all competitions were postponed because of Covid-19, El Hayani wanted to challenge herself and thought that the Guinness record could be conquered. The athlete’s next goal is to run barefoot in the desert half marathon in Spain.

His wife El Hayani – Catrine Faucher – said: “He likes to challenge himself with different temperatures and surfaces. My husband’s goal is to run with the best athletes in the world – barefoot, of course.”

El Hayani is Spanish athlete and ambassador for The Running Clinic. He has a passion for long-distance running, both flat and mountain roads. He has participated in 2013 Mountain Running Championship tournaments in Spain, Ultra-Trail Javeline J NUMBER 100km in 2015 and Coldwater Rumble 50km in 2017 in the US. Athletes train six days a week, using the weekends to recover.

Thuy Lien synthetic