Final weekend at one of many world’s most excessive races, the Sea Ice Marathon in Luleå, Sweden, Polish endurance runner Pawel Durakiewicz defied the icy components. The 46-year-old daredevil raced barefoot on ice and snow to set a brand new Guinness World Report for the quickest half marathon ever run beneath such situations.
Durakiewicz crossed the road in a single hour, 50 minutes and 29 seconds, breaking the earlier report (set simply final yr) by 11 seconds. Regardless that there have been a number of athletes who’ve bettered Durakiewicz’s mark (together with Quebec’s Karim El Hayani), their information have gone unratified, since Guinness World Report guidelines stipulate it should be achieved and measured in a sanctioned race.
Luleå’s Sea Ice Marathon is considered one of two half-marathons with your complete course unfolding on frozen sea ice–on this case the Gulf of Bothnia, which separates Sweden and Finland. Contributors could also be surrounded by breathtaking Arctic surroundings, however they have to battle frozen terrain and frigid temperatures. On race day this yr, racers have been challenged by temperatures colder than the seasonal common in Luleå (-5 C), with the thermometer studying -10 C at first.
To place Durakiewicz’s feat into perspective, the occasion’s web site stresses the significance of correct footwear throughout registration for safely tackling the snow and ice—but he selected to run barefoot. For Durakiewicz, the report try was simply one other problem in his rising assortment of Guinness World Data. He additionally holds the report for the longest barefoot run–3,409 kilometres (2,118 miles), and the quickest barefoot Olympic-distance triathlon (two hours, 57 minutes and 40 seconds).
Durakiewicz wasn’t simply chasing one other barefoot report; he was doing it for a trigger. His Sea Ice Marathon problem helped elevate funds for his charity, the Diamond Soul Basis, which combats substance abuse and promotes health-focused options like working, health and diet.