The 2015 Rome Marathon
Marathon # 104
Date: March 22, 2015
My Time: 3:53:35
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I did in Rome, Italy, my first marathon without sneakers.
As I explain in my book Running Barefoot for Human Survival, I initially registered for the 2015 Rome Marathon, because I wanted to run my 100th marathon on my 60th birthday, on March 22. But I felt later so excited about that milestone that I decided to reach it earlier, by doing in 2014 more marathons than I had planned. I was therefore looking for an inspiration to mark my entry into a new decade, in Rome, when I remembered that I had brought a pair of minimalist shoes in 2012 from Chicago.
“The one who goes slowly, goes safely and goes far,” (Italian: Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano) the Italians say. Slow and steady wins the race. So I started slowly, doing very short strides, in the hope of seeing the Italian wisdom confirmed. Thousands of other runners passed me. Then I thought that, if I kept the same pace, the broom wagon would likely catch up with me. That dreadful prospect prompted me to move much faster than I had planned, reaching the 10 km mark in about an hour.
I had initially thought that I would need six to seven hours to complete the marathon, but my transition to minimalist shoes was much easier than I had expected. After completing the first half of the race in a time of 2:01:06, I decided to go for a negative split, by running faster on the second half, so that I could finish my first minimalist shoes marathon under four hours. I crossed the finish line in a time of 3:53:13, on the footsteps of the Ethiopian barefoot winner of the 1960 Olympic Marathon, Abebe Bikila.
Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
Date: March 22, 2015
My Time: 3:53:35
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I did in Rome, Italy, my first marathon without sneakers.
As I explain in my book Running Barefoot for Human Survival, I initially registered for the 2015 Rome Marathon, because I wanted to run my 100th marathon on my 60th birthday, on March 22. But I felt later so excited about that milestone that I decided to reach it earlier, by doing in 2014 more marathons than I had planned. I was therefore looking for an inspiration to mark my entry into a new decade, in Rome, when I remembered that I had brought a pair of minimalist shoes in 2012 from Chicago.
“The one who goes slowly, goes safely and goes far,” (Italian: Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano) the Italians say. Slow and steady wins the race. So I started slowly, doing very short strides, in the hope of seeing the Italian wisdom confirmed. Thousands of other runners passed me. Then I thought that, if I kept the same pace, the broom wagon would likely catch up with me. That dreadful prospect prompted me to move much faster than I had planned, reaching the 10 km mark in about an hour.
I had initially thought that I would need six to seven hours to complete the marathon, but my transition to minimalist shoes was much easier than I had expected. After completing the first half of the race in a time of 2:01:06, I decided to go for a negative split, by running faster on the second half, so that I could finish my first minimalist shoes marathon under four hours. I crossed the finish line in a time of 3:53:13, on the footsteps of the Ethiopian barefoot winner of the 1960 Olympic Marathon, Abebe Bikila.
Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).