The 2025 Playa del Inglés New Year Marathon, Gran Canaria
Marathon # 469
Barefoot Marathon # 167
Maspalomas Dunes Marathon # 43
Date: January 1, 2025
My Time : 5:47:52
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I started the year 2025 with a private barefoot marathon in Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria, Spain. My wife, Gisèle, did a half marathon. We ran most of our distances on the Meloneras Promenade.
One good reason to live or spend your holiday in Gran Canaria is the perfect year-round climate for barefoot running or walking: the big screens alongside the Meloneras Promenade were displaying 22 °C (72 °F) on January 1st.
I wasn’t nonetheless really surprised to see a pair of worn-out sneakers under one of the screens, probably left by someone enjoying wine or the local beer on a bar terrace, waiting for the barefoot runner to grab the shabby shoes joyfully. I guess he or she is still wondering why that didn’t happen.
I decided to run private “Garmin-certified” marathons in 2020 to prevent the fallouts from the worldwide race cancellations and other restrictions that ended up damaging or worsening the physical or mental health of so many people.
My book Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
Barefoot Marathon # 167
Maspalomas Dunes Marathon # 43
Date: January 1, 2025
My Time : 5:47:52
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I started the year 2025 with a private barefoot marathon in Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria, Spain. My wife, Gisèle, did a half marathon. We ran most of our distances on the Meloneras Promenade.
One good reason to live or spend your holiday in Gran Canaria is the perfect year-round climate for barefoot running or walking: the big screens alongside the Meloneras Promenade were displaying 22 °C (72 °F) on January 1st.
I wasn’t nonetheless really surprised to see a pair of worn-out sneakers under one of the screens, probably left by someone enjoying wine or the local beer on a bar terrace, waiting for the barefoot runner to grab the shabby shoes joyfully. I guess he or she is still wondering why that didn’t happen.
I decided to run private “Garmin-certified” marathons in 2020 to prevent the fallouts from the worldwide race cancellations and other restrictions that ended up damaging or worsening the physical or mental health of so many people.
My book Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
Dr. Sidy Diallo did barefoot the 2025 Playa del Inglés New Year Marathon, Gran Canaria
Gisèle Diallo did the 2025 Playa del Inglés New Year Half Marathon, Gran Canaria
Dr. Sidy Diallo’s 2025 Playa del Inglés New Year Marathon Garmin data
A pair of worn-out sneakers probably left by a “generous person” alongside the Meloneras Promenade in Gran Canaria