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At 70, Dr. Sidy Diallo Ran and Walked 8,709 km (5,412 miles) in 2025

By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
 
To lead by example at 70, I ran and walked in one year a distance equivalent to almost twice the distance between Los Angeles and New York.

I ran and walked 8,709 km (5,412 miles) in 2025, a distance equivalent to 1.94 times the distance between Los Angeles and New York, twice the distance between Los Angeles and Washington, DC, or the distance between Vancouver and Toronto, 3 times the distance between Paris and Moscow, 6 times the distance between Paris and Rome, 7 times the distance between Paris and Madrid, etc.
 
The distance of 8,709 km includes 4 ultramarathons and 79 marathons—I even did 9 marathons and one ultramarathon in the last ten days of 2025. My initial goal was to run 70 marathons for my 70 years, plus 3 ultramarathons. I first extended early December the goal to 77 marathons and 3 ultramarathons, then I changed it again on December 17 when I realized that I had already covered 8,111 km, and that I was therefore just 357 km (222 miles) short of the equivalent to twice the distance between Los Angeles and Washington, DC (8,468 km or 5,262 miles).
 
After reaching the equivalent of the distance between these two American cities on December 27, I set myself a new goal: to cover at least 1,000 km during the month of December 2025. To achieve this goal, I had to run or walk at least 203 km (126 miles) during the last four days of 2025, and that's what I did, achieving a personal record of 1,010 km (627.5 miles) in one month. I did some races in South Africa, France, Madrid and Malaga, but I did the bulk of the 8,709 km in the south of Gran Canaria—a lovely Spanish island off the west-African coast.

In addition to running and walking an average of 23.6 km (14.8 miles) per day in 2025, I also participated in Zumba sessions at the Ozone gym in Maspalomas up to five times a week.
 
The paleolithic hunter-gatherer with a 21st-century Garmin GPS watch
 
In short, at 70, I ran and walked for 1,555 hours in one year, without experiencing any fatigue, pain or injury, 8,709 km (5,412 miles)—with a total ascent of 93,965 m (37,732 ft)—and I burned 517,007 calories or the equivalent of 57.5 kg (126.7 lb) of body fat. In addition to running and walking an average of 23.6 km (14.8 miles) per day in 2025, I also participated in Zumba sessions at a gym in Maspalomas up to five times a week.
 
We should bear in mind that this is not an achievement, but rather hard evidence that the human body is perfectly designed for natural long-distance running and walking, i.e. either barefoot or with minimalist shoes, initially to get food through persistence hunting and fruit gathering, and nowadays to stay fit and healthy, most importantly as we age.
 
In other words, for current humans, long-distance running and walking not only prevents chronic diseases, fatigue, vulnerability to pandemics, untimely aging and loss of mental or physical abilities, but also eliminates the need for power, greed, envy, cruelty, harmful consumption or other addictions.

I’m, of course, cognizant of the fact that this kind of statement is hard to sell. Nonetheless, it’s actually the free and only efficient way to stay fit and healthy. Behaving like a Paleolithic hunter-gatherer equipped with a 21st-century Garmin GPS watch is indeed the best option for current humans.
 
I am a doctor, a retired French diplomat, and a barefoot marathon runner. I speak my native language, Fulani, as well as French, Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese, and German. I started running in the summer of 2010 in Chicago. I was 55 years old and, by December 31, 2025, I had run 547 marathons and 24 ultramarathons in 105 countries across the seven continents.
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At 70, Dr. Sidy Diallo ran and walked 8,709 km in 2025, including 1,009.92 km in the month of December.
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At 70, Dr. Sidy Diallo ran and walked for 1,555 hours in one year, without experiencing any fatigue, pain or injury, 8,709 km—with a total ascent of 93,965 m—and burned 517,007 calories.
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At 70, Dr. Sidy Diallo ran and walked 5,412 miles in 2025, including 627.5 miles in the month of December.
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At 70, Dr. Sidy Diallo ran and walked for 1,555 hours in one year, without experiencing any fatigue, pain or injury, 5,412 miles—with a total ascent of 37,732 ft—and burned 517,007 calories.
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Dr. Sidy Diallo ran and walked in one year a distance equivalent to 1.94 times the distance between Los Angeles and New York, and twice the distance between Los Angeles and Washington, DC, or the distance between Vancouver and Toronto.
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Dr. Sidy Diallo ran and walked in one year a distance equivalent to 3 times the distance between Paris and Moscow, 6 times the distance between Paris and Rome, and 7 times the distance between Paris and Madrid.
I did the following races in 2025:
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).

Below is my interactive global marathons map. It features most of the marathons (orange icons) and ultramarathons (blue icons) Dr. Diallo did on the seven continents. Zoom in to discover all the races, as many icons are overlapping.
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Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo’s interactive global marathons map