The 2026 Saint Valentine Marathon, Gran Canaria
Marathon # 556
Barefoot Marathon # 206
Date: February 14, 2026
My Time: 7:53:25
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I completed my 556th marathon on Valentine’s Day in Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria. My wife Gisele Diallo joined me for the second half of the race. As we were walking on the Beach, Aeolus—the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology—unleashed for whatever reason a ferocious sandstorm, the kind I had experienced in the early 1980s in the Sahel in North Africa, which hastened my departure from the region.
Fortunately, this time the storm lasted less than an hour, and we were heading in the opposite direction from the violent winds. Those walking against the storm, were less fortunate. The speed of the sand coming from the Maspalomas Dunes was such that the impact on exposed skin was extremely painful, so much so that the nudist section of the beach was, unsurprisingly, deserted.
Aeolus the son of Hippotes was the king of the floating island of Aeolia. Zeus had made him the keeper of the winds, giving him the power to calm or unleash them at will, which raises the question: what prompted him to unleash the winds on our island exactly on Valentine’s Day?
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 # 206
Date: February 14, 2026
My Time: 7:53:25
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I completed my 556th marathon on Valentine’s Day in Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria. My wife Gisele Diallo joined me for the second half of the race. As we were walking on the Beach, Aeolus—the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology—unleashed for whatever reason a ferocious sandstorm, the kind I had experienced in the early 1980s in the Sahel in North Africa, which hastened my departure from the region.
Fortunately, this time the storm lasted less than an hour, and we were heading in the opposite direction from the violent winds. Those walking against the storm, were less fortunate. The speed of the sand coming from the Maspalomas Dunes was such that the impact on exposed skin was extremely painful, so much so that the nudist section of the beach was, unsurprisingly, deserted.
Aeolus the son of Hippotes was the king of the floating island of Aeolia. Zeus had made him the keeper of the winds, giving him the power to calm or unleash them at will, which raises the question: what prompted him to unleash the winds on our island exactly on Valentine’s Day?
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. Barefoot Sidy Diallo did the 2026 Saint Valentine Marathon.
Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo’s 2026 Saint Valentine Marathon Garmin data
Quiet Playa del Inglés Beach and Maspalomas Dunes on Valentine’s Day 2026 before Aeolus unleashed the sandstorm.
Sunrise on Playa del Inglés Beach on Valentine’s Day 2026